Date:30/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/01/30/stories/2006013001341500.htm

Back RmKV's partner had a novel approach to silk saris marketing

Our Bureau

Chennai , Jan 29

MR K. Viswanathan (48), Partner, RmK Visvanatha Pillai & Sons, died in a road accident near Tirunelveli. His approach to marketing the traditional silk saris and the silk `pavadai'(long skirt) made RmKV a household name, not just in Chennai and Tirunelveli, where RmKV has stores, but in all places that silk saris are worn.

RmKV created a buzz around the traditional Kanchipuram sari by setting a Guinness Record for the longest silk sari in 2004. Last year, RmKV came out with another Guinness Record, a special check patterned sari with 50,000 colours woven into it.

Mr Viswanathan's branding of the traditional silk pavadai with fairy tale themes such as Cinderella and Snow White brought it back into fashion.

Mr Viswanathan, a top ranking student, completed his B.Tech. in Textile Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi. He joined the family business RmKV & Sons, then a leading silk and textile retailer in Tirunelveli.

He was District Governor of the Rotary (Dist 3210) in 1999-2000. Mr Viswanathan was a member of the infrastructure committee of the FICCI, New Delhi, a former Vice-President of the Tirunelveli District Chamber of Commerce and Industries and a member of the advisory board of St Xavier's college and Sri Sarada College, Tirunelveli. He was a patron of the Tirunelveli Chess Association and a Chairman of the Tirunelveli District Volleyball Association.