Himatsingka Linens Eyes U.S.

Bangalore, India — Fabric manufacturer Himatsingka Linens, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year and is exhibiting at Heimtextil this week, is on the verge of opening a $100 million facility that will position it to sell fashion bedding and sheets to the U.S. market.

The company's primary business since 1988 has been producing value-added, design-influenced fabrics for high-end fabric accounts in the United States and Europe. Himatsingka Linens specializes in silk and silk blends, although it also produces non-silk and natural fiber fabrics, according to Shrikant Himatsingka, executive director.

"The company is fully integrated, with the largest capacity in India for this type of product — 115 looms," he added. "We focus constantly on creating new product; 85% to 90% of the time, customers choose something we have created in our design studio."

The opening in the next few weeks of its new production facility will put Himatsingka Linens on the road to becoming a complete home furnishings resource," he said.

In the United States, the company plans to target specialty stores, better department stores, and better catalog/internet/bricks-and-mortar multichannel retailers, according to Pradeep Mukherjee, president of global sales and marketing.

"We plan to stay away from the price-driven business," Mukherjee said. "We have a design base which makes nearly 11,000 new products."

The design studio strives to create signature looks tending to the contemporary, but also encompassing traditional and classic motifs, added Himatsingka. "As a mill, we cannot afford to have a very strict look. We must be versatile."