Leather is a widely traded item in the world today. Leather industry holds a prominent place in Indian economy for its consistency in high export earnings. The country accounts for 14 per cent of the world’s total leather production, comprising footwear, leather garments, saddler, as also leather goods and accessories. The total export from India in 2022-23 was about $5.30 billion, of which leather goods and accessories constituted about 20 per cent.
This labour-intensive sector is providing jobs to about 5 million people. Employment to women is predominant in the leather products sector (amounting to about 40 per cent). Kolkata city alone contributes close to 60 per cent of the leather goods and accessories exports from India. The city is known in the industry for its high level of skill precession. So, one shouldn’t be surprised to see fashion stores like Prada, Gucci, Clarks, M&S, Coach and Debenhams exhibiting handcrafted leather products marked ‘made in Kolkata’.
Yashovardhan Gupta had moved to Kolkata in 2012 to set up Torero Corporation Pvt Ltd as a niche player, thereby changing the game in the segment. He had a knack for identifying opportunities in the leather industry and realised that quality and the brand are the key factors to earn reputation. Under him, Torero started nurturing inherent local talents. It did face many ups and downs of business cycles, but careful strategies, backed by quality, resulted in success.
Today, Torero is not merely a fabricator; it has also become an international licence holder for designing, manufacturing and distribution of leather accessories for powerful global brands, such as Cross and Police. Torero caters to renowned private label/OEM customers globally and in India, while also distributing its portfolio of branded leather goods, travel goods and gifts items across retail, e-commerce and trade.
“The driver of our success has been innovative business strategies and the courage to take risks,” explains Gupta. The company’s revenue has grown from merely a few lakhs of rupees to Rs138 crore at present. It is now planning to set up a luggage manufacturing facility in Bengal.
Great learning experience
Gupta was born in a business family in Kolkata. His father Rajesh Gupta owned a leather goods manufacturing company called Metropoli Fashions, which was set up in 1988. After securing an MBA from ISB Hyderabad in 2007, Yashovardhan worked in JSPL for two years as executive officer to CMD Naveen Jindal. He gained exposure in corporate strategies and travelled across mines, plants in steel and energy development projects. He was also involved in several M&As and was a witness to the company’s sharp rise, with its share price soaring from Rs1,300 to Rs23,000. “It was a great learning experience for me, which helped me in my future endeavours,” explains Yashovardhan.
However, the family pressures forced him to join his father’s Metropoli Fashions in 2009. While learning the nitty-gritties of leather business from his father, he realised that low margins and exchange fluctuations make business environments knotty; so, nothing big can happen without a brand. Soon, he was exploring better opportunities to add value in the business and worked persistently towards his aim.
In 2012, he came to know from industry sources that an old Spanish family-owned leather accessories brand Torero (means bull fighter) was up for sale in Spain. He convinced his father and acquired the company after hard negotiation and began his journey as an entrepreneur by creating a new company – Torero Corporation Private Limited – in December 2012.
The company gradually built its reputation as a fashion house for leather accessories, with contemporary designs of international standard. Yashovardhan met with his fortune and gained global acclaim when his company Torero bagged the exclusive global licence for design, development and distribution of leather accessories in 2013 for the 170-year-old brand Cross. An American NASDAQ-listed iconic writing instruments brand established in 1846, Cross was looking to expand into leather accessories and had made failed attempts earlier by doing it in-house.
It was not easy to get a global licence from a brand like Cross. “We managed to convince the Cross management to partner with an expert like us in leather business,” recalls Yashovardhan. “The American giant believed in Torero’s team and their capability. We have built the leather accessories, travel goods and gifts business from scratch and they recognised that,” claims Yashovardhan. Now, Torero holds licence for the Cross brand in India and the Middle East.
The Police story
The brand helped Torero leverage on its core competence to the international market. This did not go unnoticed by the industry either. Later, Torero got the opportunity to acquire global licence for the Italian, high-fashion and street brand, Police in 2016 for leather goods, travel goods and leather gift items, which covers 15 types of categories.
The Milan-based Police is owned by the De Rigo group founded in 1983. Police has continuously introduced new designer details and elements to its collections, such as its blue mirrored lenses, which immediately became a global fashion trend in the 1990s, and its iconic logo, which has evolved from the original eagle to the current gothic P. With its strong identity and market position consolidating over time, Police has gradually created a broad lifestyle concept that includes perfumes, watches, jewellery and leather goods.
With a rich history of brand ambassadors, such as David Beckham, George Clooney, Bruce Willis, Neymar Jr, etc, Police’s iconic current collection ‘Police X Lewis Hamilton’, represented by the Formula I Champion Lewis Hamilton is creating waves around the world. The Police collections are distributed in over 80 countries, mainly in Europe, Asia and America.
Police has also signed cricketer K.L. Rahul as the company’s brand ambassador for India and the Middle East market for eye wear, watches and leather goods. This is the first time Police has roped in a brand ambassador from India with a two-year contract. The partnership with Rahul marks the beginning of another chapter in the brand’s journey to connect with global audiences, who seek more than just eyewear – they seek a lifestyle. “Rahul is the embodiment of everything Police stands for – determination, confidence, and an unwavering sense of individuality,” affirms Barbara De Rigo, chief marketing officer, De Rigo.
“Today, consumers seek true, authentic fashion and look for genuine international brands, distributed professionally and avant-garde enough, to help consumers showcase their own personality,” Yashovardhan clarifies.
With its specialisation in leather accessories, Torero produces the finest collection of bags, belts, wallets, shoes of variant shades, and designs for its licensed brands. The company sources top quality handcrafted leather as well as fitting materials from across the globe and produces the ranges by skilled workforce at their eight manufacturing facilities in Kolkata. It has 2,200 employees, backed by an experienced design team, to pay attention on contemporary style and aesthetics. The design team have knowledge of the industry’s changing trends and produces innovative products like anti-theft wallets and collapsible handbags, which are customers’ favourites. These designs have brought the company several awards including Red Dot Design Award. Torero is the only Indian company to win a Red Dot Design Award for two years in a row.
“Torero is a quality producer and has been growing its business quietly. The exclusive global licences for Cross and Police brands have given it an edge in the industry,” says Tapan Nandi, founder, Munai Creation, and a veteran in the leather industry.
The company has three verticals – exports, OEM for domestic and international brands and licenced brands. While licenced brands contribute 70 per cent of its revenue, the rest comes from the OEMs.
Torero has a network of 70 odd key worldwide distributors and more than 80 outlets in the country that includes modern trade like Shopper’s Stop, Fashion Factory, Metro Cash & Carry, etc. Torero’s products are showcased in ECI in Spain, Nordstrom in the US, as also Dubai and Mall of Emirates, among others. The company is an exclusive fashion accessory partner of Amazon, Flipkart, and Ajio.com. Torero has got a deep level of automation in customer service and fulfilment to the fashion buying process, where ready stock of fashion goods can be shipped to stores, within 24 hours of ordering.
“Over the years, we have gained the trust of our customers and our employees are the backbone to that achievement. Also, we see here an opportunity to further strengthen Kolkata as a leather export hub and create more job opportunity,” says Rajesh Gupta, chairman of the company.
For the growth strategy, the company is now ready to invest Rs10 crore for the poly-propylene luggage-manufacturing unit in Howrah in West Bengal. The plant is expected to be commissioned by 2025. The unit will have an initial capacity of 2,000 bags per month, which will gradually go up to 10,000 bags per month. “The Indian organised luggage market is estimated at $2 billion and growing at 15 per cent. Poly-propylene luggage suits Indian demand. It is hard and long-lasting,” says Yashovardhan. The company will make Police brand luggage from this unit and will also manufacture for others.
“We will be looking at the listing option but not before achieving the revenue target of Rs1,000 crore in the next five years,” says Torero’s CFO O.P. Gupta. With a well-thought-out business sense, Torero has emerged as a significant player in the burgeoning leather
accessory segment.