Taking up challenges and achieve milestones has always been his forte and he has done it all through the years, taking brands to great heights. His trailblazing career has earned him a name to be reckoned with in the innerwear industry, not to mention the awards he has garnered. Mr Parveen Sharma, who was Senior General Manager, Benetton, has now moved to a bigger and more challenging role of Vice President at Spykar.
LnL in conversation with this dynamic personality on this move and his vision for Spykar.
Tell us about your move and new role at Spykar. Why this move after so many years at Benetton?
I like to accept challenges and this is a very good opportunity for me. I’ve contributed to the industry by bringing up an ideal product for the market with Benetton. And now, it’s time to extend that contribution to Spykar. It would bring up a new set of challenges and opportunities and area to contribute to the market and industry in a new way.
Tell us about your joining Spykar? What challenges await you here?
The market is very competitive and the entire innerwear industry is doing quite well. Specially, there are so many big players, there are huge discounts and offers. And Spykar has no innerwear range at present and we are starting this from scratch in this segment. So, I’m launching men’s innerwear, socks and some part of athleisure as well, in the near future.
What changes do you envision for Spykar in the near future?
Spykar is basically an established denim brand and it enjoys a tremendous goodwill and now I want launch the brand’s stand-alone innerwear stores. That is my vision for Spykar.
We heard you have been mandated to start innerwear from scratch in Spykar? How do you propose to go about it?
Spykar is a brand strongly catering to a young audience and is accepted very well. So, here I am going to launch some new styles that are not there in the market currently. At present there are only prints and stripes in the market. So, we are launching some new styles for the young consumers. This will be very different from what other brands have to offer in innerwear.
Talking about core expertise? Is innerwear your forte? Pl. elaborate
I’ve almost 20 years’ experience in the innerwear segment and I’ve worked with brands such as Page Industries, Enamor, Benetton and also Levis, where I launched Levis Denizen, which was their economical range in innerwear. So, my forte is the innerwear segment as I’ve handled many premium brands. Hence, I know, where there is a void in the market. At present, because many brands are doing the same thing so I want to launch something new.
Do tell us your experiences in Benetton? Any anecdote you would like to relate that was a defining moment in Benetton?
It was a very big opportunity for me when I joined Benetton, and I learnt a lot about the designing and the international market at Benetton. Earlier, I worked in Indian companies only, but Benetton gave me any opportunity to handle the Sri Lanka market and also gave me a chance to coordinate with the Italian team as well. I’ve learnt a lot from Benetton. And also, I started the business of innerwear at Benetton from scratch and it has grown greatly through the years. Also, I would like to give a special mention to Sanjeev Mohanty, ex-MD, Benetton and Mr Sandeep Chugh, the current CEO and MD, Benetton, he gave me direction and full authority to launch the premium category, which is very successful. And he gave me the entire guideline for that.\
How do you propose to carry your learnings from there to your current assignment?
From my past experiences, especially from Benetton I’ve learnt the refilling business. So, I take care of the refilling part here and we’ve no chance for any errors in the refilling cycle. Refilling means that there should be no shortage of any style/product that moves in the market. In Benetton, refilling is very important and also the brand keeps on introducing something new every 6-8 months.
Your achievements in the previous dispensation
I received the Worldwide No.1 price in packaging…a Chicago-based company gives the award of Good Design Award, which is Best Handling and Utilisation for packaging. This was a milestone for me. In my 7-year experience, starting from scratch to launching EBOs, LFS, online, and the entire network of trade was a big achievement and a wonderful experience as well.
What is your goal and vision for Spykar?
I wish that what took me seven years to achieve in Benetton I want to attain the same at Spykar in 3-4 years. I want to achieve the same milestone in Spykar. This is my goal and vision.
