Classic Polo’ is the flagship brand of RCM, which is now 20 years old in India operating with an omnichannel presence
Royal Classic Mills is one of the leading knitwear manufacturers in India. The Tiruppur-based company’s knitwear brand, ‘Classic Polo’, is one of the most well-known brands in the country. ‘Fibre to Fashion Retail’ is the company’s mantra. The company buys cotton as raw material and ships garments through the Classic Polo brand in the Indian and select Asian markets. Vertical manufacturing units with latest machines from Europe and USA, right from spinning, knitting, dyeing, finishing and garmenting help RCM to achieve the best quality produce in the entire value chain of apparel production.
Manufacturing is done across 10 different facilities located in Tirupur, Dindigul and Coimbatore districts of Tamil Nadu. The company has about 6,000 direct employees. According to the company management, sustainable, eco-friendly manufacturing is its core value as it has implemented most of the resolutions made by world leaders at COP-26 Summit way back in 2005. This includes zero liquid discharge processing while the entire power required for factories is generated by renewable energy sources i.e. wind mills and solar energy. All sewage water is recycled and reused, 100% rainwater inside the campus is harvested and saved in wells, etc.
A Leading Brand
‘Classic Polo’ is the flagship brand of RCM, which is now 20 years old in India operating with an omnichannel presence with 150 exclusive stores, 3,000 family stores and through online channels such as Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra. Classic Polo offers entire men’s wardrobe solution with casual shirts, trousers, denims and T- shirts along with inner garments. While 70% of RCM’s revenue comes from exports, the remaining 30% of its revenue is created through its branded retail, which looks ahead to a promising future as this business is steadily growing by 30% year-on-year.
With its three decade old experience in manufacturing, experienced management in place, in-house manufacturing expertise and right balance between export and domestic branded business, makes the company strong with respect to plant utilisation and financial viability. Apart from selling 2 lakh units per month in India, Classic Polo is present in key Asian markets like Singapore, Sri Lanka and Dubai. The company is planning a bigger expansion for the entire Middle East countries soon.
CSR Activities
Beyond business, CSR is a serious activity at RCM. Through ‘VETRY’ – the company’s NGO, it has so far done the following activities:
• Construction of a breached check dam across river Noyyal.
• Rejuvenation of 60 acres lake and maintenance for the past 17 years.
• Adoption of a government school with construction of classrooms and washrooms for 3,100 children’s benefit.
• Mass tree plantation of 12 lakh trees in the past seven years across Tirupur district – in all private farm lands – for carbon sequestration and upliftment of poor farmers’ revenue.
• Running a 6 acres organic farm school to train farmers on zero budget and sustainable organic farming.
With next generation, Nithin and Sukesh Kumar joining the business after their graduation from the NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), RCM is set to grow with steady revenue stream in the years to come.