The Chennai Silks
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1962 |
| Founder | Thiru. A. Kulandaivel Mudaliar |
Area served | Southern India |
Key people |
|
| Products | Textiles, ready-made, silk sarees |
Number of employees | 50000 |
| Parent | SCM Group |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
The Chennai Silks is chain of retail textile shops in South India.[2][3]
History
Its founder Thiru. A. Kulandaivel Mudaliar, who was living in a village near Avinashi, entered the business in 1962.[4] However its first textile shop was started in Tirupur in 1991 as "Kumaran Silks" later renamed as "The Chennai Silks" in 2001.[5] They also export clothes for chain stores in the United States and Europe including Decathlon, Carrefour and Hanes.[6]
A fire in 2017 destroyed the Chennai Silks building in Chennai.[7]
In November 2025, the company partnered with Tamil Nadu Government and established a garment manufacturing unit worth ₹50 crore near Mannargudi.[8]
Records
In 2007, a Guinness world record – "most expensive silk saree" was created by Chennai Silks. It was worth about $100,021; £50,679 (worth ₹41 lakhs) and features reproductions of 11 famous paintings by the Indian artist Raja Ravi Varma. The main image is a reproduction of Raja Ravi Varma's Galaxy of Musicians. It took around 4760 hours to complete the design.[9]
References
- ^ "The Chennai Silks: Spinning a success story". Moneycontrol. 26 May 2017.
- ^ "The Chennai Silks to expand". The Hindu Business Line. 3 September 2008. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
- ^ "The Chennai Silks to open showroom in Kerala". The Hindu Business Line. 4 July 2009.
- ^ "Soft Silk".
- ^ "A legacy in every stitch: Inside SCM Textile Spinners' Empire". The Textile Magazine. 8 October 2025.
- ^ Venkatesan, Radha (18 December 2008). "Tirupur feels the meltdown pinch". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
- ^ "NOC granted for reconstructing Chennai Silks building, despite difficulties in extinguishing fire: CAG". The Hindu. 11 October 2023.
- ^ "Rs 50cr garment unit to be set up near Mannargudi". The Times of India. 14 November 2025.
- ^ "The most expensive silk saree". Guinness World Records. 2008. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
External links