Textile and apparel exports slide 12.2% on slack demand

India's textile and apparel exports in May 2023 were in total valued at $2,816 million (as against $3,206 million in May 2022) and its share in all commodity exports declined to 8.05%, from 8.22% a year earlier.

Shein to re-enter India soon

Fast-fashion e-commerce giant Shein plans to re-enter India after agreeing to a licensing deal with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd. The comeback is nearly three years after the brand was booted out of the country.

Brand Suman Nathwani: Using Innovative Designs to Shape the Intimate Wear Category

Brand Suman Nathwani is on a growth spree and how! The brand has grown on the back of technology, store design and customer experience par excellence. Its inclusive designs and superior fabric quality have made it an instant hit across age groups and the brand aims to expand its retail presence to over 100 doors across India within the next 3 years...

A brand from a refined atelier

Forty-five years after it was founded, major leather goods brand Hidesign competes with the likes of Charles Keith. Today, the company operates 103 stores, is in the process of opening another 4, and has spread its presence across 25 countries.

NICHE FRAGRANCES FROM UAE

UAE-based My Perfume Group was started with one multi-brand trading store in 1993. But its presence has gone global. In 2014, it launched My Perfumes Select as a new age brand that, it says, embraced rich ancient perfumery traditions of the Middle East while embracing the modern global fragrance cultures. Later in 2023, buoyed by the worldwide success, it decided to launch the brand in Mumbai. \"Mumbai is a highly dynamic city and is the financial and commercial hub. It is also one of the fastest growing economies and the fashion capital of India as well,\" Mustafa Firzo, Managing Director, My Perfumes Group, informs Images Business of Fashion. Excerpts.

FASHION TAKES CENTRE STAGE IN LUCKNOW!

Lucknow, the vibrant city known for its rich culture and heritage, played host to a fashion event that was nothing short of extraordinary.

MAKER OF AFFORDABLE FASHION

In 1988, in a small town of central India, Rajendra Seth decided to sell his first ready-to-wear at ₹98. Despite this bold move, the concept became a big hit and thus Dennison was born.

Despite Fashion Pact, fashion industry remains major polluter

Kearney's 2023 CFX finds that the needle has barely moved since last year's report, with the 200 global brands analyzed barely reaching an average of 2.97 on a circularity scale of 10.

THE NON-LINEAR SUSTAINABLE APPROACH

Unlike the linear model, circular fashion is one approach in which waste and pollution are designed out, products and materials are kept in use for as long as possible, including through reusing and recycling, and where natural systems are regenerated.

CONSCIOUS BRANDS AND STAYING RELEVANT

The consumer value system is influenced by various factors, including personal values, cultural norms, social influences, and economic considerations. As the world evolves, these sentiments only get stronger and number of socially conscious consumer is going to increase.

INDIAN FASHION RETAIL MARKET

The size of the Indian apparel market in FY 2022 was US$ 65 billion. The domestic apparel market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.3% and this growth will be driven by an increase in both the per capita consumption and the average spend on apparel. Meanwhile, growing movement towards sustainability in fashion has pushed the fashion industry to innovate through the value chain...

THE GREAT PROMISE IN INDIA'S FASHION MARKET

India has taken over China as the most populous country and its economy is fifth largest in the world. It's believed that it could become the third largest by 2032. What does it mean for the country's fashion industry which has grown phenomenally over the years?

DIPTI TOLANI: WEAVING TOGETHER A BUSINESS

Dipti Tolani began her entrepreneurial journey in 2017 without any connections or network. Prior to launching Salt Attire, she worked as a Consultant working on Financial Risk in New York. She has also worked with HSBC as a software developer for their OTC Derivatives Platform. For her, it was literally weaving together a business, one stitch at a time. Five years into the business, Founder & CEO of the women's fashion brand is a respected name in the Indian fashion market. Images Business of Fashion reached out to her to find out her journey.

Seamless blending of Indian techniques and textiles

Founded by Aneeth Arora, Péro interprets international aesthetic using local material and skills. It claims to have taken inspiration from what surrounds us, to make a product that connects with people, wherever in the world it is placed. It claims that the Indian-ness of the brand rests in the textile process, where materials pass through the hands of one craftsperson to the other, carrying forward the Indian tradition of hand-crafting and creating pieces that are at once unique. Arora, a textile graduate from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and a fashion graduate from National Institute of Fashion Technology, calls herself a 'textile and dress maker'. Located at Delhi's Patparganj, it recently launched its spring-summer collection. IMAGES Business of Fashion interacted with the founder to find out more about the brand.

BRIDGING THE GAP IN KIDS FASHION

Swati Saraf says that Les Petits was launched in 2011 with the aim to bring trending global kids’ fashion to the country. The luxury fashion boutique for newborns to 12 year olds offers premium fashion apparel, accessories, and furniture from leading international brands under a single roof. Over the years in the industry, we have presence in prime locations of Palladium Mumbai, DLF Emporio and DLF Avenue Saket in Delhi. And recently, we launched our fourth store in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad,” Saraf, who is the President of Les Petits, informs Images Business of Fashion. Edited excerpts

PAIO: MAKER OF CONSCIOUS FOOTWEAR WITH STRONG DESIGN ELEMENTS

A completely made in India brand, using locally sourced materials, PAIO's ethos is based on the idea that fashion need not come at the cost of a precious life. Shweta Nimkar founded the cruelty-free and vegan footwear brand in 2015 with one simple agenda - to create conscious footwear with strong design elements inspired by everything around us, while making sure each product is comfortable.

JUTTIS THAT SPEAK CHARM

Shirin Mann Sangha claims to be an accidental entrepreneur. As a child she admired her mother wearing juttis and always loved the craft. But the idea of making struck her when she could not find the right juttis for her own wedding. She founded Needledust in 2014. Over the years, it has gained a prominent position in the jutti market, captivating customers both in India and internationally.

GOOD INDIAN: A SUSTAINABLE D2C BRAND IN TOWN

The environmental and social cost of the fashion industry has compelled brands to rethink fast fashion and stress on the need for more sustainable business models and practices. The latest brand to have joined the club is Good Indian.

A FOOT FORWARD: The Landscape and Future of the Indian Sportswear Market

Today, sportswear has transcended its athletic origins to become a fashion statement embraced by people from all walks of life. Several factors have stimulated this growth. The emergence of health and wellness trends, an increase in sporting events, rise of sports celebrities, higher disposable incomes, and a shift in lifestyle patterns towards fitness activities are some of the driving forces.

Attitude and aura of Italian heritage and workmanship

Fila says it has been able to balance the product manufacturing locally versus import in its portfolio. The apparel manufacturing contribution is 80% India and 20% import. The brand is operated under Metro Brands since it was bought over from Batra Group. FILA will be present across all Metro and Mochi stores, Abdon Lepcha, the brand’s Creative Director informs Images Business of Fashion. Excerpts

'We will add at least 10 more stores this year'

HRX (Hrithik Roshan Extreme) was strictly an online brand until last year. It offers a range of products including t-shirts, track pants, jackets, tights, as well as sports accessories such as footwear, and backpacks for men and women. Its store collections are inspired by the Bollywood actor's everyday choices for workouts. The brand, jointly owned by Hrithik Roshan and Exceed Entertainment, was launched first on Myntra.com in November 2013 with an athleisure line for men. Recently, the active lifestyle apparel brand has secured an official fan merchandise partnership with four teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has unveiled physical stores. The brand's journey signifies the success story of a home-grown sportswear. In an email interview with Images Business of Fashion, Afsar Zaidi, Co-founder of the brand said, In the course of the journey we evolved, made mistakes, corrected the course, outshone competition, ma strong community, garnered enough love and finally once all the chief milestones- in terms of business, product and consumers were covered, we decided to go omni. Excerpts

DESIGNED IN MELBOURNE MADE AT THE BEST FACTORIES

Melbourne-based fashion brand Forever New has recently announced that it has deployed end-to-end post purchase technology stack of Unicommerce to strengthen its omnichannel operations. In an exclusive interaction with Images Business of Fashion, Dhruv Bogra, Country Head, Forever New said, We have made omnichannel capabilities a top priority in order to provide excellent customer delight. Our organisation has been concentrating on this sector for some years and has a longstanding relationship with our technology partners.” Excerpts

SPORTSWEAR MARKET WHERE FASHION MEETS FUNCTION

With increasing awareness about the importance of physical activity, more people are taking up sports and fitness activities. As a result, India’s sportswear market has registered significant growth over the years.

DIGITAL CUSTOMISED TAILORING SOLUTION

Two brothers, Dhruv Toshniwal and Udit Toshniwal, who hailed from a family with an experience of 45 years in the textile industry, founded The Pant Project to cater customised fashion. The idea to launch the brand online was a result of the pandemic as physical retail stores were closing down. We saw this as an opportunity to leverage the power of the internet to digitize the traditional tailoring experience and offer never-seenbefore levels of service, the brothers shared.

Classicuir: Designed in Paris, made in India

Founded by Priyanka Sethi, Classicuir caters leather products that combine 'timeless old style with modern design and they are designed in France and made in India'. The brand says its target audience is working class women and housewives in the age bracket of 28-55, women who love travelling and with household incomes of at least ₹30,000.

How D2C Brands Maximize Sales with Data-Driven Insights

This D2C business model has also provided brands with an enormous amount of data that they can use to improve their sales and marketing efforts. One of the key advantages is that it allows brands to have complete control over the customer journey, from product development to marketing and sales.

TIMEX: Staying true to its core belief

Helped by higher demand that now needs fresh capacity-enhancing investments, India has outpaced Europe as Timex Group’s second-largest market by revenue. The US-based watchmaker, which has a manufacturing at Baddi, on the border of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, plans to increase its capacity for both domestic and overseas sales, harnessing the unit’s potential as a sourcing hub. The company, which is the official timekeeper for Gujarat Titans, produces watches under its own brand Timex and also other premium fashion brands including Versace, Guess, GC, Nautica and Salvatore Ferragamo, among others. Recently, it announced the acquisition of Mumbai-headquartered premium watch retail brand, Just Watches, for an undisclosed sum. As part of this deal, Timex India will be taking over all the physical stores of Just watches along with their e-commerce platform-justwatches.com. To find out more, Images Business of Fashion interacted with Deepak Chhabra, Managing Director Timex Group India. Edited excerpts of the interview.

Curating FASHION that speaks

Shoppers Stop, India's leading fashion and beauty destination, 'curates fashion that speaks to the hearts of its customers. It takes great pride in its large presence in the retail sector, with 102 (including airport doors) stores spread across 50 cities in India. In an exclusive interaction with Images Business of Fashion, Venu Nair, MD and CEO, Shoppers Stop said, \"With increasing usage of social media, the fashion aspiration of tier 1 and tier 2 towns is on a high. Customers want to be updated with latest fashion and beauty trends and are ready to invest.\" Excerpts

Bata India Q4 net profit up 4.2% at ₹65.62 cr

Shoemaker Bata India reported a 4.22 percent rise in consolidated net profit to ₹65.62 crore for the fourth quarter ended March, 2023.

SoleSearch raises ₹6 cr on debut

SoleSearch, an Indian street culture brand with an e-commerce platform for limited edition sneakers, and streetwear, accessories, collectibles just raised ₹6 crores in their first funding round.