A Punjab-based business is taking luxury shawls from India to the world. Pranav Malhotra, managing director, , Pashtush, has talked about how Facebook has helped him do this.
Pashtush is an Amritsar-based company that exports Indian luxury shawls around the world and Facebook has played a key role in making this happen.
Managing Director of Pashtush, Pranav Malhotra, has discussed bringing the intrinsic work of weavers and artisans from the areas of Punjab, Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh to the rest of the globe. He has also explained how Facebook assisted him in bridging this gap during the lockdown.
Pranav says, “Pashminas are famous in Paris… That was something I did not know. Most of these shawls are created in India.”
Pashtush distributes its handcrafted items to 120 countries, including France.
Pranav’s brand of premium shawls, scarves, and ties for men and women is his attempt to carry on his family’s history.
Pranav comes from one of Amritsar’s oldest shawl-making families. His great-great-grandfather was once a yarn trader.
Shawls and stoles are seasonal items, which made it difficult for people in the trade to maintain a consistent source of income.
Pranav was inspired to eliminate intermediaries and hire local talent after meeting a brilliant weaver selling sugarcane juice on the street.
Pashtush was created in the end of 2017 when they launched their website.
It is a combination of the words ‘Pashmina’ and ‘tush,’ which both signify wool.
Furthermore, one Pashtush shawl takes five to six months to make, as it urges craftsmen to take their time in making the shawls.
Previously, the craftspeople would lose six months of wages.
However, Pranav now claims that they earn 2.5 times more using Pashtush.
He says, “Before Covid-19, Pashtush had doubled its business and has xpanded at a 2.5x rate, in the last fiscal year,.”
Pranav claims that Meta and its apps have aided the company’s transition from a wholesale to a direct-to-consumer model.
According to him, Facebook and Instagram helped us significantly to do justice to Pashtush’s items since they allow you to convey a story.
He describes the reach and impact these platforms may have on an artist, particularly during the lockdown.
Pashtush and the craftspeople behind the business now have a newfound purpose thanks to Facebook and Instagram.
Pashtush now ships its products across the country, as well as to Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America, where the winter months overlap with Indian summers.
Their markets include include the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East.
Pranav says, “We export handicrafts to China on a net basis.”
Pranav speaks of his future goals, “We are looking to expand up our digital business. We will extend to unexplored markets such as non-English speaking countries after establishing a successful business in the United States and the United Kingdom.”
