King of branded apparel

He transformed Arvind from an ethnic fabric manufacturer into a branded apparel retailer

Sanjay Lalbhai
CMD Arvind Ltd.

From being known as the denim king to reinventing his company as one of the foremost apparel retailers in the country, Sanjay Lalbhai (the pioneer of denim manufacturing in India and Chairman and Managing Director of Arvind Ltd, has come a long way. Led by Lalbhai, Arvind Ltd — the flagship company of the $1.2 billion Lalbhai Group — has reinvented itself from a traditional ethnic fabric manufacturer to a dynamic company that professionalised its management and is now a force to reckon with in apparel brands and retail.

At the same time, Arvind has also now become one of the largest denim manufacturers in the world. Arvind has since become one of India’s largest manufacturers of other woven fabrics as well, vertically integrated into garment manufacturing, and built one of India’s most impressive apparel brand portfolios.

Lalbhai, who holds a bachelors degree in science from Gujarat University and a masters degree in management from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, displayed vision, innovation and courage in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when fierce competition was taking a toll on Arvind Mills. Lalbhai withdrew from the market all 250 products that the company was manufacturing — from handkerchiefs to saris — and focused exclusively on denim by modernising its factories.

Later, many of Arvind’s pioneering achievements in the apparel brands and retail space were accomplished under Lalbhai’s guidance — be it the acquisition of India’s first denim brand Flying Machine in 1981 or the penetration of denim to the hinterland of India through the introduction of the Ruf’n’Tuf brand. Lalbhai was also instrumental in introducing India’s first international apparel brand (Arrow, 1993) and India’s first factory outlet (Megamart, 1995). Today, Sanjay Lalbhai is working on creating the future growth engines for Arvind and setting it on its path to achieving the goal of being a $2 billion company in sales revenue by 2015.

Even on the social front, he is actively involved in shaping Arvind’s engagement with society at large. Two such initiatives have flourished under his supervision. The first involves Arvind working with over 7,000 farmers to grow sustainable cotton across 60,000 acres of impoverished areas in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Through this project Arvind, one of the large buyers of cotton in India, is attempting to build a business model that integrates socio-economic benefits to farmers, a greener textile supply chain and financial benefits to industry.

The second initiative involves Arvind working with the municipal school system of Ahmedabad to build an education intervention model that helps impoverished students progress through the system and access opportunities for employment. Currently, this project benefits about 1,000 students each year.

Sanjay Lalbhai currently holds several positions of responsibility beyond Arvind. He serves on the board of Torrent Pharma — one of India’s top 10 pharmaceuticals companies. He also serves on the board of several premier educational and research institutes. As the president of the Ahmedabad Education Society (AES) and Ahmedabad University, Lalbhai has been involved in bringing in world-class education and incubation facilities for these institutes. Lalbhai is also a member of the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

He is the chairman of the Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association and a member of the Council of Management of the Physical Research Laboratory. He is also Chairman of CEPT University, and a member on the governing body of the Adani Institute of Infrastructure Management.

Sanjay Lalbhai is married and has two sons.