Satya Paul ..there are a lot of myths surrounding this brand, this is a short synopsis on many unknown facets .. He was originally born in leiah district in what is now Pakistan. After partition, he started from scratch with helping his father eventually, found themselves running a restaurant in Sarojni Nagar market. The restaurant became very successful at the time, a very popular joint that was frequented by many great artists, poets, and singers who all became his friends. He realized his passion lies in textiles and started retailing in 1965. Satya Paul, became a pioneer retailer of India. He launched two of the most prominent stores in the country, Handloom Emporium (Now renamed as Heritage), and L`affaire. When he started working as a retailer, he realized that the market has needs that are not being met. He travelled extensively, sourced and convinced weavers and craftsmen to create what he designed … in the process he silently leant a hand to weavers around the country and supported Indian textiles like no other designer in the country. In the mid 70′s this led to his developing Indian handloom and crafts towards export to the big department stores around the world, Kaufhauf, Galleries Lafayette, Bloomingdales, Takashimaya etc. Travels around the world also gave him the big picture and opened up his horizons.

1. Satya Paul- A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step
… Satya Paul ..there are a lot of myths surrounding this brand, this is a short synopsis on many unknown
facets ..
He was originally born in leiah district in what is now Pakistan. After partition, he started from scratch
with helping his father eventually, found themselves running a restaurant in Sarojni Nagar market. The
restaurant became very successful at the time, a very popular joint that was frequented by many great
artists, poets, and singers who all became his friends. He realized his passion lies in textiles and started
retailing in 1965. Satya Paul, became a pioneer retailer of India. He launched two of the most prominent
stores in the country, Handloom Emporium (Now renamed as Heritage), and L`affaire. When he started
working as a retailer, he realized that the market has needs that are not being met. He travelled
extensively, sourced and convinced weavers and craftsmen to create what he designed … in the process
he silently leant a hand to weavers around the country and supported Indian textiles like no other
designer in the country. In the mid 70′ s this led to his developing Indian handloom and crafts towards
export to the big department stores around the world, Kaufhauf, Galleries Lafayette, Bloomingdales,
Takashimaya etc. Travels around the world also gave him the big picture and opened up his horizons.
Seeing the future of the industry, the Satya Paul label was launched on the 1st of April 1985. At the
time there was no designer industry. I had a background in photography and graphic design but
chose to join him as i thought i would learn about textiles etc however it became my full time
passion. Thus it was the birth of not only the brand, but one of the first steps of the designer
industry in India – though the government still does not recognize it as one.
In those days one had to explain the work designer to everyone.. One of the earliest strategic steps
was for the first time, each sari started getting branded with the designers logo. it was met with
resistance in the entire industry and customers too were unhappy about it till the early 90′ s when
things started getting understood. Initially, to overcome the ‘what is a designer question’ was to
sell the product as ‘S Paul for Paul Salon’ and, the advertising featured the Name of the company
‘Paul Salon’, till we realized that it would be confusing in the long run, and changed it to be simply
the name of the designer.
Satya Paul started the revolution unknown to him .. first, the choice to pick up the sari as the
garment to design was taken in view of the marketplace. Being a practical person, he made what
was the prevalent outfit of the times – but in effect touched something that was untouched by the
hand of a designer till then. Saris were known only for their origins i.e.: weaving center ( kota,
benarasi, Kanjeevaram etc), not by the name of a designer who worked in various centers and
pooled his look made in the various centers. A collection based on iris flowers for example woven in
different weaving centers, matched with embroidery and prints created and crafted to be
presented at the same time had never been done. Many of the earlier pieces sit in museum across
the world as a representation of craft of our time. Currently there is an exhibit happening in the
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston that features work done over the years that represent the sari and
crafts of India.

2. We started the movement to show fashion in the format of fashion shows in 1986-87, that were
done across five cities in India as a solo show. This was done to educate and grow the brand but as
it turns out, made history. Today they are common place, however at the time, they were clearly
ahead of their times. Though much appreciated, went over most peoples head like an airplane.
Creating a designer, brand, and industry, though it is simply stated today, was a painful pioneering
effort that was full of challenges and it was hard to make people see the conceptual work for its
value. To make the change evident the work was delivered formatted in 4 collections every season.
‘Museum Piece collection’ was christened for those pieces that were created with great difficulty
and changed or improved the kind of technique used in weave. Only those that were deemed
breaking away from the norm were included in this. It was mostly a connoisseurs delight.
‘Renaissance’ was based on revival of older techniques and design styles. For example, the look of a
Jam-e-waar shawl, juxtaposition with an optical art pattern weave, and printed in numerous colors
using modern techniques; these are now collectors pieces as the tedious task of even producing it
to this degree is too cumbersome.
Signature Series was the playground of fashion ideas. Even to this day, fashion is considered too
‘serious’ an affair. This collection was the effort to play with different art forms, like op art, or using
techniques and ornament forms from around the world and various styles of painters over the
years; infusing all this and more in the modern context to a sari was a breath of fresh air. Some
playful examples of this collection were producing Marilyn Monroe’s portrait in halftone, the
skyline of Manhattan done as a bold graphic etc. At the time these were deemed not only
unconventional but also crazy, however left an impact in the marketplace and created openness in
the marketplace.
the 4th series was Avant Garde, so named as it was a series dedicated to questioning the basic
principles of clothing design. The experiments were creating saris with various materials like paper
or plastics, changing the size, look or form of the sari.
Such were the times, one such collection was presented at a press event and show we presented 30
different ideas of the sari, including a trouser sari and the sari as a dress. No-one in that room
understood the magnitude of what was shown. About 9 months later, Zandra Rhoades, the British
designer comes to India and does some experiments with the pall and uses south silks to make
saris, and it causes a sensation for the foreign design endorsement.
Later, more product categories were offered like ties, and limited edition corporate work. with the
foreign companies that were in India at the time like American Express. The late 80′ s also saw
Satya Paul gain a foreign licensee in Japan selling the works under his label till their economy
collapsed in the early 90′ s.
The Satya Paul Brand has for most of its history been probably the most widely distributed
designer, in quantity and value terms in the Indian subcontinent …

3. The brand in 2001 was taken up by a new formed company called Genesis Colors and re-launched
in the marketplace has scaled new heights. It is a unique partnership of designer Puneet Nanda and
two bankers Jyoti M Narula and Sanjay Kapoor. Both of them had been associated with the brand
since 1992, when they had taken up the license for Satya Paul ties. It was a natural progression to
create the company to take forward the baton with a vision to make it India’s first fashion
corporation. Today Satya Paul remains as the innovative premier menswear accessory and women
swear designer in the country with over 35 exclusive stores and over 250 retailers around the world
that sell the product.