Dr Nalli Kuppuswami Chettiar enjoys a brand equity in the silk trade that is without peer.

Nalli Kuppuswami was born in 1940, the only son of Nalli Narayanaswamy. This family of weavers originally belonged to the Padmasaliyar community in Andhra Pradesh. Most of them migrated in the 15th and 16th centuries to settle down in Kancheepuram. The business was started in Chennai in 1928, at the residence of Nalli Chinnaswami Chetti (Nalli Kuppuswami's grandfather) and shifted to its current location at Panagal Park in 1935.

Nalli Kuppuswami was forced to rule out college education once his father died (in 1953) and he had to run the business under the stewardship of his uncle Nalli Rangaswami Chettiar. He took full charge in 1961 and since then has made the enterprise a multi-crore empire that includes showrooms and looms across the region. His work approach is characterised by win-win equations that he nurtures with both employees and customers. His concept of reviving old designs for silk sarees and presenting them in new forms has met with phenomenal success. So has his strategy of appealing to popular culture through film-inspired naming of designs.

The World University Round Table, Arizona, conferred on him a Cultural Doctorate in Human Resource Management. He is also President of the voluntary social service organisation - Sneha and plays an active role in the promotion of the performing arts through Mylapore Fine Arts and Krishna Gana Sabha. Nalli Kuppuswami has been closely associated with the Tamil Chamber of Commerce, serving the organisation in the capacity of President and Vice-President across different tenures. He is also author of the books 'Work is Worship', 'How to build up Business' and 'The Commercial World'.

Among his contributions to the weaver community are his involvement with the Tamil Nadu Padmashali Sangam (which he established), the All India Padmashallyula, the All India Padmashali Maha Sabha and the Madura Banaras Swadeshi Cloth Merchants Association.

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