There’s a Ludhiana angle in WillKat wedding

The manufacturer of these luxury scarves,Centex,was chosen after a worldwide search by Boden,a leading London-based clothing company.

The scarves will carry a small patch with the words,’April 29th 2011; William and Kate; With love from Boden’. These will also be gifted to the dignitaries attending the wedding ceremony.

For the big fat royal wedding,the merino wool for the scarves,the design and the quality of the Ludhiana product was sent to the Buckingham Palace authorities,and duly approved. In fact,as Vineet Sood,the Managing Director of Centex told The Indian Express,”They actually fell in love with it”. Scarves are a high fashion product in the West. For the WillKat wedding,being hailed as the ‘event of the year’,these were ordered to be made in three colours of animal prints,all with the Union Jack superimposed on it. The firm has supplied about 4,000 scarves for the wedding. These are being retailed for £45 pounds each.

The UK retail sector is expected to experience a sale of an additional £650 million pounds. Many of the heritage retailers have taken a pride and have offered souvenirs related to the event. Being chosen for the product range,says Sood,is a mark of Indian excellence and innovation.

This is not for the first time that the Ludhiana firm is sending out scarves for a high-profile event. Superfine silk scarves made at the company factory in Ludhiana were chosen by fashion major Hugo Boss to be given as gifts to celebrities at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival last year – the only Indian product chosen.

Sood,who runs a 100 per cent export oriented unit,is now used to supplying these top-of-the-line scarves to big names in the fashion industry – Burberry,Coach,Chopard,Escada,Mulberry and Giorgio Armani,to name a few. But considering that this is the only Indian company that has been commissioned for the WillKat wedding,this is a big moment for him.

Much hard work and toil has gone into getting here,and there is much of the Ludhiana spirit in it all. The factory started “very,very small” in 1969,with the investment put in by Rakesh Pal Dev Sood,with ten power looms and 20 handlooms.

Vineet took over the factory from his father in 1982,and in a few years,entered the export market. “I think there is much of Ludhiana in me. Its the spirit of Ludhiana,the competitive entrepreneur skill,the robust and progressive environment,the ability to think big – that pushes us to achieve bigger and better,” he told The Indian Express.