christian r fabre better known as swamiji toi photodesigners busy putting finishing touches to the latest collection snap to attention as christian r fabre enters the room in a swirl of saffron a rather unlikely ceo of a company that exports four million garments every year french designer fabre is an ascetic swami pranavananda brahmendra avadhuta or just swamiji to his employees and customers the world overchennais swami of fashion will soon have his own label in stores not just in the city but in europe as well by july the collection being put together at his sprawling office in ekkaduthangal will be available in spain and later uk his company provides apparel to brands such as liberto apc and oxbow free soul of italy and no excess from holland networks with about 50 manufacturers and indirectly provides employment to 72000 people a man who clothes people all over the world in the latest in style fabre himself wears only saffron and in his hermitage in kolli hills he sheds even that living nude and in harmony with naturechristian r fabres transformation to swamiji began when he first came to chennai in 1971 as a buyer of leather skins for a francobelgian company three years later the indian government announced a ban on the export of semifinished leather to promote the manufacture and export of finished products for fabre it meant the end of his stay in india but he didnt want to return defeated in the months that followed his wife returned home with their threeandahalfyearold son leaving fabre totally devastatedthen he began yoga with swami vedananda he introduced me to sarveshwara swamigal which changed my life says swamiji he had no hands or feet but was a happy man i realised i had nothing to cry about sarveshwara swamigal became his spiritual guru and fabre received sanyas diksha in january 1988 if you are sceptical about businessmanmonks he says my guru had just one condition that i continue working he told me there was no reason for me to go live in a cave or live on donationshe started a garment export business with just two employees exporting to french clients ten years ago swamiji established a company with a treasured friend and associate named jayapal we saw how we could make use of our knowledge of india and offer it to foreign customers says swamijithey got orders from french clients and identified local manufacturers who could work to export specifications in return they would get a commission we were the first bpo laughs swamiji their first client was lee cooper international with whom they worked for 12 years followed by kenzo in tirupur we do knits in bangalore trousers tops and jackets we also have a liasion office in delhi we have competitors across the country so we have to make sure we give the best service and constantly provide new services to retain our customers says swamiji his solution to the need for constant innovation