Press Note – True Blue set to launch three new collections for Spring-Summer 2018
Arvind Fashions Limited,
CEO - Arrow
Anand Aiyer is the CEO of Arrow at Arvind Fashions Ltd. He has over 24+ years of rich experience in fashion brands and retail business. Over his long tenure he has launched, built and scaled successful fashion & retail businesses. Prior to joining Arvind, Anand was the President and CEO of Easybuy - Division of Max retail, Lifestyle International (P) Limited, part of the Landmark Group. As CEO of Easybuy, he was instrumental in building and scaling the Easybuy business. Prior to Easybuy, Anand has held pivotal positions in Louis Philippe, part of Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Limited. Few of his key achievements in Louis Philippe were building and scaling the sub-brands LP Sport, LP Jeans and Luxure. He has also held key positions and built businesses of Classic Polo and Trigger Jeans (Div. of KG Denim Limited).
CEO - USPA
Amitabh Suri is the CEO of USPA at Arvind Fashions. An Alumni of the University of Delhi and National Institute of Fashion Technology, he has over 20 years of work experience in the fashion and lifestyle industry. Prior to joining Arvind, Amitabh was the President for Exclusive Brands & Private Labels at Shopper Stop. He has held pivotal positions with well-renowned companies like Landmark Group, Indian Terrain Fashion and ITFL. He also handled Arrow brand as a CEO for close to 6 Months
CEO- NNNOW.com.
Nitesh Kanchan is the CEO of NNNOW at AFL and is responsible for strategising, building and growing the globally renowned speciality beauty retailer. An alumni of IIT Delhi, Nitesh has over 20 years of work experience in the fashion and lifestyle industry, of which the last 7 years are with Arvind. Prior to joining Arvind, Nitesh has held pivotal positions across industries and worked with well-renowned brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Louis Philippe, Arrow, Esprit and fashion retailer Pantaloons.
Business Head - Innerwear
Preeti Kaushik is the Business head for the Innerwear Business. Preeti, an alumnus of IIM Lucknow and NT Kurukchetra, is a seasoned professional with over 12 years of experience in sales and marketing, buying and planning, retail operations across diverse industries in organizations such as Vodafone Idea, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail and Aditya Birla Overseas Spinning. Prior to joining us, Preeti was working in Fresh business in Udaan (Hiveloop Technology Limited).
CEO - Footwear Business Division
Anurag Pandey is the CEO of Footwear business division at Arvind Fashions Ltd & is responsible for strategising, building and growing the footwear & accessories business for group brands (U.S.Polo Assn., Arrow, Flying Machine, Cole Haan) Anurag has over 20 years of experience in the fashion & lifestyle industry, Prior to joining Arvind in 2018, Anurag invested over decade in building & scaling successful footwear brands, holding pivotal positions and worked with well-renowned companies /brands like Hush Puppies, Bata India , ALDO India , Aditya Birla Fashion etc. Anurag joined Arvind fashion in 2018.
Senior Vice President - Supply Chain
Rajat Arora is Senior Vice President Supply Chain at Arvind Fashions Ltd. and responsible for end-end Supply Chain Operations and Strategy. An alumni of NIFT-New Delhi, Rajat has over 22 years of experience in managing diverse supply chains across Fashion, Consumer Durables and FMCG sectors. He has held operations leadership roles at Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, VIP Industries Ltd. and Pidilite Industries Ltd.
Chief Revenue Officer
Yatish Mehrishi, is the Chief Revenue Officer of Arvind Fashions, he is responsible for the entire sales of the company across all brands and all channels. An alumni of London Business School, Yatish is an accomplished Sales & Operations Leader, with proven track record to lead transformational projects, with cross functional experience in Media, Telecom and Consumer Goods Industries. He has over 23 years of experience in the fields of Sales and Marketing, Operations & Strategy across diverse industries in organizations like PepsiCo, Motorola and Radio Mirchi.
CEO - Arrow
Suman Saha is the CEO of the brand Arrow at Arvind Fashions and is responsible for strategizing and growing the iconic brand. Suman is a textile engineer, NIFT alumnus and an MBA and has over 19 years diverse work experience in the textile and apparel sectors. Prior to joining Arvind he has held leadership level roles across companies like Raymond Apparel and Madura Fashion and Lifestyle and worked with Iconic brands like Allen Solly, Color Plus and Park Avenue.
CEO - Flying Machine
Nidhi Raj is the CEO of Flying Machine at Arvind Youth Brands Pvt Ltd. An Alumni of National Institute of Fashion Technology, he has over 21yrs of rich experience in the fashion and lifestyle industry. Nidhi Raj, a fashion design graduate has held various leadership positions in Design, visual merchandising, sourcing and product management during his long stints in Colorplus and ABFRL. He was working as Brand Head, Peter England - Girls & Boys before joining Flying Machine in 2021.
CSO - Arvind Fashions
Lal Sudhakaran is the Chief Sourcing Officer at Arvind Fashions. An Alumni of College of Engineering, Trivandrum, and Mumbai University, he has over 29 years of experience in Strategic Planning, Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing, and Operations. Prior to joining Arvind, Lal was President of Supply Chain Management, Cluster Development, and ESG with Fabindia Limited. He has held pivotal positions in well-renowned companies like Gokaldas Exports Limited, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited and more.
CRO - Arvind Fashions
Mallikarjuna Reddy Yarabolu is the Chief Revenue Officer at Arvind Fashions. An alumni of Dr.MGR Engineering College, Nirma Institute of Management and INSEAD Business School, France, he has over 20 years of experience in Retail Sales, Marketing, Merchandising, and much more in both Fashion Retail and FMCG. Prior to joining Arvind, Mallikarjuna was the Business Manager of Nestle India. He has held pivotal positions in well-renowned companies like Retail One, Aditya Birla Group, Wal-Mart Stores, Godrej Agrovet, Vedanta Resources and more.
CHRO - Arvind Fashions
Asim Jagdale is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Arvind Fashions Ltd. Asim is an alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur and has over 15 years of experience in human resource management in diverse sectors like FMCG and Semiconductors. He started his career at Asian Paints Ltd., where he worked in various domains of HR, including Sales HR, Learning and Development, Compensation, and International Business HR. Before joining Arvind Fashions in 2023, Asim was working with Texas Instruments as a Business HR Manager and Head of Talent Acquisition.
CEO - Lifestyle Brands Division, Arvind Fashions
Alok Dubey is the CEO of Lifestyle Business Division at Arvind Fashions and responsible for strategising, building and growing a spectrum of very successful iconic brands like US Polo Assn, Flying Machine and Ed Hardy.
An alumni of IIM Bangalore, Alok has over 30 years of work experience in the fashion and lifestyle industry of which the last 15 years are with Arvind. Prior to joining Arvind, Alok has held pivotal positions across industries and worked with well-renowned companies like The Swatch Group, Titan Industries, and The Times Of India Group.
Chief Sourcing Officer, Arvind Fashions
Anindya Ray is the Chief Sourcing Officer at Arvind Fashions and is responsible for sourcing, quality, product development, and technical support for the entire Arvind Fashions brands and retail group. He has over 3 decades of experience in buying and merchandising, design, product development and sourcing and quality.
Anindya started his career in 1987 and has worked with renowned companies like Arvind, UCB, Bombay Dyeing, and Madura garments. He has previously been the Design Head for Allen Solly, Buying and Merchandising Head for Unlimited chain of stores and is currently the Sourcing and Quality head for Arvind Fashions. Some of his most noticeable achievements has been launching brands like Lee and SF jeans in India. Anindyas excellent knowledge of the Indian market, fashion trends, product and sourcing has immensely helped and played a significant role in the companys growth over the past decade.
Chief Information Officer, Arvind Fashions
Piyush Kumar Chowhan is the CIO at Arvind Fashions. As CIO he works closely with businesses, corporate functions and partners, providing them with strategic direction and thought leadership to the digital initiatives. He is responsible for formulating and administering IT policies covering standards, information risk management, and governance. His past work experience with global retail giants like Walmart, Target, Circuit City, Tesco, and Best Buy has made Piyush an acknowledged domain expert in retail, E-commerce & supply chain management.
He has an MBA from XIMB and engineering degree from NIT Surat and has over 20+ years of experience in setting up new centre of excellence (COE) in retail technology operations and business transformation.
Chief Financial Officer, Arvind Fashions
Mr. S Kannan is the CFO at Arvind Fashions. A well respected member of the Institute Of Chartered Accountants of India for more than 30 years, he has helped create businesses, monetise and sustain value through initiatives on all aspects such as strategic planning, business acquisitions, and divestitures.
Prior to joining Arvind Fashions, he has work with Indian and Global MNC companies like Murugappa Group, Unilever (earlier Hindustan Lever), and TVS Group. His areas of specialisation include finance, accounting, risk management, commercial, governance and compliance, information technology and taxation (IT & T) and supply chain experience across retail, engineering, FMCG, and IT hardware and services sector.
CEO - Heritage Brands Division, Arvind Fashions
Sumit Dhingra is the CEO of Heritage Brands Division at Arvind Fashions. He has been a part of Arvind since 2009 and has been driving business operations, planning, and brand management.
Sumit started his illustrious career in retail and merchandising industry with Madura garments. He has an engineering degree from National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli and PGDM from IIM Lucknow and has over 15 years of experiences in the industry. Over the years, he has taken up major assignments in the areas of business strategy, competitive analysis, brand management and marketing, inventory management and key account management.
For his dedicated contribution to the industry, Sumit has been awarded ET 40 under Forty: Indias hottest business leaders in 2017 by Economic Times and Spencer Stuart.
CHRO, Arvind Fashions
Shilpa Vaid is the CHRO at Arvind Fashions. Currently she handles the overall responsibility for the human resources & administration functions for Arvind Fashions and associate/ JV companies.
Shilpa has been an HR leader with over 17 years of local & international experience spanning across all functional areas of HR, with a deep specialisation in performance and talent management. She started her illustrious career in HR consulting with Ernst & Young/ Arthur Andersen and thereafter worked with Aviva Life Insurance and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.
Prior to joining Arvind Fashions, Shilpa has worked with MetLife as the Country Head of Human Resources wherein she led the HR function for the India business of the global insurance giant. Her last assignment with MetLife was as the Talent Management lead for Asia. Thereafter, she served as the Chief HR and Corporate Responsibility Officer for Bharti AXA General Insurance wherein she had overall responsibility for the Human Resources, Corporate Responsibility and Internal Communications functions.
Shilpa has done her graduation from Hindu College, Delhi University and has an MBA in Human Resources from the International Management Institute, New Delhi.
CEO Sephora, Arvind Fashions
Vivek Bali is the CEO of Sephora India at Arvind Fashions. Here he leads the development and execution of the India strategy marketing, category management, store development & operations, and training & development He is a passionate leader whose career experience spans across international and Indian markets. Vivek is a renowned marketing & sales strategist with a rich blend of brand building, business development, and retail experience in India, Eastern Europe, Canada, Middle East, and North Africa. His expertise spans across the beauty business & non-food FMCG industries and across consumer segments in Premium, Mass and Value.
Vivek has previously held leadership roles with Lifestyle at Landmark Group, Reliance Retail Ltd, Avon Beauty products India Pvt Ltd, and Lakme Lever Ltd.
Vice-Chairman & Non-Executive Director
Mr. Kulin Lalbhai is the Director at Arvind Fashions and Executive Director at Arvind Limited. He is driving new initiatives in the consumer businesses of the group. He has been instrumental in setting up several new retail concepts and also spearheads the group's digital initiatives. He also plays an active role in the overall Corporate Strategy. Kulin holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the Stanford University. Prior to his current role, he has also been a management consultant at Mckinsey & Co.
CEO - UNLIMITED, Arvind Fashions
C.S. Shekar is the CEO of Unlimited. A dynamic personality, Shekar has a rich experience of 28 years, making him a stalwart of the retail industry. An engineer by qualification, Shekar has previously worked with Singer (India) Ltd., Stencil Apparels, Weekender (Gokaldas Images) and Landmark Group and has worked in diverse locations like India, Indonesia and the Middle East. He has served in various leadership positions across different channels of retailing.
He has been associated in the past with the Landmark Group (Dubai) for over 12 years. As President of Max Retail, Shekar was responsible for the strategic leadership of the companys business with focus on design, buying, sourcing and quality assurance. He has played a pivotal role in Max Retails swift growth in India as a leading value fashion brand from its inception in 2006.
VP, Alternate Channels, Arvind Fashions
Mohul Sinha is the Head of private Label Brands Ruf & Tuf, Ex By Excalibur, QUADS and Oxford Street and VP (Alternate Channels) at Arvind Fashions. He manages exports and corporate sales of all brands. With over 29 years of experience, he brings with him a lot of industry experience and knowledge. Prior to joining Arvind Fashions, he has worked with Titan for 14.5 years, handling International operations based in Dubai, and Glaxo, where he worked in the Food Sales division for 2.5 years.
Non-Executive Director
Mr. Suresh has over 30 years of experience in the FMCG, Lifestyle Brands & Retail industries. This included an 18-year stint at Hindustan Unilever Limited, where he headed the Sales Operations of the beverages business and was a management committee member of the Foods & Beverages business between 1999 and 2002. After HUL, he joined MTR Foods Ltd as its Chief Executive Officer and turned a regional brand into a national and global brand. He is an engineering graduate and has a Master's degree in Business Administration from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
Head, Corporate Strategy, Arvind Fashions
Ritesh Kumar is the Head of Corporate Strategy at Arvind Fashions. He handles Arvind Fashions strategic initiatives and works on identification of strategic opportunities that influences business growth and profitability. Ritesh is a fellow (Ph.D) of IIM Calcutta and an engineer from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra. Prior to joining Arvind in 2016, he has worked in the management consulting industry with A.T. Kearney advising clients in India, US, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and China and in other industries with MuSigma and TCS.
Managing Director & CEO
Shailesh Chaturvedi is Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Tommy Hilfiger Apparels India, a joint venture between the Murjani Group and Arvind Limited. Mr. Chaturvedi has over 15 years experience in the branded apparel industry. He is an engineering graduate with a Masters in Business Administration.
CEO, Premium to Bridge to Luxury Businesses, Arvind Fashions
Parag Dani is the CEO for the Premium to Bridge to Luxury business at Arvind Fashions Ltd. In his current role, he is responsible for strategizing, building and growing iconic brands like GAP, GANT, and Nautica. Parag is a turnaround specialist who has transformed loss-making and nascent businesses into scale-able and profitable ones. He has previously worked for organizations like Madura Garments, Reliance Retail and Levis and holds an MMS in Marketing from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.
COO, Innerwear Business, Arvind Fashions
Nitin Agarwal is the COO for the innerwear division of Arvind Fashions. He drives strategy, business growth and profitability for Hanes and U.S Polo Innerwear brands. Nitin has over 14 years of experience in supply chain and business consulting with a focus on FMCG and retail sectors. He has previously worked with organizations like Miebach Consulting India Pvt. Ltd and Tata Motors. He holds an MBA from IIM Lucknow and a BTech degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Delhi.
Chairman & Non-Executive Director
Mr. Sanjay Lalbhai is the Chairman and Managing Director of Arvind Ltd., a 1.3 Billion Dollar Indian conglomerate. Over last four decades he has led the transformation of Arvind from a traditional textile mill into one of the world's leading manufacturers of denims, fine woven fabrics, and apparel solutions. He laid the foundations for the branded apparel business by bringing India's initial brands Flying Machine and Arrow, and opening Exclusive Brand Outlets. He is the president of Ahmedabad Education Society, Ahmedabad University and CEPT University, and the Chairman of Council of Administration of Ahmedabad Textile Industry Research Association (ATIRA). Mr. Lalbhai believes that addressing societal concerns and creating long lasting benefit to society is integral to the business strategy and a duty of every business leader. He provides strategic leadership SHARDA Trust, the CSR arm of Arvind. Mr. Lalbhai is an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute.
(Managing Director & CEO)
Mr Shailesh Chaturvedi is one of Arvind's strongest leaders who has successfully led several of our brands over the last 15 years. Mr. Shailesh Chaturvedi joined Arvind in 2006 to lead our Tommy Hilfiger JV. Over the past 15 years he has made Tommy one of the most admired and aspirational brands in the country. He also took over the Calvin Klein brand in FY18 and has scripted a strong turnaround of the business. Most recently he took over the Arrow business in FY19 and is currently working on a plan to energise and reinvigorate the franchise. Shailesh is a proven leader in the apparel space with a total career that spans 28 years in leadership roles in Madura coats, UCB and then Arvind. His deep expertise in working with international brands gives him a unique insight into global best practices and trends. Before his long stint in building the bridge to luxury brand portfolio for Arvind he has worked extensively in the mass premium men's wear segment as well.
Non-Executive Director
Ms. Nithya Easwaran has over 20 years of rich experience in financial services. She is Managing Director of Multiples Alternate Asset Management, a private equity platform with over US$1 billion of assets under management. Prior to joining Multiples Alternate Asset Management, she headed the Structured Finance Team of Citibank in India and before that she was a part of the structured finance business of ICICI Ltd.
Non-Executive Independent Director
Mr. Nilesh Shah is the Managing Director (MD) of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. Ltd. He has over 25 years of experience in capital markets and market related investments, having managed funds across equity, fixed income securities and real estate for local and global investors. In his previous assignments, Mr. Nilesh Shah has held leadership roles with Axis Capital, ICICI Prudential Asset Management, Franklin Templeton and ICICI securities. Mr. Nilesh Shah is the recipient of the inaugural Business Standard Fund Manager of the year award Debt in 2004. Kotak, Franklin Templeton and ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has received many awards including the best fund house of the year award under his leadership. Mr. Nilesh Shah is a gold medalist chartered accountant and a merit ranking cost accountant. His hobbies include reading and educating investors on financial planning. Mr. Nilesh Shah has co-authored book on Financial Planning called A Direct Take.
Non-Executive Independent Director
Ms. Ananya Tripathi is currently the CEO of White hat Jr. White hat Jr is an ed-tech Company serving online live tutoring classes to 250000+ students globally and has presence across US, Brazil, Mexico, UK, Australia and India. Her past experience includes - Managing Director at KKR Capstone from January 2019 till March 2022 and Chief Category & Strategy Officer at Myntra from 2015 till 2018. She has also been a junior partner at McKinsey. She has been the Board member across many industries including listed companies. Her past board appointments include JB Chemicals (Listed), Max Healthcare (Listed), Lighthouse Learning (Unlisted), Wildcraft (Unlisted) etc. Ananya is a Computer Engineer (Gold Medallist) from AIT, Pune University and has an MBA (Gold Medallist) from IIM Kozhikode. She is the recipient of Economics Times Women Ahead Award 2019. Her expertise and experience are in business strategy, business analysis, management consulting, competitive analysis etc. She is an Angel Investor, Runner and Reader.
Non-Executive Independent Director
Mr. Achal Bakeri is the Chairman and Managing Director of Symphony Limited. He leads the management of critical organizational functions such as corporate strategy, international growth opportunities and people development. He is an Architect and has studied Master of Business Administration from University of Southern California. Mr. Bakeri has 32 years of experience in varied fields, including construction, exports, manufacturing and design development. Under his guidance and leadership, Symphony has established its position as the largest manufacturer of air coolers in the world.
Non-Executive Independent Director
Mr. Nagesh Pinge is an Expert in Ethics, Corporate Governance, Risk Management and Internal Audit. He is a Chartered Accountant and Law Graduate from India. He has also completed Executive Education Program from The Stephen M Ross School of Business of the University of Michigan, USA. In a career spanning 35 years, he has worked with many organizations of repute like Tata Motors as Chief-Internal Audit, Risk Management and Ethics. Prior to that he has also served Reliance Retail Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd. and ICICI Bank and its Group Companies. He is an Independent Director in many reputed Companies. He is a past President of the Institute of Internal Auditors, India.
CHRO, Arvind Fashions
Priya Gopalakrishnan is the CHRO at Arvind Fashions Limited. She is a Commerce graduate from Mumbai University and completed her Post Graduation in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in 1994. Priya brings with her a deep understanding of business context and HR's role in enabling & supporting the business. She worked with Hindustan Unilever during the initial part of her career for more than 12 years, starting as a Management Trainee and then working her way through various roles in the HR function. Prior to joining AFL, Priya was heading the HR function for more than a decade at Exide Life Insurance (formerly known as ING Vysya Life Insurance). She has served as a member of the Executive Committee of NHRD, Bangalore Chapter and their Advisory Council. She loves reading & is a fitness enthusiast.
Non-Executive Director
Mr. Punit Lalbhai is Executive Director of Arvind Limited and leads Arvinds Advanced Materials, Engineering, and Agribusinesses. He also spearheads initiatives in sustainability, CSR, and Innovation at Arvind. He has an MBA from INSEAD and a Masters of Environmental Science from Yale University.
Independent Director
Dr. Manoj Nakra is a co-founder of SCIP, a SaaS platform company. SCIP platforms are used for Angel Investing, Startup Incubation, Creating Private Communities and Recruitment. Before reinventing himself in technology, Manoj led the creation and implementation of many global luxury and lifestyle brands in the Middle East and India. He engages with retailers for their digitalization. Manoj has held CEO positions at The Waterbase Limited (BSE listed company), and Jashanmal (Retailer in UAE), COO position at DubaiSME (Entrepreneur Development Organization of Government of Dubai) and CXO position Apparel Group (Retailer in UAE). His expertise and experience are in retail and distribution, entrepreneurship, and technology application. Manoj is a guest faculty at IIM Bangalore. Manoj is a Mechanical Engineer (IIT Delhi), has an MBA (IIM, Bangalore), and a DBA (Case Western, USA). He has written two books
CEO, The Unlimited business, Arvind Fashions
Himanshu Chakrawarti joined as Chief Executive Officer for the Unlimited business. Himanshu is a seasoned professional with 28 years of experience in the fields of sales and marketing, business development, strategy & retail operations across diverse industries in organizations such as Lakme Lever Limited, Unistar International, Trent Limited and The Mobile Store Limited. Prior to joining us, Himanshu was the CEO at Hicare Services Pvt Ltd. He has completed his Bachelor's in Technology in Metallurgy from IIT, Kanpur and PGDM in Marketing & Finance from IIM, Bangalore. Himanshu is passionate about distance running and enjoys playing golf, chess, soccer and lawn tennis.
CFO, Arvind Fashions
Mr. Girdhar Kumar Chitlangia is a qualified chartered accountant and an experienced finance professional. In his career spanning 30 years, he has worked in leadership roles in large retail & FMCG companies both in India and abroad. He believes in making finance function a strong enabler and an effective business partner. He has led his function with multiple tech interventions which resulted in significant improvement in efficiencies.
Prior to joining our Company, he has worked with More Retail Limited, Coca-Cola Company and Super Max World.
He has attended top business schools like Harvard and Oxford and has been bestowed with many awards notable among these CA-CFO award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Exceptional Contributor at the Aditya Birla Group and also top 100 CFO's by the CFO magazine.