What is Fabindia, Indian clothing brand making waves on social media?

Clothing brand Fabindia removed its latest festive collection promotional capsule after a backlash from right-wing groups. FabIndia was trolled on social media and accused of hurting religious sentiments by naming its Diwali Collection as Jashn-e-Riwaaz (celebration of tradition).

Fabindia in its statement said “The capsule is not our Diwali Collection of products. Our Diwali collection called ‘Jhilmil si Diwali’ is yet to be launched.”

Also Read | Jashn-e-Riwaaz controversy: FabIndia withdraws ad after right-wing backlash

What is Fabindia?

FabIndia is a private platform for the sale of garments, accessories, home furnishings, beauty products, organic food products, and handicrafts. It provides a market for products made from traditional techniques, skills, and hand-based processes by craftspeople across rural India.

It connects more than 55,000 craftspeople from rural India to modern urban markets.

Also read: What does Jashn-e-Riwaaz, tagline of Fabindia’s festive collection, mean?

History

FabIndia was founded by John Bissell in 1960. He was an American working for the Ford Foundation, New Delhi. John saw an opportunity in the Indian textile industry and decided to stay back in India started FabIndia. Initially, it was started as an export company for exporting home furnishing products.

It entered the domestic retail market in 1976 and opened its first retail store in Greater Kailash, New Delhi.

John Bissell passed away in 1998 and now the company is headed by his son William Nanda Bissel.

Also Read | Jashn-e-Riwaaz row: Four times Fabindia triggered controversy

Business Model

Most of the products are sourced from rural artisans, the company works closely with the artisans, providing various inputs including design, quality control, access to finance, and raw materials. The company works on Direct Supply Chain Management, which is also the base of its business model. The company has also taken its artisans on board as shareholders of the company. Even if the goods are not up to the mark they are not returned to the suppliers.

Fabindia also introduced the SRC (supply-region companies) model. Fabindia sources its product from across India through 17 supply-region companies a certain percentage of the shares of which are held by artisans and craftspersons.

Fabindia Overseas is planning to raise $1 billion through an IPO.

The company currently operates 327 stores in 118 different cities of India along with 14 international stores. It employs around 2000 people across the country.

Initiative

William and John Bissell established “The Fabindia School” in 1992. It is a co-ed private school from preschool to Class XII with CBSE Board affiliation, located in Bali, Rajasthan. Starting with 11 students in 1992, today there are nearly 500 students with over 50% female enrolment. The school subsidized the tuition fees of the girl students and offers them scholarships.