Silks that have gone down in history

Nalli Sillks is also present in the US and Singapore and its online store is popular with customers across the world. Nalli now has a turnover of around Rs 1,000 crore from its traditional Silks, contemporary lines and Nalli Jewellery.

So what makes the brand so enduring? Silk has always spelt elegance, and traditional Indian Silks have always held an attractiveness because of the intricacy of the fine gold or silver zari (embroidery). The fame of Nalli’s Silks can be sourced to founder Nalli Chinnaswami Chetti’s hometown Kanchipuram (or Kanjeevaram), known for its extraordinary weavers, and silk does have a grandeur fit for royalty. 

Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, the grandson of the founder who now ably helms the store, recalls how in 1911, King George V who was visiting Delhi, was scheduled to visit Madras. “We wanted to present him a souvenir,” he says. “Some people wanted to give him a Kanchipuram Silk ponnadai. So, they approached my grandfather who was the best weaver among 6,000 other weavers in Kanchipuram. At that point of time, he didn’t know it was for King George. His creation came to be known as the ‘Coronation’ border.” A leading businessman of Chennai, VAK Raghu, bought a Kanjeevaram silk sari from Nalli to present to Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation. Another eminent patron of Nalli Sillks was legendary Carnatic singer MS Subbulakshmi. It was the Nalli family that created for her a sari, now famously known as ‘MS Blue’. The singer was due to receive an award and they decided to gift it to her on the occasion. It was an instant hit.

Musical celebrities apart, the Nalli brand has also won huge cachet because of film stars of olden times, like Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and director KV Reddy, being its regular patrons. “We realised that people remember saris better when they see them in the movies,” says Mr Chetti. “In 1961, we created a checkered pattern, and the sari came to be named the ‘Paalum Pazhamum’ sari. A butta design sari, that followed, was named the ‘Thaen Nilavu butta’, both after popular Tamil films. We kept in mind that fashion keeps evolving and it repeats itself after 30 years. So the old designs have made a comeback now,” he says.

It’s a legacy that Nalli’s has continually renewed, not content to rest on laurels, and the contribution made to the silk textile industry has been a substantial one. “It is in our store that you can find affordable saris in a variety of designs,” says Mr Chetti. “Our pricing has always been economical. That’s the reason why we don’t have sales, be it for Aadi or otherwise. A sari in Nalli costs less than a sari on sale at any other store.” So while the store’s celebrity clientele is real enough so is the more average sari enthusiast who is also able to find something to suit her wallet. 

Another contribution that newer entrants in the market need to think about is the kind of brand loyalty that Nalli commands, with multiple generations of families continuing to visit it. Perhaps this has something to do with remaining true to the same values with which the store was founded. The store is now known as much for its customer service as for its Silks. The company has brought in technology to manage the design and documentation process. This has promoted efficiency in retrieval and replication of patterns and kept it steadily at the forefront of the silk sari business. 

The family of Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti has also taken the lead in expanding the business in tune with the times. “I was a little hesitant about opening new branches, but my son, Ramanathan K. Nalli, has recognised that there is a need for this,” he says. Ramanathan has diversified the business into the manufacture and export of home furnishings, fabric and apparel. Granddaughter Lavanya, who focuses on online shopping and e-commerce, enlarged the store’s customer base by designing a line called Nalli Next in 2009, which was aimed at urban women. Mr Chetti’s grandson, Niranth Nalli, launched Nalli Jewellery, in 2012, covering a mix of ethnic and contemporary designs in gold, silver, platinum and diamonds.

It’s a fine balance to uphold, and the store has done it quite seamlessly -- crafting saris that have gone down in history, on the one hand, while also staying relevant in contemporary times. Mr Kuppuswami Chetti is an active member of industry forums. He also takes the company’s corporate social responsibility very seriously, ensuring the welfare of generations of weavers who have contributed to the store’s reputation with their toil.

But this is only one aspect of Mr Chetti’s achievements. He is a philanthropist who is an ardent supporter of art, culture and music, for which he was conferred the Padmashri in 2003 while his love for the performing arts won him the Kalaimamani award in 2001. 

Kuppuswami is known for his passion for music. The philanthropist is in fact the president of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha and several other sabhas. His tryst with music started when he was just a 9-year-old boy and listened in rapt attention to a nadaswarm concert by the wizard Rajarathinam Pillai at a wedding. “In those days the empty space next to our store was used for Krishna Gana Sabha and I used to attend concerts whenever I found time,” says Nalli Kuppuswami Chetty. 

Today from 40 there are over 200 sabhas in Chennai and today he effortlessly presides over 7 sabhas and is a great patron of dance and music. He is now President of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Brahma Gana Sabha, Sri Bhairavi Gana Sabha, Mudhra, Mylapore Fine Arts Club and Chennai Cultural Academy, Vice President of Madras Film Society and Mylapore Academy.