NILOUFER ON LIFE AFTER COTTON COLLECTION AND HER PLANS FOR GROWING LEATHER COLLECTION
The pressure of building a start-up into a thriving brand is relentless. You never know which new challenge is around the corner
Tuesday the 28th of August marked a momentous milestone in Sri Lankan fashion retail, Cotton Collection
Private Limited announced that they divested their shares to Softlogic Holdings PLC. The much sought-after brand was bought by the Softlogic Group as its importance, immense brand value, a distinct brand ethos of being cool, casual and carefree, and strong customer base was a perfect fit for their diverse retail network. In a time when it’s becoming increasingly difficult to grab the attention of consumers, fashion brands looking for long-term success must foster a strong community from the start, which is what Cotton Collection driven by Niloufer Esufally Anverally, the founder and creator of the all Sri Lankan brand did, making it that much more valuable to the fashion retail landscape.
The Cotton Collection journey began in 1991 when Founder and CEO Niloufer Esufally Anverally had a savvy realisation and followed her instinct to offer to her clients, at the time mostly friends and family, a cleverly curated selection of clothing that was manufactured locally for the export market. Armed with a car, driver and a keen sense of style, she made inroads into fashion retail by starting at an absolute grass root level. Her lightning-quick ascent into building the brand into a significant player in the fashion retail space started from trawling through boxes and boxes of product at warehouses to find the right ones, selling out of her home, then selling to stores followed by opening her own retail space was a journey that attests to her ability to adapt to new challenges and opportunities, as well as a special kind of passion, resilience and discipline that create a sustainable enterprise.
Cotton Collection is a brand that owns a signature niche in the carefree casual fashion realm. The company, today, boasts of over 15,000 square feet spread across five branches. The 200 peoplestrong workforce of Cotton Collection mans five stores working with 50 factories, 300 suppliers and 500 products and includes a homebred design team that curates bohemian, free- spirited collections that have carved out a niche market share over the years. The whole concept the look and feel of cotton collections brand DNA, is so interlinked, finely attuned and developed by Niloufer that it's easy to understand why the Cotton Collection team are such a close unit, one that works as a family they understand and live their brand ethos.
For over twenty-seven years Cotton Collection has catered to an ever-increasing, extremely loyal customer base offering them the latest in trend, high-quality affordable fashion matched with exceptional service. The secret to Cotton Collection’s success has largely been driven by its ability to keep up with rapidly changing fashion trends and showcase them in its collections. From the very beginning, they found a significant gap in the market that few clothing brands had effectively addressed. This was to keep pace with the latest fashion trends, but offer clothing collections that are a combination of high quality and yet, are affordable. The brand keeps a close watch on how fashion is changing and evolving every day across the world and creates a responsible passion for fashion amongst a broad spectrum of consumers, spread across different cultures and age groups.
“During the past 27 years, my tenure as CEO and founder of Cotton Collection and Leather Collection has been nothing short of pure excitement, joy and pleasure. However, I have decided to move on from Cotton Collection to spend more time with my family, especially with my two incredible children. I will also invest more of myself into Leather Collection where I see new opportunities and synergies. I am so proud to have been part of such an outstanding team and I wish this organization only the finest in future endeavours. Thank you, in fact, to my beloved Cotton Collection family for being wonderful colleagues, and great friends, you will be missed. Leaving this company that I started is both terrifying and exciting in equal measure but I know that I leave it in excellent hands and look forward to watching it grow to the next level” Niloufer Esufally Anverally.
? YOUR DECISION TO DIVEST COTTON COLLECTION TO THE SOFTLOGIC GROUP CAME ABOUT FROM YOUR DESIRE TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY AND TO FOCUS ON LEATHER COLLECTION, PLEASE TELL US MORE ABOUT THAT
The pressure of building a start-up into a thriving brand is relentless. You never know which new challenge is around the corner. As a very hands-on founder and owner, I really poured my heart and soul into Cotton Collection and invested so much time into it with my team to make it the success story it is today. I was involved in every step of the Cotton Collection story, everything from merchandising to ensuring that our core values were reflected in every aspect of the brand, it didn’t really leave me with much time for anything else. I loved every minute of it though, the highs, the lows and everything in between, it’s been a truly exceptional adventure but now watching my children grow up I really felt the need and wanted to spend more time with them at this important juncture in their lives, as they become young adults. Leather Collection is my other passion and I’m excited to be able to devote more of myself to make sure that the vision I have for it is realised.
? FASHION IS AN INDUSTRY OF CHANGE AND COTTON COLLECTION IS A BRAND THAT DEFINES THE FREE SPIRT, CASUAL, BOHO CHIC CLOTHING AESTHETIC IN SRI LANKA, DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR VISION FOR THE BRAND WILL CONTINUE UNDER ITS NEW OWNERSHIP
Softlogic saw the business value in Cotton Collection and were extremely keen to acquire it as they felt it was a tightly run ship with excellent inventory control and a very purposefully selected set of products. They appreciated the niche market segment we created which had a similar market share to theirs. They view it as an excellent brand which has been run extremely profitably and one that they had been eyeing for a while to add to their portfolio. Softlogic values Cotton Collection and will not change its ethos or cool, casual and carefree spirit but will grow and develop the brand.
? THE SALE OF COTTON COLLECTION HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO FURTHER INVEST IN LEATHER COLLECTION WHICH IS A SIGNIFICANT BRAND IN THE FOOTWEAR AND ACCESSORIES MARKET, CAN YOU SHARE SOME OF YOUR PLANS FOR ITS DEVELOPMENT
I see so many opportunities for Leather Collection in this market and have plans to expand our existing product line with a real effort and connect with young consumers by making it more dynamic and affordable. We plan to introduce a range of exciting new and trendy lines with a focus on high quality at affordable pricing. Our plans include expanding into new retail spaces and giving the entire brand a new look and feel that we hope our customers will enjoy.
? YOU’VE DEMONSTRATED THE KIND OF METTLE ENTREPRENEURS NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL OVER THE LONG TERM AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AN ADVOCATE FOR WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT, BOTH PERSONALLY AND THROUGH YOUR BRANDS, WILL YOU CONTINUE THAT FOCUS
I always knew that I wanted to be a woman who was in charge of her destiny, who could do things on her own terms with her own money, I wanted to be an independent woman. That is something I carried through into Cotton Collection. I am extremely proud that the company has a workforce of which 70 per cent are women, empowered women. We have always had a strong work ethic in both Leather and Cotton Collection and most of the young girls who started their careers with us, left to get married and have kids but always came back as they understand the value of being financially independent and they know that to succeed you need to work hard at whatever you do. I would love to see more women in business, we are a country of extremely strong, smart and accomplished women and we need to see that reflected in the workplace. NILOUFER WHEN SHE STARTED COTTON COLLECTION
? DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE OR ANY WORDS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE LEGION OF FANS YOU HAVE GARNERED, NOT ONLY PERSONALLY, BUT OF YOUR BRANDS
I would like to thank everyone who supported us, without their support, trust and faith in Cotton Collection we wouldn’t have been able to build this brand into what it is today. Twenty-seven years ago when I started most of my customers were my friends and now their kids shop with us which is so amazing to see. A heartfelt thank you to all our loyal customers for your patronage with us throughout the years, the essence and DNA of Cotton Collection will remain the same so please do continue to enjoy the shopping experience.
? OUTSIDE OF LEATHER COLLECTION DO YOU PLAN TO WORK ON ANY OTHER VENTURES
Women’s empowerment and women’s leadership are two things that are extremely important to me and studies show it is key to economic growth, political stability, and social transformation. It’s something I’m extremely passionate about and would like to work with other like-minded professionals to advance gender equality and empower women.