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EXCERPTS FROM THE INTERVIEW:

Having completed 20 successful years in the industry, Lifestyle currently has a network of 78 stores in India and is growing rapidly by adding one store every 45 days, aiming to have 100 stores within the next two years.

Which is the bigger market for kids’ denim brands – metros or smaller cities? Why?

One cannot leave behind the power of social media in brand building. Shah highlights, “Social media is one of the best ways to connect with today’s youth as they are highly active on various social platforms like Instagram, Facebook and twitter by creating engaging content, run contests where winners get gift vouchers to drive them to the store and other various initiatives like influencer marketing that is a current trend.”

– Increase value of timeless garments.

Shopping online is only going to get stronger. The reasons are multi fold – convenience, digitisation of payment thanks to mobile wallets and UPIs, scarcity of time to visit physical stores, easy returns and refund policies that brands extend only to their online consumers, multitudes of options to choose from and most importantly, massive discounts and endless offers. Despite all these perks, whether or not shopping for formal wear will be at par with casual wear depends solely on the players in this category. Better and more realistic cataloging is the first step for brands to take care of. As long as the cataloging is not undertaken keeping in mind the body type of an Indian women, the formal wear shopping online may either stagnate or the return rates for clothes purchased online will be high enough to convince players in this category to pull their shutters down, at least on the online channel.

The Journey Ahead

Speaking on his new role at 1-IndiaFamilyMart, he said, “My idea behind joining 1-India Family Mart is to take this company to the next level as it has been growing at a fast pace since its inception. We will be looking towards bringing in more and more skilled professionals into the business to match up to the scaling business and deliver an unparalleled retail experience to nearly 75 percent of the country’s population.”

Talking about the factors which influence growth of the category, Neha Shah, Assistant General Manager – Marketing, Pepe Jeans India Limited says, “Owing to westernisation, urbanisation and various other factors such as new technologies, styles, finishes, looks and trends, denim as a category has captured not only the cities, but also Tier I & II towns. Denims are widely accepted not only because of their functionality but also due to their versatility. Economic factors also have a role to play. Disposable incomes, young population, job growth, the online penetration of denims and increasing popularity of engineered or distressed pieces, indirectly contribute to consumer spending and in turn impact the fashion industry.”

As of 2018, 40 percent of the denim market is branded. However, there is pricing gap in the branded market with most of the branded offering is across mid to premium due to which brands are not able to cater significant needs of the market. The unbranded share is 60 percent of the total denim market and is marked by fragmented nature of supply. So, there is an opportunity for the private label play in the denim market in the value segment. Hence, value fashion retailers such as fbb, V-Mart, Max fashion can grow by plugging the need gap in the value denim market.

For years, the branded shirts market meant formal office wear shirts. Allen Solly, another international brand’s license by Madura, brought the concept of Friday Dressing to Indian market, and gave birth to numerous copycats. A new and exciting segment of casual and smart casual shirts gave a major fillip to the shirts industry.

PSL plans to open 10 international stores and 20 domestic stores in the next 24 months. The company expects to achieve an annual revenue run-rate of US$40 million+ across all channels including online, offline and events in the next 24 months.

The concept store will enable ThirdLove to connect with customers in a new way, providing a personalized bra fitting and try-on experience, with over 60 percent of the space dedicated to innovative fitting rooms. The brand will use the concept as a pilot test to gather information on what its customers are looking for from an in-person ThirdLove shopping experience.

Pastel jeans are also a big trend in the Indian market today with popular colors like teal, aqua marine, etc., along with Sulphur based colors. “Black and blue jeans are considered an essential item in most wardrobes, which can be paired with a wide range of colours. Brands do introduce new colours for jeans but these colour stories tend to be seasonal or theme based. In the coming season, we will see a lot of metallic tones,” asserts Manu Sharma.

The kid’s denim wear market is well established in Tier I cities and is now emerging into the Tier II and III cities as well. With growing purchasing power, style consciousness and international brands pouring in, one cannot ignore the opportunities these markets present. Big and small brands are now heading to these small cities with multiple formats.

The dedicated Max Fashion brand store will offer over 5,000 styles making it the largest ‘single brand’ launch on Amazon Fashion. The launch comes with convenient free-shipping options for all customers. Furthermore, Amazon Prime members will have access to free two-day shipping, and more, across selections from Max Fashion.

As Abdon Lepcha, Creative Director, Fila India puts it: “Celebrities, influencers and social media are displaying athleisure as their lifestyle which has prompted fans to adopt their lifestyle. This has ushered in an athleisure cult, with activewear being worn on runways, streets, home, offices, airports as well as gyms.”

In the recent past, India has be experiencing an extensive growth in demand for organic apparel and sustainable fashion which is believed to contribute approx 5 percent of the total apparel business. Keeping that in mind and the suggested future of the same, many national and international apparel manufacturers like, Raymond, Levi’s, Arrow, United Colors of Benetton, Wills Lifestyle etc have put in place a strong product line and a team to address the subject of sustainability.

What are the growth aspirations for the brand?

A pair of jeans can be found in practically everyone’s wardrobe – from a hardcore ethnic Indian wear patron to someone who has a collection of trousers in practically every colour. Life without that pair of jeans is unimaginable something which has fuelled the imagination of the fashion retail industry for decade now. In fact, the apparel industry across the globe has been unanimous in positioning denim bottoms as the king of all apparel, leading to a plethora of brands entering this category, specially so post the e-commerce revolution. However, despite the number of brands entering the space, the denim market – especially in India – is very oligopolistic in nature, with just a few category leaders enjoying their premium position.

ThirdLove, the women’s bra and underwear company, announced the launch of their first experiential retail store concept, opening on July 24, in New York City.

Mi Men’s Sports Shoes 2 are engineered with 5-in-1 uni-moulding technology, that combines five different materials making them shock-absorbent, durable and slip-resistant. A unique combination of performance and style, these shoes are now available on Flipkart Fashion starting at Rs 2,999.

Certain factors which are contributing as key growth drivers of denim wear in the country are enumerated below:

Mayank Shivam, Director – Category Management, Amazon Fashion India said, “We are thrilled to associate with Max Fashion and launch them on Amazon Fashion. Max Fashion is one of the most loved value fashion brands that offers fashion choices for the entire family. It will now be accessible across 100 percent pin codes in India through Amazon making fashion accessible for everyone. Max Fashion’s presence on Amazon reiterates the brand’s trust in us to deliver an unparalleled shopping experience across the country.”

The advent of some of these international brands opened up new and higher price points for the shirt industry, otherwise the industry was stagnating and was unable to move their price point any further.