Bof april 2011 digital

, APR 11 VOL. XII No. 4 `100 US$20

high rentals low footfalls who’s to blame?

F A S H I O N

•

M A R K E T I N G

•

R E T A I L I N G

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Deal Clothing co.,

Gazdarbandh Road, Behind Juhu Garden, Santacruz (W) -400 054 India T : 91-22-26609880/81, 91-22-26612880 F : 91-22-26612879 E : dealjeans@gmail.com w: www.dealclothing.com For Trade Enquiries contact :

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April 2011 | 178 pages | VOL. XII No. IV | www.imagesfashion.com

editor-in-chief amitabh taneja editorial director r s roy

managing editor nupur chakraborty executive editor madhumita bardhan sinha

director - planning

sr. associate editor-cum-chief of bureau

sr. research correspondent

sr. correspondent

copy editor cum correspondent

research correspondent

creatives art director sr. layout designers

sr. photographer asst. photographer photo coordinator

anjali sondhi nivedita j pawar (mumbai) nalini singh aakriti agarwal trisha mukherjee vasantasena biswas (kolkata) pawan kumar verma gopal thakur raj kumar sharma vipin kardam deepak malik kamal kumar

publisher s p taneja business development chief operating officer sandipan singh

advertising lead. group

assoc. vice president, product head

assoc. vice president (technology) assoc. vice president (retail real estate)

general manager (retail support)

dy. general manager (fashion)

assoc. vice president & regional heads

sr. manager

managers (advertising)

sr. executives

assoc. vice president (circulation) sr. manager (circulation)

associates

production general manager sr. executive

services general manager (logistics) general manager (customer relations) subscription sr. executive (logistics)

lokesh chopra vijay bajaj vineet chadha arti kapur rajesh kaul waseem ahmad (mumbai) piyali roy oberoi (kolkata) sunil disley (b’lore) jayant arora (delhi) vinod motwani (mumbai) pratik ghosh (kolkata) rohan narayan (kolkata) anil nagar r p singh (mumbai)

s venkataraaman (chennai) 9444021128 (m) hemant gupta (ludhiana) 9814019745 (m)

manish kadam ramesh gupta rajeev mehandru hemant wadhawan rajesh kumar shambhu nath

I have said it before and I’ll say it again. We are a land of vast potential; we are a nation just waiting to happen. At each of the IMAGES events this fact is driven home and how! The younger generation is hip, modern and fashion conscious. With a billion plus population what potential! At the recent InFashion trade show the overwhelming number of participants reinforced that even operating from the remotest corners of the country, retailers and manufacturers are doing good business. Yes, a major chunk of that business comes from the traditional sector. But, what is to stop the traditional and modern sectors from aligning themselves to maximise their margins?

More than sixty years ago India became a free country. Much was decreed and, to some extent, done by those in power to bring India out of those dark and backward days. We have indeed taken giant strides since then to emerge as a country to reckon with. Today, India is a rapidly developing economy bursting with business possibilities—a testament to what right government policies and incentives can do. Industries are becoming increasingly stronger not only in terms of toplines and bottomlines but also as a unified sector. The fallout of the recent 10 per cent excise levy on branded readymade garments is a classic example of how the retail industry nationwide rallied together to protest. As a result, the government was compelled to offer a reduction, which has not satisfied the industry and it is continuing its efforts even as we go into print. Power to the retailer!

When we started researching our cover story about the rising rentals in shopping centres we found a mismatch of expectations and deliverables between retailers and mall owners. Who is responsible? The question is moot. If the industry can unite against a government decision forcing it to reconsider, can both not work together such that all gain?

Hold that thought while you enjoy reading the issue…

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Printed & published by S P Taneja on behalf of Images Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. Printed at Swan Press of Lahore, B-71, Naraina Industrial Area, Phase – 2, New Delhi 110028 and published by S P Taneja from S- 21 Okhla Industrial Area Phase – 2, New Delhi.110020 Editor : Amitabh Taneja In relation to any advertisements appearing in this publication, readers are recommended to make appropriate enquiries before entering into any commitments. Images Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. does not vouch for any claims made by the advertisers of products and services. The Printer, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the publication shall not be held for any consequences in the event of such claims not being honored by the advertisers.

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CONTENTS april 2011

VOL. Xii No. iv

118 STRATEGY

A Strategic Entry

Vineet Gautam steers Bestseller on its course with the right business plan and business model.

26

122 RETAIL WATCH

Spearheading the Luxe Wave

As the Indian market is beginning to appreciate luxury, Blues Clothing Company hopes to capitalise on its early-entry advantage.

Executive Director Abhay Gupta talks about the road ahead.

DESIGNER WEAVES

96

Lakmé Fashion Week Meher Castelino brings design directions for the Summer Resort 2011 season.

c o ver st o ry

80

E V E R Y MON T H

134 The Journey

The Classic Touch

Classic Polo charts a steady growth with focused strategy under the guidance of T. R. Sivaraman.

11

EDITORIAL

16

WEB PAGE

17

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

28

february IN BRIEF

48

SEASON’S OFFERINGS

70

OUTLETS

76

brand ambassador

159 Window trends 166 TRADE CALENDAR

high rentals low footfalls who’s to blame?

Experts analyse the dilemma behind the rising rentals perspectives from Asipac and Jones Lang LaSalle.

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

CONTENTS april 2011

138 BRAND WATCH

Taking the Denim Road

Paresh Chandan, proprietor of Bangalore-based brand Hard Currency talks about his plans to venture into other markets with a wide array of jeans and casualwear.

VOL. Xii No. iv

78

hard tal k

Textile Trade Harminder Sahni on the textile trade being not the bottom but the foundation of the fashion industry pyramid.

140 Fashion Forecast

N. Roshan Singh of Pearl Academy of Fashion brings the Indian fashion forecast for menswear Spring Summer 2012

m y th o u ghts

Sports DNA on the Rise Sportswear is witnessing a continuous growth in the fashion industry with changing trends and lifestyles. Subhinder Singh, MD, Reebok India talks how this industry is on an upswing.

18

154 Dream Merchants

Bohemian Charm

Nital Ganatra, fashion costume stylist, brings a preview of latest Hollywood styles that will influence fashion.

156 in the closet

Evolved and Elegant

Vikram Raizada, ED Marketing, Retail & Business Development, Tara Jewels throws open his wardrobe showcasing style statements to Images BOF.

E ve n ts t

125

InFashion

GLAMOUR CLAMOUR

Aditi Singh Sharma

170

My homespun picks

Potential & Opportunities in the fashion retail industry

Get all your

answers with a click!

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for your daily dose of the business of fashion with trends, profiles, news, videos, photos and much more.

advertiser’s

STORI: Front Gate Fold

INDEX Brands

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

APPLE EYE B:KIND BATA BEYOUTY BODYCARE CHIC CHOCOLATE BABY CLASSIC POLO CMAI CONVERSE COTTON USA CRUSOE DEAL DONEAR DUKE

CROCS: Inside Front Cover ONLY: Inside Back Cover COTSTYLE: Back cover DERBY: Back Gate Fold E-TEENZ, FRANCHISING : Dog Ear

Page nos.

59 10 77 14 39 91 41 55 107 12 83 6 7 89 71

Brands

Page nos.

Brands

EXCEED FIDA FILA FRAGRANCE FRANCHISING GESTURE GITANJALI INFINITY IRIS JANAKSONS LAWMAN LILLIPUT LINO PERROS LOTTO

45 49 47 67 112, 113 9 103 24, 25 173 32 73 5 51 35

MAGNET MALL MEGAMART ODYSSEY ONLY PLAN BEE PROTEENS REX STRAUT SAFEXPRESS SHOPPING CENTER FORUM SNX SUBSCRIPTION FORM TANTRA TSG BREEZE TWILLS VIVA CITY WYM

LUX

20, 21

Page nos.

22, 23 75 109 174 17 85 8 95 26, 27 37 168, 169 65 99 69 93 57

We couldn’t afford the KHANS.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The India Fashion Forum coverage was very comprehensive. I wanted to attend it but could not. It is heartening to read the industry stalwarts discuss and come up with suggestions to issues like high rentals, rising cotton prices, supply chain, et cetra.

Ramesh Singhvi, Retailer Just finished reading this interesting coverage of IFF 2011. What’s more challenging is to be able to implement a plethora of ideas and innovations discussed and talked about at the forum.

Kritika Lal, Manufacturer Fashion forecast is well done with relevant designs, text and pictures. It makes for an excellent fashion read.

Manish Rajpal, Designer

So we went with plan B

The Journey section is always inspiring and motivates the start-up businesses like ours to keep going in spite of all odds. Seema Kakkar’s fresh views of not participating in fashion shows and still making it big is very encouraging.

The March issue was excellent. Kudos team!

Lalita Belliappa, Designer & Retailer I am working towards getting a franchisee of an apparel brand soon. The future of franchising in My Thoughts section is a well-informed write-up and helped me better understand the concept.

Prithvi Gupta, Student

Errata: Hats Off Apparels, a men’s knitwear brand established in 1989, currently retails out of 863 MBOs with expansion plans of launching EBOs in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore. Number of outlets added by the Turtle brand are 10 EBOs and 150 MBOs in 2010. We regret the error in the information printed in the February Brands of India issue.

Cuffinks by

All India Sales Chief: Naresh Mohnani 98211 -48038 Mumbai, Ahmedabad Hemant Sawant 92214-61133 Hyderabad Pravin Jahagirdar 98480-16133, 040-27552735 Bangalore Jaisingh Ved 98451-64311 Punjab, Chandigarh: Hemant Sawant 92214-61133 Delhi NCR Naresh Mohnani, 98211-48038.

MP, Chattisgarh Mukesh Sharma 81033-75577 Srinagar Yasin Khan 94190-05268, 94190-63729 bratgaba@gmail.com, planbee@rediffmail.com Fax: 022-24055192 www.planbee.webnode.com Our sincere thanks to our Astro-Vaastu Consultant:

Ms Gulshan Pithawala Gaba Gulshan.a.vaastu@gmail.com 98333-40676 (Mumbai)

It’s an uncertain world.

YOU’VE GOT TO HAVE planbee !!

• my thoughts •

Sports DNA on the

W

ith 35 per cent of India’s populace below the age of 14 years and 56 per cent below 25 years, the country is essentially a young nation and has a young workforce. As a result, there has been a rise in the disposable income and people are dedicating a part of their income towards fulfilling their desire to remain fit from an early age.

Earlier, lifestyle spend constituted only of dining, entertainment and shopping whereas today a vital element of lifestyle, for most individuals, is sports and fitness. And the reason behind this trend change is because staying fit and healthy have become a priority for people in the country.

With Bollywood celebrities associating with IPL teams, actively watching cricket tournaments on ground and participating in various sports campaigns, the reach of sports has expanded even further. The amalgamation of 18 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

RISE

Sportswear is witnessing a continuous growth in the fashion industry with changing trends and lifestyles. Subhinder Singh, Managing Director, Reebok India, talks about different aspects of the the industry and its growth.

India’s two biggest religions – cricket and Bollywood – has thrown open a wide net of opportunity for brands and marketers as together the two wield an even stronger power with the consumers.

It is not only cricket but also other sports that the Indian consumer has started embracing. Today, India is a far more sport-conscious nation and with tennis, football, boxing, golf, et cetra catching up in the country, the growth of the sportswear industry is on an upswing. People like to indulge themselves in sport activities, more so with Indian sportsperson doing well on international forums. It is considered cool and the trend of sport-oriented lifestyle is becoming highly popular.

With the Common Wealth Games being held in India in 2010 and the country making its mark in various sports such as tennis, shooting, boxing, et cetra other than cricket , the Indian audience is more proud of their country’s talent in different sports. Watching sports is considered cool and many people are thus resorting to it as a leisure activity to enhance their cool quotient. The couch potato syndrome that so characterised watching sports in India is rapidly diminishing. It is now increasingly becoming a major part of

social gatherings. People like to catch up for a game of tennis, football, cricket and other such curricular. Thus, catalysing the growth of the sportswear industry.

Deeper penetration by sports brands and mushrooming of sports academies, sports clubs and fitness centres have made both learning and indulging in various sports much easier than ever before. Equipment and sports gear is now more easily available not only in metros but also in smaller towns. This trend is well chartering the path towards better growth for sportswear.

Sports is no longer a privilege of the youth. People across age groups have come forward today to indulge in sports in their own unique way. A wider audience will also contribute to the growth of the industry and pave the way for innovation and segmentation in sportswear. Brands were initially targeting only at the youth whereas now the children’s segment is also consuming a lot of sportswear. The horizon of the consumer base has widened.

One of the trends is the increasing participation in various marathons across the country showing acceptance of the running culture among our populace.

Another trend is that while men are developing a keen interest in running, women have attached tremendous

importance to toning. Fitness is no longer equated to gyms alone.

With the formation of India’s Formula One – Force India and the inauguration of Greater Noida Formula One track planned this year, lifestyle sports have taken an all-time new high.

Consumers are taking renewed interest and pride in these developments.

Casual and sportswear is fusing and giving rise to a whole new range of products. The designs are very stylised yet have a sporty element with use of colours, number prints, sporty tagline, use of fabric, et cetra.

Sport is now increasingly becoming a major part of social gatherings... Thus, catalysing the growth of the sportswear industry.

Over the years, many players in the industry have lost sight of what sport really mean to people. This winner takes all attitude has overshadowed the true essence of sports. The effective marketing and promotional strategies are mainly the on-ground activities.

Association with relatively smaller events and association with young players help in identifying talented players with passion and calibre. Earlier sportswear brands would associate themselves only with sports star who made it big but now brands are supporting young players too.

Reebok supported some cricket players at a very early stage, who have now made it big on international forums.

It is essential to simplify sports and enable consumers to experience the essence of it. Thus at every stage, it is important for consumers to rediscover the joy in sport and life and the brands must continue to do so in innovative and breakthrough ways in future. BoF April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 19

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For advertising enquiries:

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For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

For advertising enquiries:

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The mall with infinite experiences

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Infiniti Mall, New Link Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai-400 053. Tel.: 6131 9191

The mall with infinite experiences

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Infiniti Mall, Link Road, Malad (W), Mumbai.

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For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

•

BoF BRANDTRACKER •

IMAGES Business of Fashion BRINGS the BoF BrandTracker, a monthly monitor of fashion brands and their retail growth, with the objective of providing a snapshot of key international brands’ retail presence and store count in India.

This month, we study Menswear and Womenswear brands including UCB, Ermenegildo Zegna, Energie, mothercare and Adolfo dominguez.

RESEARCH BY

INTERNATIONAL BRAND

United colors of Benetton

Ermenegildo Zegna

Launched in India

1991

2000

Country of origin

Italy

Italy

Indian partner or associate

Benetton India Private Ltd

Reliance Brands Limited

Operating structure

Wholly-owned subsidiary

51-49 JV

Total stores

250

4

Presence in cities

50

4

Presence in states

25

4

Apparel for men & women

Apparels for men & women

Apparel for women T-shirts - `699 - `1,399, Shirts - `1,499 - `1,999 Trousers/Denims - `1,699 - 4,000, Bags - `1,799 - 3,999 Apparel for men T-shirts - `699 - `1,599, Shirts - `1,399 - `2,999 Trousers - `1,799 - `3,500, Denims - `1,799 - 4,000 Bags - `2,299 - 4,500 Apparel for kids T-shirts - `399 - 999, Shirts - `799 - `1,299 Denims - `899 -`1,699

Apparel overall `7,500 onwards

Products

Price range

* For consolidated brand tracking data of previous months visit our website www.imagesfashion.com 28 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Energie

Mothercare

Adolfo Dominguez

2010

2006

2011

Italy

U.K.

Spain

Arvind Lifestyle Brands Ltd.

DLF

Wadhawan Lifestyle Retail Private Limited (WLRPL)

Licensed

70-30 JV

Franchise

4

54

1

4

13

1

4

9

1

Apparel for men

Apparels for women & kids

Apparel and accessories for men and women

Shirts - `2,200 - `3,000 Trousers - `4,500+ Tees - `1,200 - 2,000 Jeans - `3,000 - `10,000, Sweat shirts - `2,500- `3,000+

Apparel overall `499 onwards

Overall ` 2,500 - `45,000

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 29

• March IN BRIEF •

The taste of

Spanish Luxury Spanish designer Adolfo Dominguez enters India market in association with retail partner Wadhawan Lifestyle Retail.

Abhinav Zutshi, Business Head, International Brands, WLR, talks the value propositions of the brand.

by Shweta Jain

30 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

M

uch celebrated Spanish luxury prêt label Adolfo Dominguez (AD) opened its first boutique in India at the Ambience Mall, New Delhi. It’s a first designer label from Spain to enter the country, after the luxury high street brand Zara.

Abhinav Zutshi, Business Head, International Brands, WLR, says, “Adolfo Dominguez truly represents Spanish luxury fashion. It holds an essence of affordable luxury, while bridging the gap between luxury and premium markets. This is a new category, which we would like to spearhead – so far brands that have entered the Indian market have been either a slice of luxury or affordable, but we really haven’t seen any players in this segment. Our collection in India will be at par with international trends and the store here promises to give the customers an elite fashion experience.”

Adolfo Dominguez that has over 600 point of sales across 27 countries. According to Zutshi the brand has made its India entry and that too in Delhi at a good time, “Delhi people have a high level of brand consciousness and it is a compelling market for growth. So, opening the first store here was an obvious thing.”

So what does AD bring to the table for Wadhawan Lifestyle Retail?

“From a business standpoint, we make our decisions with a clear vision on the realistic commercial viability of a retail brand deployment. Our earlier brand launches have been excellent case studies for us in terms of efficiently managing our operational expenses and real estate costs. However, we wish to expand our target demography and make fashion a more affordable proposition which is why we strongly envision the need for a brand such as Adolfo Dominguez ,” says Zutshi.

Expansion plans WLR plans to invest around `50 crore in the next five years to establish AD in the Indian market. This financial year will see two more stores in the country.

The immediate focus will be on metros, thereafter WLR will target tier II cities opening 25 stores in the next five years.

What’s in it In its 3,000 sq. ft. space, spread over two floors, the interiors are done in ash, oak and walnut hued wooden blocks, lending it sophistication. When you enter the store, the first thing that strikes is

the window display without the glass walls. On the left side at the ground level is displayed eveningwear for women while the right is dedicated to menswear.

In between you see small sections dedicated to jewellery, which is displayed on both levels. The entire top shelves are dotted with bags and the youth line is displayed on the first floor.

Collections Adolfo Dominguez’s Spring Summer 2011 collection encapsulates a selection of its signature lines - Adolfo Dominguez Woman and Man, U and accessories.

AD menswear comprises semi-formals, its womenswear has eveningwear gowns, dresses, tops with carefully designed shapes in silks, chiffons, nets and linen. With classic drapery patterns and unstructured cuts, Dominguez highlights the traditional Spanish talent for soft tailoring. Colours of the collection are rich and earthy. The youth line U has denims, tops and shirts designed for dailywear for both young men and women. Internationally, the brand also offers plus size line, children’s collection, furniture line and perfumes, which are not yet available at this store.

The jewellery pieces remind one of

craftsmenship and designs very akin to India’s. And while the eco-leather and jute bags are an amazing collection, one can go slow on the footwear. The variety and designs of shoes available are not much to write about.

“Delhi people have a high level of brand consciousness and it is a compelling market for growth. So, opening the first store here was an obvious thing.”

Tiziana Dominguez, Creative Director, Adolfo Dominguez, talks about their decision to enter the Indian market, “There has always been a strong connect between India and Spain, from its rich cultural heritage to the eastern aesthetics, and so we are thrilled to open our first store here, in the capital of the country. Looking at the similarities in the two countries, we are confident that the brand will be appreciated by the people here. It’s our constant endeavour to ensure we bring in high-end fashion with great quality season after season.”

The name behind the brand The brand was founded in 1973 by designer Adolfo Dominguez, who is also an author and film maker. Dominguez once stated on his brand’s ethos, “My clothes do not highlight differences in status as much as they spotlight differences in spirit and intellect. I dress a vast minority.” In 2006, Adolfo Dominguez was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement in Fashion, by the Miami Fashion Week.

The accessories - jewellery, shoes and bags are priced between `1,100 – `19,000; menswear: `2,500 – `27,000 and womenswear `3,500 – `45,000. BoF

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 31

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• march IN BRIEF •

>> national Microsoft India launches new set of retail solutions

New price strategy at Kitsch TSG’s multibrand boutique Kitsch, co-founded by Priya and Charu Sachdev, housing top international brands such as Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Diane Von Furstenberg, Lanvin, Halston Heritage, et cetra has now come out with a new price point strategy. All the international brands available in India exclusively at the Kitsch boutique will now be 5 to 10 per cent less expensive than the international markets.

The boutiques offer ready-to-wear collection and accessories that include bags, shoes, belts and jewellery.

AMFII launched viscose filament yarn The Association of Man-Made Fibre Industry of India (AMFII) representing viscose filament yarn (VFY) manufacturers in India launched VFY in Surat. AMFII consists of Century Rayon, Indian Rayon and Kesoram Rayon. India’s leading designers Shaina N.C., Archana Kochhar, Amy Billimoria and Prashant Sudha showcased their collections in “Eco Smart Viscose” in different woven fabrics such as crapes, georgettes, satins, velvets and taffetas. Femina Miss India Tourism and Miss Tourism World, Priyanka Shah and Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 2003 first runners up Sohnal Rawat showcased the Viscose made garments along with other models.

Microsoft India has launched a new set of solutions to help retailers manage their points of sale (POS), supply chains and financials more effectively. The recently launched Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System offers small and mid-sized specialty retailers a complete POS solution that can be adapted to meet unique retail requirements. It provides a deep level of integration across points of sale, store management, supply chain, marketing, merchandising and financial to help them deliver business productivity while enhancing customer service through a single integrated solution.

LVMH L Capital Asia eyeing lifestyle market LVMH Group, world’s largest luxury goods group, has launched its private equity fund, L Capital Asia, in India.

With the emergence of China and India as major growth drivers of the world economy, L Capital Asia, with its fund size $640 million, is dedicated

to investments primarily in these two markets. LVMH, with its new venture, plans to make investments in local companies with innovative brands and concepts that respond to the aspirations of consumers in China, India, South East Asia and the Middle East.

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 33

• March IN BRIEF •

Gitanjali Gems to launch apparel private label Gitanjali Gems, primarily known as a jewellery manufacturer and retailer, will now enter the branded apparel segment. Within the next six months, it will introduce its own apparel brands in womenswear, menswear and kidwear categories. However, the plan is still at a very nascent stage and the company is identifying vendors and forming the team. In the womeswear category, the the firm will introduce ethnicwear and Westenwear whereas in the menswear segment, it will launch polo shirts. The brand is targeting consumers from socio-economic class A and B.

MARG Junction inks deal with three mega retailers MARG Junction in Chennai has announced that it has inked deals with three mega retailers – PVR Cinemas, Shoppers Stop and Hyper City as key anchors. The upcoming mall, promoted by MARG, an infrastructure, real estate development and services company, is scheduled to become operational by the first quarter of the financial year 2012-13. Spread across an area of 1.83 million sq. ft., MARG Junction claims to be the city’s largest “mixed use” development consisting of a million square feet mall, international business class hotel and 1,64,000 sq. ft. office towers.

Brand Factory to add 15 new outlets Future Group is all geared up to expand its value retail format Brand Factory. The chain is scheduled to roll out 15 new outlets across the country in the first two quarters of fiscal 2011-12. One of them is scheduled in Thane. The store will be spread in an area of 40,000 sq. ft. in the 5.8 lakh sq. ft. shopping centre. Among the locations targeted under this augmentation plan are Delhi, Mysore, Bangalore, Hyderanad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Pune.

Chakrawarti moves to The MobileStore Himanshu Chakrawarti, former COO, Trent Ltd, leisure retail format, Landmark, has moved to The MobileStore as the chain’s CEO. Armed with nine years of professional experience in sales and marketing of FMCGs, Chakrawarti joined Trent Ltd in November 2000.

Meanwhile, Ashutosh Pandey, deputy COO, will take up a new role as COO of Landmark.

Kimaya eyes PE funds Fashion house Kimaya Studios is in talks with domestic private equity firms to raise capital for scaling up its operations and store network in the country. The company could divest around 15-20 per cent of its stake. Global consultancy firm, KPMG, is the adviser for the retailer, which has already initiated talks with a few Indian players. Some of Indian PE firms which could be interested in a deal include ICICI Venture, ChrysCapital, India Value Fund, Kotak Private Equity, Axis PE, Everstone Capital and Ascent Capital, among others.

34 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Titan Industries on an expansion spree Titan Industries is on an expansion spree and plans to open 250 stores across the country in this financial year. The company’s capital expenditure for FY2011-12 is likely to be around `100 crore, part of which will be used for expansion and maintenance of the stores it owns. Titan will also open around 60-70 stores of Fastrack and around 20 stores of its jewellery retail chain Tanishq. Less than 15 per cent stores are company-owned while rest are all franchisees.

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• March IN BRIEF •

Bata opens 8th store in Ludhiana Bata has recently opened its large format store in Westend Mall, Ludhiana. The store spreads over 4,500 sq. ft. Modeled after the international Bata stores, this store has a well-designed layout and modern furniture as per the Bata global format. The collection showcases a wide variety of stylish footwear for both men and women along with a whole new range of fashion accessories. Bata offers its famous Ambassador and Mocassino range of classic and formal dress shoes for men.

Big Bazaar’s Family Centre in Delhi Hypermarket chain Big Bazaar has recently launched its Family Centre format in Delhi – its first in North India. The centre promises customised offerings according to the needs of the people living in and around the catchment area. It is located at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj in an area spanning 1.2 lakh sq.ft. The Family Centre will have a large regional, national and international product mix and assortments. It also has its presence in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Vivacity Mall, Thane to become operational soon Vivacity Mall, Thane, the first retail venture of Mumbai-based Sheth Developers & Realtors, will become operational in September this year. The mall, with a total built-up area of 1 million sq. ft., will be spread over three levels and boast of a multiplex, a large food court and dining area and seven large anchors, including Hyper City and Shoppers Stop which have leased an area of 85,000 sq. ft. and 60,000 sq. ft., respectively. The mall has allotted two levels in the basement for ramp parking of up to 2,400 vehicles.

Raymond targets 25 per cent growth Raymond Ltd is targeting 20 - 25 per cent growth in its turnover in the current financial year. It had clocked a turnover of around `1,500 crore in the last fiscal. It has 543 Raymond stores in the country and 40 overseas stores. The brand is investing `65 - 70 crore on brand building. In addition to the complete range of suiting and shirting fabric from Raymond, it also offers custom tailoring along with men’s apparel and accessories from Park Avenue, Parx, Color Plus.

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Homeshop18’s next gen e-commerce portal Home shopping channel HomeShop18 has unveiled its next generation e-commerce portal, homeshop18.com.

The new website promises to deliver a superior shopping experience, armed with high-end technology infrastructure, improved search and browsing and a great product catalogue with new launches and exciting offers. As its marketing strategy, HomeShop18 has tied up with social media platforms and top online companies such as Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Facebook, LinkedIn, You Tube and various other online shopping sites. The new look and technology upgrade have been the focus areas for its e-commerce business to support the expanding product range, categories and the growing traffic on the website.

TBS on an expansion spree Cosmetics and toiletries brand The Body Shop has launched its eighth store in Bangalore, taking its total store count in India to 60. The brand is planning to launch another store in the city at Royal Meenakshi Mall in the next few months. Recently, it has also opened its first store in Coimbatore, taking the store count to 3 in Tamil Nadu. The Body Shop currently has 2,500 stores across 60 countries.

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• March IN BRIEF •

Vishal Retail sold Vishal Retail Ltd completed the sale of its wholesale and retail businesses for about `700 million in cash. It has sold and transferred its wholesale trading, institutional sales and franchisee operations to TPG Wholesale Pvt. Ltd., the Indian unit of the U.S.based private equity firm, TPG. Vishal Retail also sold its retail business

to Airplaza Retail Holdings Pvt. Ltd, which was a company that was owned by the Chennai-based diversified Shriram Group. The deal has been structured to conform to current Indian regulations restricting foreign investment in multi-brand retail, which prevent foreign players from directly selling to the public.

Arvind to grow its lifestyle business Arvind Mills intends to generate a revenue of `25 billion from its lifestyle segment Arvind Lifestyle through financial year 2015. The company has introduced a number of global brands in the segment and intends to add a few more soon. Currently, the lifestyle subsidiary contributes `12 billion to the group’s overall turnover and 55 per cent of it comes from the private brands while the rest is contributed by the global brands. Some of the global brands in the company’s portfolio are U.S. Polo, GANT, Arrow and Flying Machine.

Nautica opens 3rd store in Delhi-NCR Nautica, the premium apparel and accessories brand for men, has recently opened an exclusive showroom in Delhi. This is the brand’s third store in the country. The other two are located in Gurgaon and Vasant Kunj, Delhi. The current outlet is located at Pacific Mall, Rajouri Garden in an area of 893 sq. ft., showcasing Nautica’s latest Spring 2011 collection. To unify the entire collection presentation, a central shop-in-shop displays the enviable spread of apparel in denims, polos, shirts, shorts, sweaters and trousers.

Planet Retail reshuffles brand focus Ramesh Tainwala has acquired a majority stake in Planet Retail. The company is overhauling its front-end staff as it plans to reposition stores of its major franchise brands such as Guess to give a high-end shopping experience. The company is investing

heavily, on a monthly basis, on training its staff and has increased salaries on an average by 300 per cent this year. The brand will have staff wear Guess jeans as a part of its employee training to ensure they know what product they are selling

Pantaloons hikes store count to 5 in Delhi Fashion retailer Pantaloons has launched its fifth outlet in Delhi. Located at the South Extension market, the 21,000-sq.ft. outlet is the retailer’s second store with a new avatar that gives it high-end concept feel with colourful and bright interiors.

Pantaloon’s first nextgen store had come up at Vasant Kunj, Delhi in November 2010. The newly launched store offers comprehensive lifestyle experience with the best and trendy fashion merchandise.

The store features ready-to-wear collections for men, women and children, along with a full range of men’s and women’s accessories.

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Gc Watches plans foray into Delhi Swiss watch brand Gc is planning to enter the Delhi market with an exclusive store at Select Citywalk, Saket. The new 200-sq.ft. outlet will house watches in the price range of `18,000 to `1.5 lakh. Gc watches are also available at more them 100 points of sale across Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle stores, along with other multi-brand watch retailers.

Gc watches are distributed in India by AP Group, which handles distribution for Gc watches and Guess products. The brand’s first exclusive store in India is at Palladium, Mumbai.

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• March IN BRIEF •

Evok Mega Homestore enters Thane Evok Mega Homestore – the home interiors retail chain from Hindware Home Retail Private Ltd, has opened an outlet in Thane. The store spreads across an area of 14,000 sq. ft. The new outlet offers more than 16,000 world-class contemporary lifestyle products and provides unique interior design services to its customers. In-house designers at the store assist customers in visualising their ideal home spaces using 2D and 3D visualisation. The store also offers turnkey build solutions that range from procuring the products to designing the spaces and installing them.

Excise duty on branded jewellery The Union Government has imposed one per cent levy of excise duty on branded jewellery. This levy was originally introduced in 2005 and was opposed by the industry.

A 12-member delegation representing the All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) has asked the government

to clear the definition of brand, and therefore, it has requested to issue a separate notification to ensure that any unbranded products are not forcefully levied.

Till the time the government’s notification is received, all establishments that truly sell branded products only may apply excise duty.

Government may roll back excise duty

Tommy Hilfiger launches footwear line Fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger has launched a line of footwear for men and women. It brought the footwear licence back into its fold a few seasons ago. There are two distinct footwear lines in the collection – Sportswear, which caters to a distinct clientele that seeks a quirky and fun look and Denim, which caters to the edgy fashion forward youth. The footwear collection will be available at exclusive brand stores of Tommy Hilfiger and select department stores such as Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and Kapsons, among others, taking its presence to over 100 doors in the initial phase.

Due to large scale protest by the apparel industry in different parts of the country, the government may roll back 10 per cent excise duty on branded garments. Currently, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has proposed a revised 10 per cent excise duty on 45 per cent of the MRP for all the branded apparel, instead of an initial proposition of 60 per cent. This revision has failed to bring any relief to the retailer community. The protest sought participation of about 10 lakh people from about 3,00,000 units across India.

Gold and Diamond Park to come up in Kochi Real estate developer Aerens Gold Souk Group has announced that it is progressing on a fast pace with the development of the Gold and Diamond Park

40 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

at Kalamassery in Kochi, Kerala with an investment of `450 crore. Spread over 33 acres, the Gold and Diamond Park is an integral part of the 240 acres hi-tech

park promoted by Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA). The company is looking for private equity players to fund a portion

of the project and is in talks for joint ventures with manufacturers from the Middle East, Italy, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

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• March IN BRIEF •

Core Concept store from adidas Sports footwear and apparel major adidas has recently opened its Core Concept store in Connaught Place, Delhi.

The new 2,000 sq. ft. store, part of the unified Core Concept followed by adidas SPC (Sports Performance Centre) globally, includes elevated and flexible fixture systems, which let customers relocate brands and categories and give the store a whole new look. The outlet also boasts of an exclusive ST (Sachin Tendulkar) range. As a Sports Performance Centre, the outlet consists of footwear, apparel, accessories and equipment for all forms of sport.

Cantabil plans to enter South India Cantabil Retail India plans to enter the South India market, and to open around 90 stores. It also plans to open another 60 stores in the rest of the country, mostly in the eastern zone. Cantabil may spend around `50 crore on this expansion, and it also plans to come up with its first manufacturing unit of 13,000 sq. m. at Bahadurgarh in Haryana during this fiscal. The estimated cost of the project will be around `32 crore. The investment would be funded through IPO.

Van Heusen plans brand transformation Van Heusen has plans to invest `4 – `5 crore each year to open new stores under a franchise model. The brand aims to change itself into a lifestyle brand and intends to sell non-apparels under the international Van Heusen brand.

Products including women’s shoes and bags, men’s ties, belts, footwear, eyewear, watches and luggage will soon be available under the premium brand name. According to the company, its non-apparel business is expected to contribute around 8 - 10 per cent to its total sales in the next three years.

Vero Moda launches Intimates in India Women’s fashionwear brand Vero Moda has launched its Intimates range of innerwear in India. The collection has been introduced at two Vero Moda stores in Mumbai and it plans to take the range to other cities in a phased manner.

The company will import the merchandise for the current business and expects to draw consumers from Vero Moda’s apparel business. Vero Moda Intimates range is already present in Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland and Faroe Islands.

42 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

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• March IN BRIEF •

>> international Retail industry faces setback in Japan

New appointment at Levi’s Levi’s has announced the appointed of Laurie Etheridge as the global lead of Women’s Merchandising & Design. She will be responsible for the design, development and merchandising of all Levi’s women’s product categories across all regions. Etheridge joins the company from Perry Ellis International where she was in charge of merchandising and design for women’s global fashion brands, including Jantzen, Jag, Perry Ellis and Southpoint. Etheridge began her career at Levi Strauss & Co. 16 years ago, and is returning to the company after successful stints at global brands.

MANGO expands in China MANGO plans to open two flagship stores in main cities of China such as Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou or Shenzhen. The store will be spread in an area of 800 to 1,000 meter square. In 2010, MANGO opened 77 new points of sale in China and is planning to open over 60 this year. The brand is also present in other smaller Chinese cities such as Changchun and Xian. For 2011, the Chinese market is expected to reach 4 per cent of the total turnover forecast for the MANGO.

SPAR UK gets a new MD SPAR UK has appointed Debbie Robinson as its new managing director. She will join the company by summer. Robinson will be based from SPAR’s central office in Harrow. In her previous role as Director of Food Marketing, Co-operative Group, she developed award winning formats such as macro space allocation and merchandising for petrol forecourts and supermarkets.

Her priority would be to continue to drive the SPAR brand forward increasing its relevance with customers, and developing the offer to drive sales and profit.

The return of Chelsea Girl The retailer River Island has brought back the once popular Chelsea Girl brand to the U.K. with a store at Selfridges. Chelsea Girl was the name of the retailer before it re-badged its stores River Island in the late 1980s. Chief executive of the privately-owned retailer Ben Lewis used the comeback to call on the government to make the U.K. manufacturing more competitive.

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Many foreign businesses have shut shops in Japan and have shifted out temporarily. The latest is Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), a Swedish fast-fashion retailer. The company has temporarily relocated its national headquarters from Tokyo to Osaka. It’s giving all H&M Japan employees the option to relocate to the Kansai region, while stores in the Kanto area, which houses Tokyo, will be closed.

Golden Gate to sell J. Jill San Francisco-based private equity firm Golden Gate Capital Corp, has agreed to sell a majority stake in the J. Jill clothing business to Arcapita Bank BSC, a Bahrain-based investment bank, less than two years after buying the company. Golden Gate will remain a minority shareholder in the company, according to a statement, however, terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Paula Bennett, President and Chief Executive Officer, J. Jill, will continue to lead the Quincy, Massachusetts-based retailer. J. Jill operates more than 200 stores across the U.S. and caters to women over the age of 35 years.

Gucci enters UAE through JV Italian luxury brand Gucci has announced its direct entry into the United Arab Emirates, through the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of a joint venture with Al Tayer Insignia, the largest luxury retailer in the Middle East. Gucci has existing six sales points in the UAE at Abu Dhabi, at Marina Mall; three stores in Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates, The Boulevard at Jumeirah Emirates Towers and The Dubai Mall.

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• March IN BRIEF •

Marshalls opens stores in Canada The off-price U.S. retailer, Marshalls has opened three stores in Canada – one in Toronto and the other two in Ontario. Two more stores are scheduled to open next month in Mississauga and Ajax. Marshalls is owned by TGX companies which operates more than 2,700 stores including Winners and Homesense in Canada and T.J. Maxx in the U.S. The layout of Marshalls is similar as that of Winners and also features an instore boutique called The Cube for teen fashion.

New Look chief resigns Acoording to media reports Carl McPhail, the chief executive of New Look, the discount fashion retailer, has been forced to resigned due to a period of underperformance at the chain. The founder Tom Singh has returned to the business as interim executive chairman and the search for McPhail’s replacement has begun. The board had also accepted the resignation of John Gildersleeve, who had been nonexecutive chairman since January 2010.

PUMA appoints new CEO

JD Sports Fashion bought Fenchurch

Target opens a new store in Chicago

JD Sports Fashion bought Frenchurch, a London-based brand selling casualwear such as knitwear and jeans, and the assets for around 1.5 million pound. However, it did not buy Fenchurch’s only wholly-owned store in London’s Covent Garden which closed. The employees at Fenchurch have been informed of the sale and the staff are being made redundant. JD Sports Fashion was one of the many bidders for the Fenchurch business. Fenchurch fell into administration at the end of February blaming cash flow difficulties caused by cotton price rises and delay of product deliveries from China.

Minneapolis-based Target Corporation has announced the launch of a new small-format store in Chicago. It will be the first store at the newly restored Carson Pirie Scott building, now known as Sullivan Centre, which is a U.S. historic landmark. The store will open in 2012 and may create about 200 jobs locally. The company also announced that its small-format locations across the U.S. will be named CityTarget. It will offer customers a one-stop shopping destination with affordable fresh food, apartment essentials, on-trend fashions and exclusive designer collections.

N Brown launches Fabrici N Brown, the web and catalogue clothing specialist, has launched a new brand called Fabrici. It is introduced to cater to more than 50-year-old women who enjoy shopping on the internet. The new brand has a size range of 12 to 32 and is available online at www.fabrici.com and via catalogues. The new brand was launched after a study conducted by N Brown which identified a new group of potential customers not currently catered to by the current portfolio of brands.

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PUMA appointed a 32-year old strategy head Franz Koch as the chief executive officer. The selection was done from a list of 100 candidates. Koch has come in as the replacement for long-term chief executive Jochen Zeitz, who is moving to head up the new sport and lifestyle division at the French luxury goods group, which owns just over 70 per cent of PUMA. Koch will take on the role of CEO once the company has converted to an European Corporation.

Destination Maternity expands in the Middle East Destination Maternity Corporation, the world’s leading maternity apparel retailer, has recently announced the launch of its tenth showroom in the Middle East.

Located in Discovery Center, Kuwait, the new store is the home to world’s leading maternity brands - Motherhood Maternity and A Pea in the Pod. This is the fourth Destination Maternity store opened in Kuwait, and the tenth in the Middle East through Destination Maternity’s franchisee, Multi Trend, a member of the Al Homaizi Group.

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•

SEASON’S OFFERINGS •

cosmetics >> accessories >> apparel

>> COSMETICS

neutrogena Neutrogena has introduced four new skin care products - Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock SPF 50 with Helioplex technology, which protects skin from prolonged sun exposure, Rain Bath Shower Gel that helps to revitalise skin, Deep Clean Facial Cleanser, which removes skin impurities and Norwegian Formula Body Moisturizer, which combines aloe vera and vitamin E along with the herbal qualities of chamomile.

Price range: `99 - `450 Available: MBOs

avon Avon Advance Techniques introduced Lotus Shield serums, which is an anti-frizz treatment for hair. It offers three product variations - Straight & Sleek, Daily Shine and Keep Clear.

According to the company the Straight & Sleek product is formulated with hydra-seal technology helps minimise volume leaving hair falling straighter and sleeker. The Daily Shine product features multi-shine technology with pro-vitamin B5 and the Keep Clear product cleanses and conditions hair.

Price range: `155 – `429 Available: Avon representatives

48 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

forest essentials Forest Essentials has introduced it patent beauty products, Sanjeevani Beauty Elixir, a day cream and Soundarya Advanced Age-Defying Facial Serum with 24 karat gold.

According to the company all ingredients are sourced from Ayurvedic texts and are 100 per cent natural. The formulation is an enriched version of natural sebum – a natural oil that lubricates and protects skin. Soundarya diminishes signs of ageing, as it eliminates fine lines and restores firmness.

Price: `2,475 (Sanjeevani Beauty Elixir) `2,195 (Soundarya Advanced Age-Defying Facial Serum) Available: EBOs

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• SEASON’S OFFERINGS •

>> ACCESSORIES

balmain Balmain, the elegant Swiss watch makers from the world’s largest watch conglomerate Swatch Group, has intoduced a range dedicated to the spirit of womanhood. The range has been classified under Trendy, Downtown and Tradition collections which would appeal to feminine aesthetics across all age groups for various occasions.

Price range: `13,500 - `50,000 Available: EBOs

goenka diamonds and jewels Goenka Diamonds and Jewels Ltd has launched its new range of luxury watches called Ceres. The new range comprises Swissmade quartz with its dial bedded in minute white diamonds and studded with colourful diamonds on the external. The four watches introduced under this range are Blue Sapphire, CitrinePeridot, Pink Tourmaline-Citrine and Pink Tourmaline-Diamond.

Price range: `6,00,000 onwards Available: EBOs

livtek Livtek India has launched a new collection of Pierre Lannier fashion watches.

The womeswear collection comprises two ranges Glam and The City collection, with a choice of metal, mother-of-pearl, white and black straps. This range ideal for busy working women. The other range - Flowers collection - is designed like pieces of jewellery with intricate flowers engraved on the strap. and are available in a stainless steel strap.

Price range: `18,000 - `20,000 (Glam and The City)

`21,000 - `23,000 (Flowers collection) Available: EBOs and MBOs

50 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

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• SEASON’S OFFERINGS •

>> ACCESSORIES

c. krishniah chetty & sons amrita hans Amrita Hans has introduced Aquamarine collection of semi-precious jewellery and accessories. She has used elements such as shells, greeny blue turquoise, aqua blue chalcedony on a silver base and fabrics in hues of blue for this range.

Price range: `2,000 onwards Available: EBOs

d&a D&A has launched its new collection RIO by D&A which is an elite range of high-end Brazilian footwear. The collection showcases modish wedges, dressy shoes, cute peep toes, attractive gladiators, ethnic embroidered chappals, stripy sandals and bold chunky heels. Covering a gamut of convertible trends from fashionwear, comfortwear, weddingwear and dailywear, the collection is mainly available in leather.

Price range: `1,095 to `4,000 Available: EBOs

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C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons unveiled its latest jewellery collection Denim & Diamond. The collection has been created keeping in mind that women are increasingly moving away from heavy jewellery to light dailywear which can be categorised as semi-casual. The range is young and peppy with different coloured stones to add a touch of elegance and bling to everyday wear.

Price range: `7,500 to `3,00,000 Available: EBOs

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• SEASON’S OFFERINGS •

>> ACCESSORIES

chrome hearts puma PUMA has introduced PUMA Social theme, which features iconic styles such as PUMA Suede and the T7 track jacket. The upper is made of suede, which is the flavour of the season. PUMA has also introduced a line of accessories that include T-shirts and ping pong paddles.

Price range: `3,499 onwards Available: EBOs

blues clothing company Blues Clothing Company has launched a variety of accessories including belts and bags from Versace, Corneliani and Tween along with a new range of shoes. The Spring Summer shoes collection from Versace for women is all about sexy stilettos and are available in classic reds and blacks, blue, yellow and beige. The men’s collection also comes in various colours and styles.

Price range: On request Availabile: EBOs

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Chrome Hearts has introduced its latest eyewear collection - Baby Gravy. It is a unisex modified aviator featuring a vintage shape with copper beryllium frame front and leather-wrapped temples. A 0.925 sterling silver floral cross accents the hinge connection and the sterling silver Chrome Hearts “plus” motif caps the end tips.

Price range: `46,800 Available: EBOs

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• SEASON’S OFFERINGS •

>> APPAREL

duke Duke’s new European Summer Collection 2011 boasts of some exciting colour combinations, designs in stripes, prints, short styles, embroidery, patch work, short lengths, round necks, collars, washings, et cetra, providing a selection for urban streetwear category.

This collection has wide options in casuals, officewear and eveningwear. It has also introduced its specially designed 100 per cent Gas Mercerized cotton T-shirts manufactured with 100 per cent long staple Egyptian cotton targeted at young, trendy and casual segment.

Price range: `365 onwards Available: EBOs and MBOs

basics life Basics Life has launched its Spring 2011 line. It has three inhouse brands Genesis, Probase and Basics029. Under Genesis it is offering a wide range of shirts in fresh spring colours and tailored formal trousers in free flowing fabrics. The accessories include tie, handkerchief, belt and fine cotton socks. Basics029 offers three looks - Sporty Metro, Classic Denim and The Vintage.

Probase has on offer funky shirts, T-shirts, shorts, three-fourths, trousers, cargo pants, boxers and caps.

Price range: `399 - `1,699 Available: EBOs and MBOs

neva Neva has introduced its new range - Stripers and Dry Fast. The range Stripers is available in four colours and has pin stripes in singles and multiples on sporty and cut-nsew designs dotted with large and small prints. The Striper T-shirts have been designed for sporty, casual and dailywear. In the Dry Fast range the fabric provides a lustrous look while the unique sweat absorption system absorbs sweat within seconds. The product range in the Dry Fast category includes long pants, sporty shorts, trendy capris and more.

Price range: `299 onwards Available: EBOs and MBOs

56 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

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• SEASON’S OFFERINGS •

>> APPAREL

max Max has launched Spring Summer 2011 collection which includes fabrics such as modals, jerseys and dobby, washed denims, printed and yarn dyed cottons. The collection showcases the latest global trends - Military and Nautical while reviving soft florals. The colour palette plays with the warm pastels and summer darks, complemented by tones of bright mango, fuschias, limes and purples. The range also showcases shades of reds, coral, blues and whites.

Price range: `199 - `599 Available: EBOs

species Species launched its latest collection which includes knitwear cardigans, slim-fitted pants, smocked blousons, flowy dresses, braided tops, gathered sleeves dresses, tops and detachable straps. The merchandise is available in different fabrics such as fine and compact fabrics, smooth cotton, pearly surface satin, translucent voile, ultra-fine poplin, fine gauge jersey, laces, sheer fabric, dual shaded chiffon, geometrical patterned chiffon, et cetra.

The colour palette ranges from cranberry, pink, tones of white, ecru, grey with serious blue, orchid purple, herbal green, black and many more.

Price range: `1,500 onwards Available: EBOs

turtle Turtle launched its Spring Summer collection which comprises of a variety of utility garments with myriad colour palette that ranges from coral, sulphur yellow, forest and iced mint shades of green, miracle purple, gusty red and sapphire blue. There are special passport pockets, coin pockets and other travel-related features are included in this collection, based on the inspiration of ever-travelling men.

There is a strong play of fabrics with different textures and checks and stripes dominate the formalwear.

Price range: `495 - `6,495 Available: EBOs and MBOs 58 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

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• SEASON’S OFFERINGS •

>> APPAREL

cotstyle From the house of GTN Industries, Cotstyle brings comfortable Pima and Giza, double mercerized cotton polo shirts. The shirts are fabricated to be light-weight, yet durable and snug. These easy-to-wash cotton polo shirts are elegant, provides cosiness and style.

Price range: `1,000 onwards Available: MBOs

s.oliver s.Oliver has introduced its Spring Summer 2011 Collection. The casual range for men include patterned bermudas, jeans and shorts with applications and eyecatching seams on pant pockets and waistbands. The collection is available in colours such as blue, white and red. The range for casual womenwear includes blouses with floral prints, hand-painted patterns and tiny paisleys. QS by s.Oliver reveals a casual outdoor feeling.

Price range: `499 to `9,999 Available: EBOs

monte carlo Monte Carlo will launch its Spring Summer 2011 collection called Hello Summer 11 for both men and women. The womeswear collection - Women’s Alpha- has two main aesthetics -70s bohemian and sophisticated glamour. The men’s collection has a wide range of colour, style detailing and graphics. The new offerings this season also include pima cotton mercerized polos, cotton lycra T-shirts, peached T-shirts, ombre-dyed polos and sports lower and denim shorts.

Price range: `600 onwards Available: EBOs and MBOs

60 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

For advertising enquiries:

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For advertising enquiries:

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• SEASON’S OFFERINGS •

>> APPAREL

numero uno jeanswear Numero Uno Jeanswear has introduced its Spring Summer 2011 collection for both men and women. The collection includes summery linen shirts for men in new broad stripes and multicoloured checks. Tops for women comprises floral detailed fabrics, feminine laces, prints and dazzling embroidery. The highlights for the season include long viscose tops with prints and cambric tops with brass finish metal buttons and studs. Denims for men focus on slim fits with regular and low waists. The collection for women includes low-waist skinny fit denims, with classic vintage washes.

Price range: `699 – `2,599 Available: EBOs and MBOs

w

donear

W has unveiled its Spring 2011 collection which includes kurtas and kurtis consisting of six distinct themes with an array of textured solids and print designs. The prints include florals, modern geometric patterns and folk inspirations while solids play on gradation, colour blocking. The bottoms includes bi-colour tights, denim jeggings, cigarette pants and cropped flared linen pants.

Donear has introduced fine count shirting and bottomwear range having wrinkle-free finish by using Japanese LA Technology. Around 60 per cent of the product range coming out of Donear is offered with this exclusive LA finish.

The brand has also launched a wider range in cotton linen fabric collection in shirting as well as suiting. The best use of these fabrics is for trousers, skirts, suits, sport jackets, school uniform as well as smartwear for women.

Price range: `499 - `1, 599 Available: EBOs

Price range: `3,000 – `7,000 Available: MBOs

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 63

• SEASON’S OFFERINGS •

>> APPAREL

alfred dunhill Alfred Dunhill Spring Summer 2011 outerwear collection has references from the 1920s and 1930s. It is modernised by cut, material or construction and has seasonal spring pastel tones balanced with classic deep navy blue. The collection is available in stone to blue and grey to black options. A piece of iconic British menswear – the parka – is presented for the season in an over dyed bright blue colour and offers a lightweight and casual option to the outerwear range.

Price range: On request Available: EBOs

esprit Esprit has introduced its Vintage Glam Collection. The women’s casual range includes knee-length skirts, feminine floral tops and leather jackets. Esprit EDC includes ethnic styles, wild west accents, beach culture and bohemian looks. Esprit Men Casual plays around with campus and rugby-style elements. The styles and silhouettes in the Esprit Men collection includes formal single pants, knitted cardigans and sports jacket and Esprit Men EDC offers short-sleeved shirts in lightweight fabrics and light colours.

Price range: `590 onwards Available: EBOs and MBOs

reid & taylor Reid & Taylor has launched its Spring Summer 2011 collection – The Sartorial. It showcases an offering of fine readymade tailored clothing, shirtings, sportswear and accessories. The collection emphasises on simple lines and minimalist silhouettes. It comes in basic: colours such as black, grey, white, brown and navy.

High-energy shades in the collection are blues, green tones, red ranges and solar, incandescent oranges and yellows.

Price range: `895 – `13,995 Available: EBOs

64 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• SEASON’S OFFERINGS •

>> APPAREL

westside Westside has launched its collection of summer dresses by Wendell Rodricks. It includes garments with a smart finish and sophisticated designs. The colour palette for the collection is in shades of earth and tan for jerseys. The collection is characterised by raw cotton shifts, georgette dresses and sensual silk kaftans in solid colours for the summer. The range introduces a blend of jerseys, crisp linens, silks and eco-cottons. Wrap skirts, ponchos, hems, net dresses and silk dresses also form a part of this collection.

urvashi kaur Designer Urvashi Kaur has launchd her women’s organic swimwear collection. This collection is an extension of her spring line, which was inspired by nature, serenity exuded by women and the undying love for nature. The range is on Grecian and feminine lines and has sensual cuts in organic cotton and hand-spun fabrics. The colour pallette is heavy in solids, creams and blacks, browns and forest greens.

Price range: `2,800 – `8,000 Available: MBOs

Price: `1,200 onwards Available: EBOs

juelle Juelle has launched its Spring Summer 2011 collection. The range comprises contemporary, chic, tasteful, fashion feminine designs in a wide variety of fabrics from 100 per cent cotton, viscose cotton and cotton modal blends. The colour palette includes bold tones of shocking pink, atlantic deep, grape wine, blue radiance and capri breeze. The range includes basic T-shirts, sports casual tees, evening partywear tops, printed floral patterned dresses, long tunics complimented with wooden and metallic neck chains, broad belts, neck scarves, bracelets and brooches.

Price range: `295 to `1,195 Available: MBOs

66 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• SEASON’S OFFERINGS •

>> APPAREL

guess The spring collection by Guess boasts of premium denims in trendy colours. It also has on offer fun tees, tops and shirts for women and men. The women’s spring collection is dominated by gypsy-inspired stripes, florals and vintage washes. Women’s denim is seen in lightweight fabrications which are offered in denim leggings and five pocket jeans. The men’s collection mixes casualwear with soft tailored contemporary pieces.

Price range: `1,300 onwards Available: EBOs

komal sood chhabra555 Chhabra555 has introduced a collection of saris, readymade suits and lehengas. The range showcases embroideries and brocades deftly sewed onto the fabrics. It also includes salwar suits with rare cuts, fabrics, prints and embellishments. The range is in rich net fabrics with silk borders, classic white pashmina suits, embellished indo-western saris, silver handwork on soft pastels, pita, zardozi and zircon work.

Price range: `13,000 – `50,000 Available: EBOs

68 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Komal Sood has launched its Spring Summer 2011 collection - Champagne Rose - inspired by the luxury of champagne and fragrance of the rose. The silhouettes present long dresses in fluid drapes and controlled structured folds. The colours are rich pastels, white, peach to champagne - beige.

Price range: On request Available: EBO and MBOs

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

•

OUTLETS •

• NEW DELHI • Hyderabad • Trichy • Agra • Mumbai

New Delhi

anuradha ramam Promoters: Anuradha Ramam.

Location: Mehar Chand Market, Lodhi Road, New Delhi.

Area: 400 sq. ft.

Total number of stores: One. Product range: Handwoven and block print saris, ikat kurtas, tussar silk garments, embroided, printed and woven dupattas.

Decor: Contemporary and ethnic.

Price points: `950 - `8,000 Future plans: The designer is planning to take the label internationally.

malaga Promoters: Vikram Phadnis and Malini Agarwaal.

Location: The Gallery, Mehrauli Gurgaon Road, Delhi.

Area: 2,400 sq. ft.

Product range: Handbags, kalidaars, saris, lehangas, jewellery and footwear.

Decor: The interiors of the store is rendered in cream and gold walls with wooden flooring, accented with a huge zardozi backdrop and a striking black chandelier. This contemporary theme is fused with a few Indian elements with ornate mirrors, a carved seating area combined with modern stools that compliment the vast array of clothes and accessories on display and there is a special couture area.

Price Points: Customised Future plans: Stores in all four metros and tier II cities in next two to three years.

70 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• OUTLETS •

Hyderabad

maishaa

titan Promoters: Titan Industries Ltd. Location: South Extention Part-I, New Delhi.

Area: 5,000 sq. ft.

Product range: Collection of Titan ranges including Purple, Edge, Octane, Orion, Raga, Tycoon and also Xylys, Nebula, Zoop and Fastrack. Helios features international brands like Movado, Emporio Armani, Hugo Boss, FCUK, Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, Fossil, DKNY and more.

Decor: The store has an imposing facade that features the unique signature signage of all Titan stores.

Price points: `500 - `1lakh.

Future plans: 15 more Titan stores in next four months.

Trichy

big megamart Promoters: Arvind Ltd. Location: McDonald’s Road, Trichy.

Area: 20,000 sq. ft.

Total number of stores: Six. Product range: Formalwear, casualwear and accessories for men, apparels, handbags, clutches, belts and fashion jewellery for women, apparels and accessories for kids and also a wide range of bedsheets, towels, curtains, clocks, kitchen utilities, trolleys and travel bags. The store is going to offer brands such as Arrow, Belmonte, Scullers, Lee, Levi’s, Wrangler, Cherokee, Spykar, Pan America, Turtle, Reid & Taylor, Titan among several other international brands.

72 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Promoters: Arun Garg.

Location: Begumpet, Hyderabad.

Area: 2,000 sq. ft.

Total numbers of stores: Four.

Product range: In the bed linen category, the range comprises Floramante collection, Setamante and Aijin collection, Marcopolo collection, Softmante collection, Anatolia summer collection, Fragrance collection, Stripes & Checks collection, Thread Art collection. In the bed covers and cushions category, the store offers Cosmospace collection and furnishing fabric.

Price points: In the bed linen category: Pillow cover- `1,795 (per piece) Bed sheet- `9,995 (per pc.)

Duvet cover- `18,995 (per pc.)

Future plans: Planning to open 10 new exclusive outlets by the end of the year 2011.

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• OUTLETS •

agra

valentino Promoters: Guru Shoe Tech Pvt Ltd. Location: Kamla Nagar Market, Agra.

Area: 2,000 sq. ft.

Total number of stores: Two. Product range: Formal, semi-formal and casual shoes.

Price points: `1,699 – `2,499 Future plans: Planning to launch stores across India including Indore, Jaipur and Pune.

mumbai

paul & shark Promoters: Reliance Brands Ltd. Location: Palladium Mall, Mumbai.

Area: 800 sq. ft.

Total number of stores: Three.

Product range: The brand offers a complete menswear collection for various social occasions such as workplace, holiday, leisure time and travelling. The summer collection includes casual and elegant shirts and polos and also knits and sweaters, lightweight and technical outerwear, trousers, accessories and footwear.

Price points: Belts – `6,990 onwards Footwear – `18,990 onwards Bags – `31,990 onwards Trousers – `12,990 onwards Polo T-shirts – `7990 onwards Shirts – `9,990 onwards Jackets – `29,990 onwards Future plans: Opening shortly at Express Avenue Mall, Chennai.

74 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• brand ambassador •

Lancome

gets a new brand ambassador Lancome signed Emma Watson, the 20-year old Harry Potter’s female actor, as the brand ambassador. The company feels that she has become the icon of her generation and the association with her brings fresh spirit to the brand. The other celebrities associated with the brand are Julia Roberts and Kate Winslet.

While Emma has modelled for Burberry and People Tree previously, this will be her first deal with a global cosmetics brand. Emma Watson has debuted as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series. Besides films, she has recently become quite a fashionista, appearing in Burberry’s 2010 Spring Summer campaign. In addition to modeling, she received the 2011 Elle Style Icon Award.

J. Hampstead ropes in Hrithik Roshan Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan has been roped in

by J. Hampstead, the premium range of suitings from Siyaram Silk Mills, to be its brand ambassador. The brand feels that the actor’s stylish, trendy and international appeal fits perfectly with the brand’s personality. Vice Chairman and Managing Director, J. Hampstead, Ramesh Poddar, said that the brand caters to young achievers and with a legacy of producing premium quality suiting fabrics for the style-conscious European customers.

J. Hampstead has been catering to Indian buyers with its high quality fabrics prepared from fibres such as kidmohair, wool, cashmere, merino and wool silk. Prior to the present endorsement, several luminaries such as Geoffrey Boycott, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Priyanka Chopra too have endorsed the brand.

76 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• HarD TALK •

Textile Trade

Not the bottom but the foundation of the fashion industry pyramid Management consultant Harminder Sahni analyses the highs and lows of the fashion retail industry. Covering a spectrum of topics, each month he looks at the need of the hour for India.

I

was at the InFashion conference organised by FAITMA and IMAGES Group last week in Mumbai. It was an amazing experience to see hundreds of textile retailers, wholesalers and mill owners not only mingling around dozens of stalls that were showcasing their wares but also the enthusiastic participation at interactive knowledge sessions.

The excitement was palpable and infectious, the interactions were interesting and engaging and the discussion was mature and lighthearted.

I saw some truly native intelligence being applied to answer some very complex questions that are facing the industry. Above all, I was really impressed to see the level of humility that prevailed throughout the proceedings. It was nice to see some of the young mill owners and wholesalers (sometimes bigger in size than mills), refusing to accept the accolades and insisting that their success should be attributed to their elders be it father, uncle or even an elder brother. I haven’t come across such level of honesty, 78 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

humility and practical business sense in one room for a very long time.

It was the first-ever conference at this scale that brought in all stakeholders of textile industry on one single platform to not only showcase their capabilities but also to discuss and debate the issues and challenges facing the industry.

As expected, there were many who were over optimistic about the future of the industry and were of the opinion that the textile industry has seen many threats in its lifetime and has always come back stronger. On the other extreme there were pessimists who were quite aggressive in predicting the demise of the industry as it exists today. However, like all situations in life, I believe the answer lies somewhere in between. Both these extremes have a major role to play in the evolution and growth of any industry. On one side someone has to create the sense of urgency so as to provoke players to not be complacent and act faster and not letting their pessimistic predictions come true. And on the other side, the optimists are needed to provide the belief to fence sitters that all will remain well as long as we pull together in the right direction.

I was silently observing all these interactions and even when I participated in two panel discussions, I was for a change keener on listening to what these

people had to say. I came back with some interesting thoughts about the textile trade in India.

The first and foremost thought that stuck me was that business of fabric sales be it for menswear or womenswear isn’t going to disappear in our lifetimes at least and may last even beyond that. The major components of textile trade are dress

that millions of people’s income will come up to the level wherein they may consider buying new clothes for the first time and material for salwar kameez, saris and cut continue to do the same subsequently. piece for men’s shirt and trousers.

In our country, half the population doesn’t These masses are most certainly at the have the purchasing power to buy a new set bottom of the pyramid and are best served by the unbelievable prices at which textile of clothes in their lifetime. For some men and women the only time they ever get a new trade is able to bring clothing to them.

Whether it is a sari below `100 or a pantset of clothes is when they get married and shirt set for less than `150, the textile unfortunately for some even that doesn’t trade has managed to give majority of happen.

Indians their “nano wardrobe” consistently With slower but steady trickle down effect of the economic growth, it is inevitable over the decades and is well poised

The world is waking up to the power of “crowd sourcing of design” by harnessing the power of internet and other technologies. Surat seems to have mastered it many years ago without those modern technologies. to do so for times to come. The interesting part is that these nano wardrobes aren’t “no frills” basic offers but are picked from a wide range that’s much bigger than what is offered by leading brands.

That brings me to another thought that while innovation is the buzz word in the business world these days, the real innovations are taking place every single day in the textile trade. Many of these innovations in product development, fast fashion, packaging or even retail have far reaching consequences for consumers, traders and mills and even on the development of future textile technology. And since these innovations are not brought about by individuals or well-known companies, these don’t receive media attention or coverage.

However, most of these are part of the folklore of textile trade and many of these innovators were picked out for praise during the conference and they seem to blush

wondering why such a big deal is being made out of it!

A 1,50,000 sq. ft. cash-and-carry format for wholesale of textiles makes it the biggest in that format offering a single product category in the segment whereas Walmart and Metro are setting up less than half of that store size serving hundreds of categories.

The people behind this excellent innovation to take wholesale out of narrow streets of sadar bazaars to out of town big box format and making it a huge success though they weren’t inspired by Walmart, still they are absolutely open-minded about learning from such large and hugely successful companies. Again, their humility seems to be their best attribute and I believe it will keep them ahead of the game for long.

We are all in the awe of fast fashion retailers who have become case studies across the world, but even they can learn a thing or two from Surat’s super fast fashion machine that churns out hundreds of new designs every day. The world is waking up to the power of “crowd sourcing of design” by harnessing the power of internet and other technologies. Surat seems to have mastered it many years ago without those modern technologies.

Like we wonder how pyramids were built without even a chain-pulley, western fast fashion retailers may scratch their heads trying to figure out the mystery of Surat’s design power.

I reckon that while textile trade is serving the bottom market of the pyramid, along with all other layers of fashion consumers – offering less than `100 sari to `40 lakh sari, retailing less than `150 pant-shirt set to `50,000 per meter suit lengths – but more than that it creates new consumers and spreads the fashion consciousness among masses. Hence it may not be an exaggeration to say that the very foundation of the fashion industry pyramid is created, sustained and developed by the humble but huge, invisible but innovative textile trade of India. BoF April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 79

• Cover story •

high rentals low footfalls who’s to blame?

The Indian real estate sector has seen tremendous growth in the last few years.

But problems continue to dog this sector. The recently concluded India Fashion Forum 2011 brought to light one common concern among retailers – rising real estate prices. With the easing of the economic downturn and improving Indian economy, real estate prices appeared to be a big black dot on an otherwise shining horizon. Why? IMAGES BoF talks to Asipac and Jones Lang LaSalle, specialists in real estate to understand the ground realities.

80 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Why are fashion retailers complaining about high rents?

Amit Bagaria, Founder Chairman, Asipac

B

angalore-based ethnic fashion retailer Soch introduces new designs of salwaar suits and saris more than 30 times a year – in fact, many of their designs are modelled around the costumes worn by leading ladies in the latest released Bollywood films. With this unique strategy, Soch averages a turnover of `5 crore per annum from each of its 13 outlets, which have an average size of 1,100 sq. ft. This gives Soch an ATD (average trading density) of `3,788 psfpm (per square foot per month). Compare this to an ATD of `1,050 for former iconic retailer UCB or a pathetic under `400 for Alcott and Celio – both international fashion chains which have come into India last year.

Isn’t this Soch strategy one of the biggest reasons for the success of arguably what can be termed as the world’s most successful fashion retailer – Zara from Spain? And perhaps that of the internationally fast growing American retailer Forever 21?

Recently, a reporter from The Economic Times asked me what Indian fashion retailers were doing to counter the threat from the likes of Zara and Forever 21. I honestly struggled to give her a proper answer.

Mobile handset makers come out with new models and designs almost

Fashion retailers should concentrate on improving their trading densities by regularly creating new fashion rather than spending unproductive time on discussing impediments to their success. every month. Even car and TV set manufacturers do it almost five to six times a year. Shouldn’t it be easier to design a top, dress or salwaar suit, compared to a car or a TV? Shouldn’t fashion retailers concentrate on improving their trading densities by regularly creating new fashion (isn’t that what consumers expect of them) rather than spending unproductive time on discussing impediments to their success?

Asipac estimates the Indian retail market at `23.53 lakh crore ($517 billion), of which organised retail comprises `2.21 lakh crore. The total retail market will reach `40 lakh crore ($879 billion) in five years. Of the `16.5 lakh crore addition, one-third will come from organised retail. So the organised retail sector is projected to touch a topline of a whopping

`7.7 lakh crore ($169 billion) by FY2016.

Since fashion retail comprises a large chunk of organised retail, just like Indian cricket captain M.S. Dhoni played a true captain’s knock in the final to help India win the ICC World Cup, fashion retailers also need to rise to the occasion.

In a panel discussion titled Retail Entrepreneurs Conclave, anchored by me at the 2011 India Fashion Forum, the most discussed topic – yet again – was that rents are high. No matter what the actual topic is supposed to be in any particular session at any retail industry forum in India for the last four years, high rents always comes up as one of the main topics of discussion.

Two of the panelists claimed that the rent being paid by them was as high as 20-25 per cent of their turnover. This can only be possible if these retailers’ average trading densities are too low and, or they have oversized their shops.

Indian retailers should definitely look at rightsizing their shops and improving their ATDs. This is an easier way of reducing the impact of rents – which are based on the cost of land and construction, both of which is not in the hands of real estate developers.

Please allow me to explain the reality of rents in India – especialy in shopping centres (or malls as they are more popularly known as) – and whether these rents are high or justified.

For any given plot of land in urban April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 81

• Cover story •

India, there is a certain amount of built-up space that one can develop, based on the development control rules of a particular city or state. The amount of built-up space one can build on each square fot of land is called FSI (Floor Space Index) or FAR (Floor Area Ratio), depending on which city one is in. In most Indian cities, the average FAR or FSI is about 2.0, which means that one can build two square feet on every square foot of land. In some cities such as Pune for example, it is much lower at between 1.0 and 1.33.

In Mumbai and Delhi, the average cost of FSI or FAR at a good location comes to about `9,000 per sq. ft. Add to that the total development cost of a good mall (including interest during construction period and other soft costs) of about `3,200 per sq. ft. and you have a total completed project cost of `12,200 per sq ft.

Based on the returns that investors or bankers typically want from real estate, a developer has to achieve an average monthly inclome of `153 per square foot across his mall. Since this is on the total BUA (built-up area) or the GLA (gross lettable area), the average 82 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

In most Indian cities, the average FAR or FSI is about 2.0, which means that one can build two sq. ft. on every sq. ft. of land.

per square foot of actual carpet area (usually about 65 per cent of the total BUA) typically comes to `236 per sq. ft. Of this, about `12 per sq. ft. is the income from parking, advertising and promotions – so the balance `224 psfpm on actual carpet area has to come from all the tenants put together.

In a good, decent-sized mall (with a GLA of 4,50,000 to 7,50,000 sq. ft.), about 60 per cent of space is going to be occupied by anchor tenants, including a hypermarket or supermarket, a multiplex cinema, a family entertainment centre,

two to three department stores (depending on the GLA of the mall), a CDIT superstore and may be a home superstore. In Mumbai or Delhi, the average rental yield from anchors is only about `85 per sq. ft. of actual carpet area. Therefore, all the other tenants (typically called vanilla tenants) put together, who occupy just 40 per cent of the space, have to pay `432.50 per sq. ft. for the developer to achieve the required average of `224.00.

Tier I B cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Pune, et cetera, have an average FSI or FAR cost of `4,250 per sq. ft. With the same development costs, the completed project cost comes to `7,450 per sq. foot. So here, the developer has to achieve an average monthly inclome of `93 per sq. ft. on GLA or `143 on carpet area. With about `8 coming from advertising, parking, et cetera, the rental yield has to be `35 psfpm. With anchors occupying 60 per cent space and contributing about `65 psfpm, the vanilla tenants have to pay `240 psfpm.

Move to tier II cities such as Surat, Nagpur, Jaipur, Coimbatore or Vizag.

With a FSI or FAR cost of `2,950, the

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• Cover story •

Within the fashion segment, more space needs to be dedicated to ethnic fashion, which comprises 38.5 per cent of the total apparel market in India.

project cost comes to `6,200 per sq. ft. and the developer has to achieve average `120 pspm on carpet area, of which `115 has to come from rent. With anchors contributing only about `50, the vanilla tenants have to pay `225 psfpm, not too much lower than tier I B cities.

These are the harsh realities of real estate in India and the situation is unlikely to change, unless the various state governments and city administrative autorities take a conscious decision to allow higher FSI/FAR ratios for retial-led mixed-use developments.

Now that we have understood the rationale behind the rentals, let us examine whether these rentals are high or reasonable. Let us take the average rent of `240 psfpm on carpet area in a tier I B city to do the analysis. If Soch achieves an ATD of `3,788 psfpm, its R2R (rent to revenue 84 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

ratio) comes to only 6.33 per cent.

On the other hand, if UCB achieves an ATD of `1,050, its R2R will be 22.9 per cent. In the case of Alcott at an ATD of just `350, the R2R will be a whopping 68.6 per cent.

Obviously, Alcott cannot afford Indian mall space and even UCB will struggle.

So let’s see how many retailers can afford Indian mall space with these renatls and their average trading densities. Mobile and computer retailers with an ATD of `7,250 can definitely afford the rentals with a R2R of 3.3 per cent. So can food court formats with an ATD of `3,000. For footwear retailers such as Metro, Mochi, Regal and Woodland are achieving ATDs of close to `2,100. Thus, their R2R comes to 11.4 per cent and they can afford most mall rentals. Health and beauty chains such as The Body Shop and Health & Glow are an an ATD of `2,400 and they can afford a 10 per cent R2R. Sports lifestyle retailers such as adidas, Nike, PUMA and Reebok, with an ATD of `1,650 can also afford a 14.5 per cent R2R. So can most watch retailers with an ATD of `3,000.

The biggest problem seems to be in the fashion segment – be it men’s fashion, ladies’ fashion, children’s fashion, unisex fashion or handbags and accessories, et cetera. These are the retailers who are finding it hard to cope with the rentals in Indian malls. Even out of these, ethnic fashion retailers are doing much better.

So what is the way out? Actually, there is no single solution. The problem (if there is one) needs to be addresses in multiple ways.

Firstly, anchors need to improve their trading densities, so that they can contribute more. If anchors contribute `75 psfpm instead of `65 in tier I B city malls, the vanilla stores would need to pay `225 instead of `240. And this 15.4 per cent yield improvement from anchors is not a big ask. On an average, the ATD of Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, Westside, Marks & Spencer and Reliance Trends is 35 - 40 per cent below that of Lifestyle and Max, both formats from Dubai-based Landmark Group. Most of our hypermarket or supermarket chains still have a lot more to do to improve their ATDs. Secondly, mall developers need to dedicate less space to fashion retailers than

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• Cover story •

they are currently doing. CDIT, furniture and furnishings comprise 9 per cent of the Indian consumers’ shopping basket. This reality has been ignored in most shopping centres. One Croma store alone cannot justify the tenancy mix in a mall.

Within the fashion segment, more space needs to be dedicated to ethnic fashion, which comprises 38.5 per cent of the total apparel market in India.

The main onus still lies on the fashion retailers themselves. They have to increase their ATDs. One easy way out is to downsize their stores. What is the need for UCB to have shops of 2,500 sq. ft. if they are only going to achieve sales of `25 lakh per month from these shops, especially when a Soch averages `41.6 lakh per month with shops that are less than half the size of UCB stores? Why do the international brands have to be so stuck up on look and feel, if it is not working in the Indian market? Similarly, Wrangler does not need 900-1,000 sq. ft. stores to do a turnover of `5 lakh – they can easily manage from 500-600 sq. ft. stores. Why does OVS and Mom & Me need 5,000 square feet stores when their ATDs are not justifying these store sizes?

The other – and obviously the more difficult solution for increasing ATDs – is to tweak their merchandise offering. If McDonald’s can serve aloo tikki burgers in India, why can’t M&S sell saris? It is 86 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

important for retailers to target a larger percentage of the population. India’s urban population is 360 million, and will reach 508 million by 2020. Of the additional 148 million, 96 million will be Migrants from Rural India (MRIs). Over 60 million migrated in the last decade. Instead of assuming that MRIs are not potential customers for modern retail, we must remember that, while farm produce prices are consistently rising, the same is not true for branded shirts, and while Ambani, Biyani and Jagtiani have to pay taxes, their country cousins in rural India enjoy tax-free income. We need many more retail formats catering to the masses.

Geographical spread is also important.

A third solution is also quite simple – improving their efficiencies. Many Indian retailers are suffering from poor inventory management, with frequent stock-outs of fast selling items being a common phenomenon.

One of the panelists at the IFF session was Taiyab bhai Khatri of Alfa – a chain of abutting retail stores located at Irla in Mumbai. Alfa, with an annual turnover of `370 crore from just 10,000 sq. ft., has the highest ATD of `30,800 + psfpm. When asked how come his shops never have a stock-out situation, Taiyab bhai said, “In a corporate retail organisation, when a store runs out of stock, one of the sales associates tells the store manager. As

per procedure, the store manager sends a stock requisition once a fortnight to the head office. As the general manager at the head office is usually travelling, he only sees the requisition after a 5-6 day delay. His approval then goes to the finance department. They take 5-6 days in their own procedures and then send the same to the purchase department. After 2-3 days of the purchase department’s procedural delays, the order is placed and the file comes back to the finance department for processing the payment. Since the payment has to be approved by two to three senior people (who are mostly travelling), it takes another 10-12 days. So, by the time the goods arrive, it is 45-50 days from the time that the stock-out happened at the store. At Alfa, when we are out of some item, Babloo is sent to the warehouse with a chit and he carries the item back from the warehouse on his head. So it takes maximum 20-25 minutes to replenish stock. The corporates use computers and have big processes. We work on instinct.”

This passionate oration (delivered in Hindi) got him a huge round of applause from the audience. Perhaps fashion retailers sitting in air-conditioned offices need to learn a thing or two from our home grown retailers who are not exposed to the ways of the corporate (read Western) world. BoF

About the Author Amit Bagaria is chairman of Asipac Projects, India’s leading mall development consultant, Asipac Mall Services, among the country’s fastest growing mall management companies and MEN & BOYS, the world’s largest chain of retail stores for men’s cosmetics, skincare, hair care and grooming products.

The views expressed in the article are those of the author. The editor and publisher may not necessarily subscribe to the same.

Is rental the real

hindrance?

Abhishek Kiran Gupta, Head - Research and Real Estate Intelligence Service, JLL

by Nalini Singh

I

ndia is seeing a sudden spurt in the growth of malls. Let us first look at the reasons for the boom in real estate.

The industrial sector as a whole grew at the rate of 10.8 per cent in 2006-07 out of which a growth of 11.8 per cent was seen by the manufacturing sector.

The expanding industrial sector created a surge in demand for office buildings and dwellings. The second reason was the liberalisation policies of the Indian government. Under this permissions and licences for mega construction projects became easier. FDI in the real estate sector since 2002 was the third contributory factor and it also made the sector more organised.

At present, there are 100 plus malls in operation across the seven metros.

This excludes malls in smaller cities as they fall short of the expected standards.

High quality malls refer to those malls which can compare with malls in USA and Singapore. Unfortunately, India cannot boast of more than 20 malls of that standard.

“We are in 2011, and by 2013, there are 25 million sq. ft. malls planned, of which 20 malls are expected to be complete within a year or two. Out of these, the very high quality ones are

Inorbit Mall, G Corp and the Phoenix Malls in Pune and another Phoenix property in Kurla, Mumbai,” says Abhishek Kiran Gupta, Head - Research and Real Estate Intelligence Service, Jones Lang LaSalle. “There is an absolute need for more good quality malls in India, and they will surely come as the mall culture is getting more and more prevalent here.”

The first mall in India came up in the year 1999. Most developers who build malls build it with the intention of selling and exiting the scene. A big mistake

according to Gupta. Because selling means relinquishing all kinds of control on the management of the mall. “There is always a certain standard required in the mall in terms of designing, tapping the footfall, parking facility, store sizes, planning the store and other scientific things which are not very well understood by developers in India. These wants went begging with the mall developers in the country,” explains Gupta.

Management of the mall is key to its success. Unfortunately, Indian developers do not take it seriously. Few years

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 87

• Cover story •

very well generally gets space at the front.

This strategy works well for both the developers and retailers. Singapore malls are leased on a revenue-sharing basis, so if the brand is doing well the mall will do well too. Secondly, to make the best use of infrastructure is extremely crucial.

For example, a mall in Kuala Lumpur has the metro running through it giving easy access to customers. This strategy has been adopted in India as well. Navi Mumbai has high streets and office complexes as stations.

Let us look at the present scenario.

Delhi has the highest number of malls

An ideal scenario is where the developers focus on designing and management, the government does something to improve the infrastructure of the country, and retailers focus on their product positioning and branding to maintain their sales account. back, JLL started a mall management company but had to shut down because developers did not want to pay for mall management. In India, mall management is synonymous with housekeeping.

This is a fallacy as mall management involves the financial aspect too. A well-managed mall can do wonders for turnovers. Overseas, there are professionally managed companies that take care of managing malls. VivoCity in Singapore is the ideal example of good mall management. Each brand has an 88 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

allotted space. Performance of brands in terms of how much they are selling is constantly under review; when the mall management finds that a certain brand is not doing well, they will re-negotiate the rentals and shift them from one part of the mall to the other. A bigger brand or any outlet wanting to expand, or doing

in the country, at present. But the occupancy level is very poor at little more than 28-30 per cent the reason being poor designs of malls and virtually zero maintenance. This is not to say that it is all black on the mall front. There are few malls that have taken the initiative and broken away from the norm. A

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• Cover story •

classic example is Select Citywalk.

As Neeraj Ghei, Director, Select Infrastructure, said that it takes “…a certain amount of vision and more than anything else a certain commitment to ones investment in that business to do what’s right, to make what it takes to make his or her business flourish. So, if I take the decision to get into the mall development or into any other business, it’s my job to make myself succeed no matter what it takes.” The results of this commitment are for all to see – in the increased footfalls.

On the other side of the coin there is the DLF Place mall, which is right next to it but does not attract half the footfalls.

Despite the fact that DLF Place boasts an equally impressive collection of tenants, yet their performance is way behind their neighbouring mall. “The problem is you have to get majority of the key ingredients correct. You can't say that you have the best location so any sort of design can work,” says Gupta.

One prominent grouse of the Indian 90 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

“There is an absolute need for more good quality malls in India, and they will surely come as the mall culture is getting more and more prevalent here.” retailers is the lack of facilities that the malls provide; with high rentals they expect a certain level of exclusivity.

“Exclusivity means there should be proper positioning in the mall. There should be very well-defined sections for all categories which makes things easier

and convenient for consumers. But there are certain valid reasons why Indian developers charge such high rentals,” explains Gupta.

According to Gupta, retail malls come under the category of commercial development. “This brings them under the Income Tax policy giving them the

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A Klass Fashions Call 02522-314265 / 314827 or e-mail us at admin@aklassfashions.com

• Cover story •

advantage of FSI (Floor Space Index). In any real estate project the two largest components are cost of land and cost of construction. Cost of construction for office space and retail space is almost similar; land is the only component

office space. The developer have to take the money through rentals only.

Another reason for high rentals is that in all malls at least 40 per cent is given away to anchors. Anchors, being in the driver’s seat, typically bargain anything between `40-60 per sq. ft. The rest of the cost burden automatically falls on the other retailers. When the performance of the retailers are not up to expectation, rentals become a heavy cross to bear.

In India, the real mall euphoria started in 2005.

By 2007-08 the retail landscape was dotted with a number of malls. Real estate was on a boom.

Who exactly is responsible for streamlining the process such that high rent does not remain a stumbling block?

Is it the retailers or the mall developers?

Ideally, the problem should be collectively tackled by stakeholders, the government and retailers along with developers. An ideal scenario is where the developers focus on designing and management, the government does something to improve the infrastructure of the country, and retailers focus on their product positioning and branding to maintain their sales account.

The role of the government is crucial in the development of any economy.

This is particularly true here. The Indian government should understand that the

“Exclusivity means there should be proper positioning in the mall. There should be very well defined sections for all categories which makes things easier and convenient for consumers.”

which makes the difference. In an IT park you can get FSI 2.5 - 3 depending on the state in which it is built. But for retail, you can hardly get an FSI 1-1.5. It means on the same land with the same money you can make an IT building of 2x amount big and a mall x amount. Which means the cost to make the mall is much higher than the cost to make residential or 92 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Retailers bought space even in places commanding higher rentals. Just at a time when something great could be expected global recession hit the country. As a natural fallout, Indian consumers stopped buying as much as they were buying even a year back. Consequently, the growth chart of the retailers went down, and the first thing that pinched was the rentals. “Retailers always knew what the rental was and whether they could afford it or not. They would have surely segregated their expenses before deciding to buy the space. The rentals are still same; whether retailers can afford it or not depends on their business growth,” emphasises Gupta.

retail industry is a big revenue earner and generates lot of employment. Unless retail does well, logistics won't be able to survive and vice versa. Manufacturing, logistics and retailing are all interlinked and have a very high propensity to grow and generate employment. This will align to give higher disposable income, and the middle class segment of India will grow further, reflecting in the GDP growth of the country. “I think that government has to understand the importance of middle class. It’s people from the middle class who are contributing the most towards the GDP of the country. They are aspirational and ambitious too,” says Gupta.

“Moreover, the infrastructure of the country is another hindrance in the growth of mall industry in India. We can't think of destination retailing like the U.S.

168 | March 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

• Cover story •

Due both to attitude and infrastructure, a consumer will never go 50 km away from the city to buy a shirt. So, we have to bring the mall closer to the city, and have to do some extra exercise to make it prominent and visible in the eyes of the visitors.”

Another important government decision should be about allowing foreign retailers into the country, such that the Indian consumers can benefit from the increasing competition. The success of the insurance and telecom sectors is a good case in point. If government opens the retail industry for foreign investors, for more malls would automatically create the pressure for better infrastructure and this in turn would be a win-win situation for all concerned parties.

Tier II and III cities are showing tremendous potential in terms of consumer spending power, but the corresponding number of malls there are relatively less. Why? Gupta reasons it as “Some malls found a niche in tier II cities, for example EWDPL. The thing with smaller cities is you have to have the firstmove advantage there else it's a risky affair. That's why some of them have not ventured in to the smaller town. Though the science that applies to larger city does apply to smaller city as well, it's a slightly 94 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

riskier venture due to uncertainty of the response of consumer there.”

The luxury concept is slowly but surely catching up with the Indian consumer.

The requirement here is to come up with more imaginative ideas of distinguishing luxury malls from any common mall. The focus of luxury malls should be to offer an environment of exclusiveness and not just of attracting crowds. Luxury mall developers have to learn to introduce high-end features and to eliminate commonplace components. But JLL

has its own views about the success of this category of malls. “The luxury mall concept is going to struggle in India.

Reason being the consumer who buys luxury is well travelled. And they want the trendiest and most reasonably priced products, same as they would get from somewhere outside. Due to the excise duty and India being a trend follower, the required component may suffer. But the bridge brands which are neither luxury nor cheap can do very well, for example, Zara, Mango, Tommy Hilfiger, UCB, et cetera and those are the ones that Indians aspire for. They can be on high streets or any mall; they don't have to be in five stars hotels or any luxury malls. They can survive anywhere in India,” says Gupta.

With the economic conditions on the rise, the spending power of the average Indian consumer increasing and the mall management becoming a reality, can the future be less than bright? According to Jones Lang LaSalle, in 2010, where 40 million sq. ft. of the mall was operational, the next 10 years will see a doubling of that number. It may even cross 100-150 million sq. ft. in mall space. Definitely, the Indian retail scenario is going the Mall way. With so much competition can one expect better processes to enable retailer tenants realise their full potential and see increased returns?. BoF

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• Designer Weaves - Fashion Week •

LFaashkionmWéeek 1 design 1 0 2 rt so e R r e m m Su

directions elino

by Meher Cast

96 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

k kmé Fashion Wee an addition that La is on as e se th rt so ng tti Re ge The Summer 10 in the hope of dian scenario in 20 d not six months in brought onto the In g to the season an in rd co ac to the design te ea cr seemed to appeal designers to at th t ep nc co g in yers who interest s as well as the bu advance. It was an le sa e iat ed m im e er ed to se tions for the Summ fraternity who want racks. Design direc ich eir wh th k k ee oc st W to ion nt sh were impatie the Lakmé Fa at ht lig gh hi e y th were cks during the sultr Resort 2011 season d be seen on the ra ul co d an ly nt ce re great heights. concluded in mercury climbs to e th en wh s th on summer m

Photofinish

Babita M

Sabbah Khan

Manas Dash

Here is a direction that could work for many designers. Get your theme or inspiration onto the garment just like Manas Dash transferred the Patachitra paintings of Orissa onto the dresses featuring some colourful Indian faces as well as trees, leaves, birds and animals images, which were used as a melange in a very colourful manner.

Sabbah Khan inspired by the humble rickshaw splashed the images of this popular transport on everything including the outfits as well as the waist pouches and on the big square carry bags.

Babita M. brought in the images of Baul singers of Bengal while Sabyasachi worked around the beautiful flowers of Sundarbans to decorate his line of westernwear.

Rajat K. Tangri went a little further by reproducing the paintings of Madonna and Jesus on men’s T-shirts and jackets as well as on eveningwear dresses.

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 97

Sivan & Narresh

• Designer Weaves - Fashion Week •

If it is summer and with the resort theme added to it can colour be far behind? A mix of all the colours one can think of in the rainbow including the ones seen in Gelato ice creams inspired the collection by Jatin Varma. So there were sorbet tones and candy colours, while for a collection called Vanilla it was the controlled pastels that made the impact on the ramp with the styles of Shivan and Narresh.

Sivan & Narresh

Pam and Arch London

Multicolours

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• Designer Weaves - Fashion Week •

Swim in

100 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Pria Kataaria Puri

Pria Kataaria Puri

Parvesh Jai

When one talks of resortwear then beach outfits are the first segment of fashion that appear on the ramp. Getting into the sunny mood there was a string of the best bikinis, monikinis, tankinis, maillots, swimwear and bodysuits; anything that could reveal a lithe body and be ideal to jump into the pool. Designers Shivan Narresh, Pria Kataaria Puri, Parvesh Jai, Vivek Karunakaran gave beachwear in and out of the water the designers’ touch and for those not too keen on getting their feet wet then all the above could double up really well under skirts and blouses as outer wear for a cool beach party. For those a little demure the kaftan in varying lengths is the big cover for the beach.

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• Designer Weaves - Fashion Week •

Short and sassy With the mercury rising the shorter the better and everyone from Sabyasachi to Lina Tipnis, Abhishek Dutta, Jatin Varma, Anupamaa Dayal, Pam and Arch London made sure that there was a lot of leg show with shorts and minis making an appearance on the ramp in colourful forms as well as beach covers.

Jatin Varma

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Anupamaa Dayal

Lina Tipnis

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• Designer Weaves - Fashion Week •

Body conscious

Gauri & Nainika

Show those curves if you have them; don’t hide under layers of fabric said the designers. Watch out for the line-up of the sexiest figure hugging, fabric moulding, pleated, folded and draped creations from a list of designers that started with Siddhartha Tytler with his eveningwear, then moved onto Shantanu and Nikhil for their S & N Drape line. Body-conscious curves were seen in the Pam and Arch London line and then there were the rouched, draped dresses and corsets from Jatin Varma, Gauri and Nainika who created the most amazing moulded form fitting Red Carpet creations and Satya Paul who teamed the glittering corsets with saris or lehengas. Abdul Haldar showed a line of figure-hugging dresses which proved that the feminine draped ensembles make ideal summerwear.

Jatin Varma Satya Paulv

Pam & Arch Lon

don

104 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Shantanu and Nik

hil

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• Designer Weaves - Fashion Week •

Underwater visions

106 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Arpan Vohra

Parvesh Jai

Satya Paul

With summer and resort as the basis there has to be some connection with the beach and the sea for the inspirations and themes, so it was little wonder that Satya Paul called his collection “Jewels of the Sea” and presented the colours of the oceans as well as a marine-inspired line of saris and lehengas. But Parvesh Jai went even more underwater with sea life painted and embroidered or covered with crystals on the bodice where fish and water bodies glowed on the garments. Arpan Vohra preferred to remain above the water with his Sail Away line with nautical touches such as ropes, cords, anchors, zips and the nautical colours but thankfully there were not too many sailor collars.

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• Designer Weaves - Fashion Week •

108 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Abhishek Dutta

Anamika Kh

anna

Here it is not editing that we are talking about but embellishments of the high-tech kind. In other words, it is laser cut-outs that make all the difference to the way clothes are given the added eye-catching look.

Laser cuts came in the form of kites or anything that the designer visualised. It appeared for menswear as well as womenswear adding a fragile touch to the appeal of the shirts, skirts, dresses, blouses, trousers and T-shirts. Cutwork also dominated with embroidered and applique effects for short-cropped waistcoats.

Anamika Khanna

Cut it out

• Designer Weaves - Fashion Week •

Shrink the sari

110 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Sabyasachi

Shantanu and Nikhil

Satya Paul

This has got nothing to do with the washing of this traditional garment to make it shorter than its normal five metres. This is all about making it shorter and ending it at the knees as far as the width of the sari is concerned. This new fashion direction was created by Sabyasachi Mukherjee two seasons ago and the designer would still like it to be worn by fashionistas, but this time with flowing floor length skirts. Called the Chotu Sari by Sabyasachi this newly innovated look for the traditional national dress gives it some possibility to appeal to the international audience. Masaba also added a few saris to her collection but worn with churidars or trousers and just about covering the body. Satya Paul created glittering bridal wear sari-lehenga combos which is a more pre-stitched version of the Indian drape. Anupamaa Dayal had saris draped lungi style while Shantanu and Nikhil presented them minus a petticoat.

Debarun

Of course white is always right, but when it is summer time then it is more prominent on the fashion charts. A slight deviation to the ecru shade and you have an interesting option as was created by Debarun whose complete collection in ecru Kora with gold embellishments showcased a fine ethnic line. Designer Amalraj Sengupta had a line of white men’s and women’s garments while Satya Paul too worked with the pristine shades, and of course Gauri and Nainika had nearly a full show of ethereal white gowns, cocktail dresses and maxis which will work well for the summer months.

Debarun

Satya Paul

Amalraj Sengupta

White is right

Gauri & Nainika

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 111

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• Designer Weaves - Fashion Week •

Stripe it horizontal

114 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Sabyasachi

Vivek Karunakaran

Chaitanya Rao

That’s right! Horizontal broad stripes are in and they may have been shunned by the fashionable woman in the past because of what they can do to the slimmest figure but this time they are colourful and bold with the “in your face variety” as shown by Chaitanya Rao who had a full collection of bright almost fluorescent stripes for the summer dresses and covers as well as skirts and tops. Vivek Karunakaran also played with some daring horizontal stripes for his summer resortwear in sheer fabrics. Sabyasachi’s bold colour blocking for his lean maxis were again horizontal in a mix of solid and floral prints.

Lina Tipnis

Amalraj Sengupta

Power shoulders Amalraj Sengupta

Go for the powerful look with shoulders emerging from the neck and then moving out to form geometric shapes to get that V-shape silhouette for the creations. It was the 80s look of power dressing with a more futuristic touch with pleating, folds, drapes and sharp extensions to give that daring strong bold silhouette to the shoulder line. The best example of extended shoulders was in the collection by Amalraj Sengupta called In the Game of Chess where extreme design directions gave the garments for men and women the outer space look. Lina Tipnis also showed the shoulder extension concept in her line of fitted eveningwear.

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 115

• Designer Weaves - Fashion Week •

Traditions to the fore

Chaitanya Rao

Anita Dongre

Dipannita Sharma

How can there be no traditional embroidery in a fashion week?

Here it was the beautiful craft of Srinagar, Rajasthani work, gotta and patti work, chikankari and paisleys that were brought to centre stage by Manish Malhotra, Preeti S. Kapoor, Sabyasachi, V.J. Balhara and Anita Dongre. These added the perfect summer look for the breezy creations or gave some rich traditional creations such as angarkhas, and anarkali kurtas - the lavish opulent look with rich glittering embroidery.

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Dress like a man

Abdul Haldar

Shivan Narraesh

Shivan Narresh

Anamika Khanna

The world over, unisex looks are getting the nod from the fashionistas; so the androgynous silhouette will be showing the way for most of the creations during the summer season. Cool masculine shirts with wide collars and cuffs, sharply cut jackets, coats splashed with all the male elements of single or double breasted closures are hot on the ramps.

At the LakmĂŠ Fashion Week the look was never more prominent than in the collection of Anamika Khanna who was inspired by Indian menwear with the Jodhpuri jacket belted for style or smartly cut waistcoats with a hint of embroidery or lavish cutwork, strong raja coats and impressive Jodhpuri trousers with embroidered shawls thrown over the shoulders. Shivan and Narresh had easy pant suits, while Abdul Haldar had cropped shawl collar jackets or long single button options.

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 117

• Strategy •

A Strategic For Bestseller, it is all about the right business plan and Vineet Gautam, Country Manager, Bestseller Group India, discusses various aspect for this successful business model.

by Aakriti Agarwal

118 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Entry

B

ombay Rayon Fashions Limited (BRFL) is a leading manufacturer of shirts in India. With a capacity of manufacturing 50 million metres per annum its current production output is 35 million pieces per annum. Established in 1986, the company grew from strength to strength and diversified from being a fabric manufacturer to fabric exporter to launching its own garment division. The latest feather in its cap is the joint venture in 2009 with Danish apparel and accessories chain Bestseller that represents brands such as Name It, Vero Moda, Jack & Jones, Vila, Only, Selected Femme/Homme, Pieces Accessories, Object Collectors Item, Mamalicious and Outfitters Nation. And Prashant Agarwal, Managing Director, is the man responsible for bringing these international brands to India. IMAGES BoF talks with Vineet Gautam,

Country Manager, Bestseller Group India, to understand the company’s unique strategies and business plans.

Bestseller is a family-owned clothing company founded in Ringkøbing, Denmark in 1975, by Troels Holch Povlsen. Today, the group has more than 6,000 stores in over 46 countries around the world and more than 41,000 employees – designing, developing, selling and marketing its different brands. Initially, Bestseller focused on women’s fashion with brands such as Exit and Vero Moda. It was only later, in 1990, that the menswear brand Jack

& Jones was born followed by Vila and Only. Subsequently, the group’s kidswear brand, Name It, was launched in 1996.

The group, across the world, has built stores on close and loyal relationships with its business partners. Not into manufacturing on its own, Bestseller co-operates with suppliers in China, India, Bangladesh, Turkey and Italy to produce the brand’s apparel according to stringent quality parameters. It also has independent buying offices in Italy, Turkey, India and China.

Entering India In 2009, Bestseller acquired 20 per cent interest in BRFL, and through this joint venture introduced three major international brands to India.

For Bestseller, it is all about the right business plan. When the group entered India, it did not open any new store for the

first year. It waited, learned, took a lot of customer feedback and analysed the data to decide whether it was the right market for its products. Bestseller’s key strategy is to understand market dynamics first.

Once that is established, the way ahead is aggressive expansion. This is what it followed in India too. Starting off with Jack & Jones, it then brought in Only. And Vero Moda is the most recent addition.

Corroborating this, Gautam says, “Once we knew we had the right products, we rammed in very fast last year with 24 stores. We will open 40 stores this year; we retail from 17 towns

“We had the right products, we rammed in very fast last year with 22 stores. The three aspects on which we focus are product, consumer and marketing.” [presently] and will reach 25 towns by this year end.” Interestingly, Zara’s strategy seems to be similar. It started by opening an outlet in Delhi, then Mumbai and plans to expand slowly.

Operating module Bestseller retails primarily through company-owned and company-operated

stores across the country. In shop-inshops, it works on the sale or return (SOR) model. Currently, it has 30 exclusive brand outlets and operates 23 shop-in-shops covering a retail space of 1.10 lakh sq. ft. Pursuing its strategy of aggressive expansion, by June 2011, it plans to add another 60,000 sq. ft. of retail area. By the end of the financial year 2012, it intends to add another 100 shop fronts across India. Bestseller retails all its brands under one roof, but each brand has a separate zone within a store and are referred to as shop fronts.

Globally, Bestseller has several

vendors who produce for the group and it has strategic tie ups for the same. The key for sustainability is local sourcing. With labour being cheap in India, the group intends to increase the manufacturing capacity here; however, some high-fashion garments such as high-quality denims that cannot be produced in the country will be imported.

Therefore, certain business operations will not change.

Marketing strategy With so many brands making tracks for India the market is undoubtedly competitive. Retailers are constantly on the lookout for innovative strategies to lure the customer and build a stronger and bigger consumer base. So, what is the best way to do this? Gautam believes that the product is the most important component in fashion retailing. We all believe in the April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 119

• Strategy •

push model. Buyers sit in offices and push merchandise to the store. But it has to be about pulling. Our people need to be close to the market. They should know what customers want and should be able to attract the customer to come voluntarily instead of just pushing,” he states emphatically. According to Gautam, to survive in this industry one needs to focus on customers and products. The ability to turn around fashion in stores quickly can be a vital differentiator in the realm of fashion retailing.

Bestseller’s focus is on connecting with customers. Gautam says,“All our past, current and future campaigns revolve around customers. Being a brand that caters to the young and middle-aged consumers, we have always made efforts to connect with our customers directly, engage them and give them what they aspire for.”

Customer engagement and feedback, thus, comes out as one of the critical strategies in the group’s business plan.

Again, if one draws a parallel with other international brands a similar strategy

120 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

can be seen. Forever 21 drove consumer interaction and sold its entire collection using the multi-channel retail strategy via a mobile application, and Zara avoids mass production and believes in pull model.

At what price?

With a plethora of international brands now present in India it’s a difficult proposition of sticking to a viable pricing strategy – one that will attract the consumer as well as keep the profit margins healthy. Brands vary in the line they opt according to what they think best suits their brand philosophy. While some may pass on the import duty burden to

Bestseller works on a universal pricing strategy worldwide; it has the same pricing strategy worldwide.

the consumer, Bestseller would rather absorb the cost and offer a competitive price to its customer. It works on a universal pricing strategy worldwide. It has the same pricing across the globe.

As Gautam says, “We want to be at par.

Our customers are well travelled, and if they find different pricing abroad, they would rather buy the product from the international market.”

Another view point is offering lower than international prices to lure consumers. According to Shailesh Chaturvedi, CEO and Executive Director, Tommy Hilfiger, “Our prices are 30 per cent lower in India than in a London store.” This is kept so that the welltravelled consumer may feel the urge to purchase in India rather than abroad.

Reflecting on the retail rules in India, Gautam says, “The government policies do not allow you to retail in this country.

Duties change every year and the duty structure is completely maddening.”

Talking about the current excise roll out, he said, “Currently, we work on an import model so we are not much impacted by

Brand Contributions 10% 33% 24%

33%

Jack & Jones ONLY

Vero Moda Pieces Accessories

it but as and when we manufacture in India, we will have to increase pricing to manage the 10 per cent excise.”

According to Gautam, the biggest financial numbers come in through the end-of-season sales. Brands carry a lot of stock which results in piling up of the inventory and it does not get realised as money. “A lot of us don’t realise that in case something is not selling, you need to discount it and finish it up.”

On volumes and discounts, he says, “It has to be a volume game. It cannot anymore be a margin game. We are ramping our outlets and trying to push as much volumes as possible from our stores. We definitely do discount sales, because we buy every week, unlike many other brands in the country who just buy twice a year.”

The look and feel Visual stimulation has a lot of influence on consumer purchase behaviour as they prefer stores where the interiors are either subtle, elegant, vibrant or trendy.

The visual appeal of the store also helps in communicating the language of the brand. This also supports the brands philosophy of the pull strategy of drawing the customer into the store.

Bestseller focuses a lot on visual merchandising. Stores of Vero Moda and Only are kept simple and spacious with good display of merchandise and clever usage of mannequins. The VM is strategically changed periodically in all Bestseller stores.

Each brand has it’s own identity and

Comparative Price Analysis Brands

Womenswear Tops

Womenswear Bottoms

Menswear Tops

Menswear Bottoms

Tommy Hilfiger

`1,499 onwards

`1,999 onwards

`1,499 onwards

`1,999 onwards

Benetton

`499 - `2,999

`1,599 - `3,999

`599 - `8,999

`1,699 - `3,999

Zara

`550 - `5,590

`1,390 - `11,990

`550 - `12,990

`1,790 - `3,590

Bestseller

`495 - `5,895

`1,345 - `5,595

`645 - `3,695

`1,995 - `7,995

“It has to be a volume game. It cannot anymore be a margin game ...

We definitely do discount sales, because we buy every week, unlike many other brands in the country who just buy twice a year.” it’s individuality is maintained through the visual merchandising and ensuring that it is inviting and appealing to the consumers. Gautam says, “We focus a lot on visual merchandising and have a big team of visual merchandisers who travel to stores on a weekly basis. We work on global guidelines and focus on the commercial aspect of VM.” The store layout of the group’s menswear brand Jack & Jones is more innovative. One Delhi outlet showcases a unique look. Hanging helmets, big black boxes, posters of famous rock music bands, a small space dedicated to essentials of jeans manufacturing such as threads, needle and buttons, et cetra shout “For Men.” All the displays are imported from Italy. Accessories such as scarves, belts, et cetra are also strategically displayed near the trial rooms for the consumer to browse through.

Keeping the edge To combat competition in the Indian market, Bestseller is working on a very aggressive plan and targets a pan – India

presence. Currently, the group does not have plans to launch any other brands into the country. Bestseller has mapped its market for the next few years. It aims to expand extensively across the country and intends to have 500 selling points in next five years. The group has already penetrated into tier II cities such as Jaipur, Amritsar, Lucknow and Udaipur.

“We have not faced any pricing issue and any of these markets. The group ensures its presence in a high-value mall or on a street where its different brands will be well embraced. The malls have to fit in your brand.”

In India, Bestseller stands in competition with brands such as Zara, Tommy Hilfiger and Benetton. Talking about carving a niche for the brand in the Indian market, Gautam says, “We firmly believe there is market for all, and believe in healthy competition. Being a fastfashion brand, we focus on our product and our customers.”

He says that a lot of international brands start reinventing when they come to a country. However, according to him a brand should adapt and not reinvent.

It should believe in its core competency and products. That is the reason why in the first place the customer chose to buy the brand even when it was not available in India. Changing it would mean going against that reason.

Another vital asset that will help give an edge is human resource. In fashion retailing, people on the floor need to be in close contact with existing and prospective customers. They are the brands’ voice. “Invest in them. Look at it from long-term point of view. So training is a must,” emphasises Gautam. BoF April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 121

• retail watch •

The Indian marketplace is beginning to understand and appreciate luxury.

Blues Clothing Company (BCC), a well-known retailer of fashion apparel and accessory brands, hopes to capitalise on its early-entry advantage to carve a niche for itself.

Nivedita Jayaram Pawar speaks with Executive Director Abhay Gupta about market dynamics and the road ahead.

122 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Spearheading the

Luxe Wave

S

paces such as Delhi’s Emporio and Bangalore’s UB Mall have upgraded the retail space offering and even an economic slowdown has not deterred luxury brands from taking baby steps in India. According to the India Luxury Review, research estimates the total annual Indian luxury market at about $4.3 billion in 2007 with optimistic prediction of it exceeding $30 billion by 2016. It is then small wonder that so many luxury brands are heading towards India.

An early entrant in the luxury retail segment, Blues Clothing Company retails luxury brands through its standalone boutiques for Versace, Versace Collection, Corneliani and Cadini. Executive Director Abhay Gupta has expanded the company’s portfolio to include Royal Blues which houses premium ethnicwear from reputed Indian

designers. Diversification saw the company enter the home segment with the launch of Blues Home showcasing brands such as Versace Home, Ayaan, Jagtar, Obsession Xclusif, El’unique 925 and Haute Monde. Speaking to IMAGES BoF, Gupta reveals his thoughts on the market dynamics of the luxury segment and the road ahead. He feels that in this era of market capitalisation, bigger retailers would try to consolidate their positions by expanding further or acquiring smaller players.

How do you zero down on a brand to be brought to India? What are the factors you consider?

We undertake an intensive market research to understand the trend and

demands of the trade. It’s a multi-tier process to formalise a brand and is very subjective. The brand selected should be of extremely high quality and have a market in the country, either existing or have the scope to create one. It should be relevant to the market as well as in sync with the business strategy of the franchise company.

Having been an early entrant into the luxury retailing segment in India what are your key observations of the Indian luxury consumer?

The consumer is always looking for the best quality at the most viable price.

Earlier when luxury goods in India were more expensive than abroad, consumers would restrict their shopping to vacations. However, that trend is changing with prices being at par with the European market. At Blues Clothing Company Limited, the prices around the country are standardised as the company absorbs the octroi; the pricing is also competitive and at par with European prices. The awareness about luxury and the absorption in everyday living is also a recent trend with luxury home decor, cars, pens, resorts facing a new-found demand in the market.

You ventured into interiors and home furnishing in November last year with a concept like Blues Home.

Home has typically been a forte of the unorganised zone. What has been your experience and what are your plans for this segment?

Blues Home Division engages itself in the retail of home decor solutions where clients can mix and match between various unusual themes to create their own look and style. They have varied options, from unique concepts such as Versace Home, Ayaan – Indian heritage rediscovered, Jagtar – the best in Thai silk, El’unique – sterling silver, Obsession Xclusif – contemporary and international range of rugs and carpets, Haute Monde – the best in leather furniture and furnishings and Accessorize. Blues Home was received with a positive and

enthusiastic response. The showroom in Delhi-NCR is spread over a mammoth area of 55, 000 sq ft. Exclusive display areas are allocated to showcase different concepts with their exquisite collection.

For now, we will focus on Delhi with extended out-of-city marketing to hotels or celebrity clients. Depending on the success of each concept, we will devise a strategy to expand one or all concepts into different markets.

What is the size of the market and at what rate is it growing?

The market, in the past five years, has seen a growth rate of 14 per cent. And with the growing presence of organised retail and rapidly spreading mall culture, the industry is all set to grow further in future. Based on India’s GDP per capita and number of HNI’s, the size of Indian luxury product market should be around $3-3.5 billion.

What are your views on luxury retailing in India? Are you happy with the growth rates seen in the market?

Sentiments are positive and there is willingness to spend on high-end luxury products. If the current economic conditions remain the same in India, luxury retail will see a rise. India as a

“The brand selected should be of extremely high quality and have a market in the country, either existing or have the scope to create one.”

market is seen as a key economy for all international brands which also explains the influx of brands in the Indian market. The audience in India has the power of money, is well-travelled and fashionable. The focus from just dressing to power dressing has been clearly seen, increasing number of customers are spending more to get quality, international styles, up-to-date trends and brand names.

The future is only bright from here on.

Luxury is now seeping into the next level of cities such as Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune and so on. Expansion all around is visible. Even we have grown from our 9 store existence to 32 stores in 2010-11.

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 123

• retail watch •

Still, India remains a relatively young, emerging luxury destination compared to Western markets or its Asian counterparts. How are you creating luxe awareness and desire among Indians?

We are getting more and more aggressive with our marketing initiatives for BCC and Blues Home. Our approach is to be very selective but effective. Our advertising budget has been doubled; we have been consistently present in all top publications. We also have dedicated people for visual merchandising to ensure best widow display and retain

stage and the awareness for luxury is still developing. With high import duties and government restrictions, the development is constrained and at a snail’s pace. Rentals for luxury retailing are also sky-high with only a few places fit to showcase luxury. In India, the middle class mindset is still prevalent, with majority potential consumers not purchasing luxury at all or not locally. Also, luxury is mostly present in metropolitan cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, et cetera; however, wealth creation is spread beyond these regions which remain untapped to a large extent.

India as a market is seen as a key economy for all international brands which also explains the influx of brands in the Indian market. the prestigious image of all our luxury brands. We have trained and wellgroomed staff at stores who focus on customer relations and after sales service.

All these measures are undertaken to provide to enhance customer experience.

Awareness and brand recall is spread through our marketing and tactical approach. We rely on word of mouth as there is no other strategy as credible as firsthand experience.

What are the factors responsible for the restricted or slow growth of the luxury segment in the Indian market?

Luxury segment is India is at a nascent 124 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

What about customisation? Is the trend catching on in the luxury goods segment?

Customisation is a vertical in luxury that adds another opulent dimension to the segment. Customisation is so individualistic and unique; it’s definitely catching the keen eye of beholders of luxury and exploring this new facet.

What is your retail presence today?

What are the cities that have surprised you?

We are present in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, located in prestigious locations like 5-star hotels, luxury malls, et cetera across the country.

What are the investments lined up for your expansion?

We are looking at substantial investment for the coming year with expansion into new markets and locations.

What are the other brands you are looking to bring to India?

We are in talks with some prestigious brands in fashion. BCC is always inclined to bring the best of the luxury world to the Indian market.

What are your plans for the future?

Being one of the major players in the luxury market, Blues Clothing Company aims at continuously showcasing niche luxury brands and latest fashion trends.

Product innovation, quality services and efficient retail infrastructure have played a key role in positioning BCC as one of the foremost and trustworthy companies in the luxury retail sector.

Blues Clothing Company is expanding in cities across India, with standalone Versace store opening at T3, Versace Collection stores opening at Taj Palace, Mumbai, Hyatt, Mumbai, Taj Krishna, Hyderabad and UB City, Bangalore.

The Corneliani stores are opening at Taj Palace, Mumbai, Hyatt, Mumbai, Taj Krishna, Hyderabad and UB City, Bangalore, while a standalone Cadini store is in Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, Delhi. High fashion Turkish brand Tween is another luxury brand being introduced

by BCC in India. The launch of Versace Unique, the ultra luxury mobile from Versace’s kitty is another highlight of BCC’s expansion.

Across brands, Blues Clothing Company intents upon aggressive expansion. With the rapidly growing luxury market in India and an incredible increase in the disposable incomes of the young urban population, it is indeed a great opportunity for luxury brand retailers. However, the Indian luxury retail market is still at a nascent stage and has a long way to go before it can catch up with say, China or Korea, where luxe is an obsession. BoF

• events •

Potential & Opportunities It’s Your Business!

Make It Big One hundred and ten exhibitors spanning the whole spectrum of the business of fashion. the hugely successful event promises to get even bigger the next year. Represented by industry members from the remotest corners of India, InFashion brings together all who wish to stay in fashion.

by Madhumita B. Sinha

125 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 125

• events •

T

he Indian retail market is presently worth `23.53 lakh crore. But even today, much of this sector is fragmented with about 97 per cent of the retail industry falling under the unorganised sector including family-run stores and corner stores. Big retail chains and well-known brands are making fast inroads into the Indian market to capitalise on India’s coming of age. This is very visible in the apparel fashion industry because with the discovery of the internet, the world has shrunk. Global fashion trends are in each living room courtesy the television.

Consequently, demand is also on the increase.

Is India ready to deal with this influx of demand? Much is said and written about the final products that hit the market and consumers take home.

But there is so much more that goes into the making of an end product. It is dependent on a chain of processes where each process involves human and technological factors. This compounds the problem for manufacturers manifold.

Talking to manufacturers and brands brought to the open a plethora of problems that they faced while sourcing the various components. IMAGES Group played true to its assigned role of bringing together two ends of a spectrum to facilitate the business of fashion.

Partnering with FAITMA this time, IMAGES organised the first-of its-kind trade show in India – InFashion. Kudos to both for taking the initiative.

Land of Textile India is one of the leading producers of textiles with an output of $47 billion in 2009 (Technopak market sizing report, IMAGES Year Book 2011). But when leading textile retailers of the country came on a common platform to share their experiences, what emerged was a scenario plagued by multiple snags.

India has the highest tariffs for power consumption; it is 62 per cent higher than Bangladesh and 32 per cent higher than China. Cost of transportation is another drawback. Ironically, it costs less for a container to reach the Indian port from Singapore than from the airport to within Delhi. Moreover, India’s labour costs

L-R: Vijay Junjhunwla, Krishna Kumar, Shailesh Seth, Maqsood Gori, Ramesh Poddar, Kishan Jalan,Sushil Lohia, Kamal Beria, Bipin Jalan and S Raja Mouly

are 2.6 times higher than Bangladesh.

Given these, India is squeezed from the top by China and from the bottom by the CMT countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam.

What does India need to do to leverage all its advantages? Innovations for one. According to Dr. A.B. Joshi, Textile Commissioner, Government of India, “With state-of-the-art machinery, now we are poised to carve out India’s place in the world market. Our exports have already taken a good lead. But certain retarding factors such as recession have not allowed us to go we

L- R: Dr. Koshi, S N Modani, Rahul Mehta,Ramesh Poddar, Dr. A B Joshi,Premal Joshi, Anil Biyani, Mr. Shah, Vivian Farnandese

126 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

had planned.” Then the question rises why is India ranked 56th in the world in global ranking in innovation in the garment industry?

One reason could be what Ramesh Poddar, President FAITMA and Vice Chairman and MD, Siyaram Silk Mills, rightly said, “Firstly, the textile industry is totally decentralised, the ambit of the organised sector is confined to the man-made fibres and spun yarn, the rest of the industry comprises household units which are tiny and micro. In this case organised sector for garments accounts for only 5 per cent and in weaving, organised sector is not more than 3-4 per cent.”

The bottom line here is that we need to help our country cousins to come out of their shells and leverage modern technology to realise their full potential.

Harnessing their existing passion for business, commitment and low-cost structure and combining that with certain modern techniques will lead to larger turnovers not only for them but would bode well for a healthier economy. And we need to think big. Rahul Mehta, President, Clothing Manufacturers Association of India and Convener, Institute of Apparel Management, rightly points out, “A small country like

• events •

L-R: Rajiv Ranjan, Samar Sharma, Shreyas Kohsi, Dr. Claudio Martelli, Dr. P.R. Roy and Pawan Jain

Bangladesh is exporting more than India.

The largest Indian brand is selling only `500 crore. Can we say industry has come of age? No… If your salary is `1,000 and I increase it by another 1,000. It’s a 100 per cent increase but will you say your salary is handsome? No.” It is all about scale, and as one advertising campaign says it all in its tagline “It’s your life…make it large.”

Innovations The three-day event turned out to be a real eye-opener. Participants across India, including the remotest parts, turned up in droves to drive home the need for such a platform to showcase the latest innovations in business of fashion and apparels. Garment manufacturers, wholesalers, fashion designers, apparel brands and labels, buying houses and exporters had the opportunity to see the latest technology and innovations in the field of textile, fashion accessories, embellishments, trend forecasting, and more. Bombay Exhibition Centre became THE address for all in the business of fashion. Showcasing more than hundred exhibitors, the area teemed with visitors and professionals who were there to find out what was the latest requirement to remain in fashion.

Dr. P.R. Roy, Director, Fibre2fashion, opened the first session with the most suitable topic of discussion on Innovations in Supply Chain for Textiles and Clothing. The rise of a brand is to large extent dependent on

its supply chain management. A case in point here is Zara whose strong point is its backward integration. The opening panellists focused on the need and avenues in the supply chain management. Shreyas Joshi, President, Raymond Apparel, chaired the panel and started the discussion on a positive note saying, “Innovation is the need of the hour, not just in textiles but in business also. Consumers are driving innovation.

They are evolving very rapidly and their demands are driving innovations in products and various facets of business.”

With the technological advancements, the world is increasingly shrinking every day and the smart manufacturer is the one who can capitalise on the pluses of technology. This is aptly showcased by examples in the West. “In Europe the successful companies in terms of fashion have been the ones that have been able to select the most innovative suppliers, who have been able to come up with the best style and most innovative retail concepts,” said Dr. Claudio Martelli, Marketing Director, Trigon Diligence, U.K. According to Rajiv Ranjan, President, Mafatlal Industries, the biggest challenge is that the textile industry does not have enough knowledge about supply chain management in the industry. Also, demands have gone up as have stocking and working capital management.

Pawan Jain, CMD, Safexpress, endorsed this viewpoint emphasising that in a service industry such as the fashion retail industry mindset, education and

knowledge of customers play a key role. Under such conditions it becomes imperative to remain competitive and perform or someone else will take over.

Innovations are not only seen in the realm of supply chains but across all segments in the fashion retail industry. Be it in fabric or yarns or dyes, manufacturers have to be one step ahead to retain the edge over competitors. Denim is the preferred fabric of young India. First introduced in India in 1986, today the total production is almost 650 million metres out of which 200 metres is exported.

Showing a steady growth of 10-15 per cent every year it has the potential to grow up to a billion metres provided it continues to innovate and understand what the market needs. Lycra is another innovation that changed the whole dynamics of the denim market.

According to Rajesh Narkar, Malwa Group, “Innovation is pushing different markets in India, for example there are jeggings for women and shorts and cargos for menswear - product innovation. Today almost 60 per cent of the mills are thinking of manufacturing in lycra and 40 per cent in cotton. This is a change of thought. Many brands are trying to innovate in terms of washes and fits.”

Prakash Mishra, Vastram Worldwide Pvt Ltd, a supply-chain soluton provider, even goes to the extent of saying, “Denim is the only product which I feel has the capability to replace all the dhotis and lungis in India in the next 25 years.” With

L-R: Prakash Mishra, Prabir Bandopadhyay, Rajesh Narkar, Rajiv Dayal, Sandeep Verma and Dr. P.R. Roy

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 127

• events •

L-R: Nitish Kothari, Neeraj Sharma, S N Modani, KC Aggrawal, Pankaj Kapoor and Manohar Samuel

cotton becoming synonymous with white gold innovating with alternate fabrics is vital and full of potential.

Dhama Innovations is taking innovations to the next level. Their latest is a patented technology called Climacon.

It is based on a heat exchange method.

It is an active heating and cooling device (within the range of 4 - 44° centigrade) which is both user- and eco-friendly as there is no CFC emission. This unique gadget pumps out the heat from the human body actively and not just from the fabric. The garments are 300 per cent lighter than the ones existing in the market. Moreover, this technology can both heat and cool, and the consumer can control the temperature according to his needs. What is striking is that the cost can suit the requirement. If one needs greater flexibility in terms of temperature regulation the higher will be the cost.

Home Fashions One category that emerged as having huge potential was home furnishings. This was very aligned to the discussions that took place at the recent India Fashion Forum.

With the real estate boom and population in India growing too, there is a never-ending demand for homes. With economy on the rise, people have more disposable income, which they are willing to spend on doing up their homes according to the latest trends.

This has led to the emergence of quite a few specialty organised retailers coming up in the furniture and home textile area, such as HomeStock, Home Center and Home Town. These in turn create a larger market for the fabric and raw material suppliers who are largely unorganised.

With so much potential what is the best way to realise it? Power of suggestion is powerful agreed most panellists. Even 15-20 years back, curtains did not figure as a must have even in many well-to-do families. Today, not only do they form a basic necessity for all homes, readymade curtains are fast catching the interest of consumers.

As Karan Sehgal, CEO, Beekalene, pointed out, “Once a product gets exposure, consumption will increase by educating the customer. Welspun has started readymade curtains. There was no such category, but they created it. We have to tell the consumer that if they want to change the look of their home, the cheapest method is home furnishing.”

India is poised to become the third largest economy by 2030. On the one side, we are a young country with increasing purchasing power. On the other, $1 million apartments are sold easily in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Bangalore.

Even if each spends 8-10 per cent of the house cost on home interiors, it translates into Rs40 lakh worth of home furnishing

Panelists: Rajiv Merchant, Karan Sehgal, Dilip Gandhi, Ashok Biyani, Ramesh Poddar, Atul Agarwal, Nimish Arora

128 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

per home. That is the kind of scale and opportunity awaiting this category. India’s middle-class is its biggest segment. These people have basic home furnishings. But this is a category of potential customer that can be educated and introduced to

Kishore Biyani, Founder and CEO, Future Group

fashionable home furnishing. Branding is one way of doing this. Associating with brands inspires confidence in customers and gives a sense of continuity.

Unfortunately this is markedly absent in home furnishings. For this category to achieve its full potential, retailers need to put together a class act; after all branding is value for money.

“Small was beautiful, some time ago. But now it’s good to be medium and large,” says Kishore Biyani, Founder and CEO, Future Group. This needs to be the mantra of our smaller enterprises.

With so much going in favour of the retail industry in India it truly needs to think big to make it big. BoF

List of Exhibitors at InFashion 2011 Raj Rayon Industries Ltd.

Raiper Machinery Mfg .Co.(I) Pvt. Ltd

Banswara Fabrics

Orosilber Joaillerie Pvt Ltd

Ashok Weaving & Textile Mills Ltd

Param Ad-ventures Pvt. Ltd

Nimbark Fashions Limited

GM Fabrics

Konark Synthetic Ltd

Qmax Synthetics Pvt. Ltd.

Shree Aditya Syntex Pvt. Ltd

Best IT World (I Ball)

Ramvijay Textile Industries

Beekalene Fabrics Pvt. Ltd

LNJ Denim

Delite Apparels Pvt. Ltd

TrinityTrading Satya Tex

Sutlej Textiles & Industries Ltd

T. H. Textiles

DR Enterprises

Screen Arts House of Transfers

Empitex Fabrics Pvt. Ltd

JPS Fashions

Nandganesh Ribbons Pvt. Ltd

BT Industries

Siyaram silk mills Ltd

Shree Daksh Jyot Silk Mills Pvt. Ltd

True Value / Kamadgiri Syn Ltd

Bombay Subscription Agency

Alfa Industries

BD Somani Institute of A&F Technology

Dishank Synthetics Pvt Ltd

Vama Fabrics Ltd

Supriya Silk Mills (P) Ltd/ Royaltex

Sunstyle Design Studio Pvt. Ltd

Heemy Digital Printing Pvt Ltd

Shree Navkar Fabrics

Super Choice India

Divine Touch (Jainam Silk Mills)

Bhaskar Industries Ltd

Chandramukhi Impex

Vrijesh Natural Fibre & fabric

Samosaran Yarns Pvt.Ltd

Birla Cellulose

Bajaj Silk Fab Pvt. Ltd

Pal Fashions

Dicitex Furnishings

ASM Industries

Heaventouch Fabrics

Jaya Shree Textiles

Rishab Apparel Pvt Ltd

Damodar Threads Ltd

Napoleon mills

KG Fabriks Ltd

Sparsh Fab Textiles P Ltd

The Fashion Factory (Asmara)

Pal Synthetics Ltd

Topman Fabrics

Ram Dev Synthetics (Kriplon)

The Apparel Times

Bombay Rayon Fashions Ltd

Valson Polyester Ltd

Textile Excellence

Vishnulene Polyfab Ltd

Ronak Textile Industry

Apparel Views

Mandhana Industries Ltd

Valson Industries Limited

Donear Industries Ltd

Gini Silk Mills Ltd

FAITMA : Federation of All India Textile Manufacturers Association

Arviva Industries (India) Ltd(Harry Collection)

DNH Spinners Pvt. Ltd

DSM Suitings( Designer Fabrics Pvt. Ltd)

Santosh Fine Fab Ltd

Fashion Accessories Pvt. Ltd

VHM Industries Ltd

SDC- Society of Dyers and Colourists

Sagar Syn Twist

Alok Industries

Safexpress Pvt. Ltd.

Jayesh Kumar Rasiklal & Co.

Garodia Syntex Pvt. Ltd (Ramesh Shirting)

Vihaans Travel

Silverline Fashion Fabrics Ltd

Sanathan Textile Pvt. Ltd

Reid & Taylor

SGS Silk Mills Pvt Ltd

Dodhia Synthetics Ltd

IRIS

Belmonte S.K.N.L Grasim Bhiwani Textiles Ltd. G.C. Textiles Mahajan Silk Mills Wonder Weaves Systems Honesty Subscription Agency Symphony Multitrade Pvt. Ltd Indiamart.com Trade4india.com Tradeindia.com Communion Indian Textile Journal Tecoya Trend Textile World Stich Times Fibre2fashion Igmatex

TAI :

The Textile Association (India)

SASMIRA

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 129

• events •

Some

130 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

Exhibitors

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 131

InFashion

Wholesale (North)

Wholesale (West)

Wholesale (South)

Wholesale (Central)

• Rishab Textile, Amritsar • Nagpal Sons, Delhi • Delux Group, Chennai • Chimanlal Suresh Kumar, Hyderabad • Novelty Textile, Ernakulam

Wholesale (East)

• Babulal Premkumar, Ranchi • Govardhan Saree Centre, Kanpur • Saket Synthetics, Muzzaffarpur

132 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

• Dwarkadas Sham Kumar, Pune • Real Corporation, Ahmedabad • Rochal Das Sons, Nagpur • Kalamandir - Akatex, Raipur

Retail (North)

• Pooja Saree, Ambala • Sri Ram & Sons, Delhi • Budhiraja Fabrics, Delhi

Honours

Retail (South)

• R S Brothers, Hyderabad • Pothy’s, Chennai • Chennai Silk, Chennai • Kalyan Silk, Trichur • Sarthas, Trichy

Retail (East)

• J S Mohammad Ali, Kolkata • Jalan’s Retail, Varanasi • Tulsyan Vastralaya, Basti

Retail (Central)

• Pakiza, Indore • Maharastra Emporium, Nagpur • Sangliwala, Akola

RMG Buyer

• Yogesh Trading Co. • Madura Fashion & Lifestyle • RCBC • Pantaloon Retail • Y2K

Retail (West)

• Jai Hind, Pune • Babu Bhai Jagjivan Das, Mumbai • Kohinoor, Ahmednagar

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 133

• The journey •

touch The Classic

Started in the year 2001, Classic Polo has made a steady journey and has been able to make it big across the country and overseas. T.R. Sivaram, Executive Director, RCG Group, talks about ups and downs of the brand.

134 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

C

lassic Polo, a complete men’s wardrobe solution, was launched in the year 2001. The brand’s range, comprises of T-shirts, shirts, trousers, jackets, sweaters, denims and sportswear. It is the flagship brand of Royal Classic Group (RCG), a $60 million textile major, which was incepted in 1991. The group later, in 2004, acquired another T-shirt brand - Smash - and launched its exclusive premium men’s range under the brand in April 2005.

RCG’s inception coincided with the economic liberalisation in India, therefore, the group reaped the benefits of a trade-friendly market scenario. T.R. Sivaram, Executive Director, RCG Group, says, “Liberalisation resulted in a good exposure for all the

RCG was not into apparel retailing for the first 10 years, the group was only manufacturing and supplying the merchandise to third parties – both nationally and internationally. Seeing the opportunity in the country, it decided to start its own brand Classic Polo and entered the market with a multi-brand outlet in 2001.

The first store of Classic Polo was opened in Bangalore in 2003 in an area of 400 sq. ft., followed by a 600 sq. ft. store in Hyderabad. There was no looking back since then. The brand has come a long way.

In the initial years, Classic Polo was positioned as mid-segment, value-formoney brand for men, and had only T-shirts on offer. Style innovation gave Classic Polo its edge, as Sivaram says,

“The biggest advantage of opting the path of EBO is that it enables brands to test certain experimental products in the market and get direct feedback from customers.”

players. It changed and improved the consumption pattern of consumers. The market became much more open from the otherwise conservative perception.”

He adds, that the open policy is a boon to the trade in terms of innovation and experience. And in terms of design, fabric, pricing and fashion, it has created a very positive environment among the domestic brands to upgrade and stay updated continuously so that the market share can be sustained and improved further.

“We were the first to launch T-shirts with pockets and they were a hit among customers in the age group of 30 years and above.” Today, the brand has a comprehensive menswear line targeting the mid-premium segment between the age group of 18 and 35 years. The range comprises of T-shirts for officewear, shirts, trousers, denims, jackets, sweaters and loungewear.

However, Classic Polo continues to focus on the menswear line because it sees a huge growth potential in this segment.

It intends no deviation from its prime category and aims to achieve a certain market share within a time frame.

“EBO is an inevitable route for any brand that aspires to establish a national

repute. The biggest advantage of opting the path of EBO is that it enables brands to test certain experimental products in the market and get direct feedback from customers. MBOs may not be able to provide the correct feedback and also since they deal with various brands, they cannot devote their entire time to any single brand,” says Sivaram.

Nationally, the brand has 60 EBOs, more than 4,500 MBOs and 65 plus large format stores such as Shoppers Stop, Central, Globus, Pantaloons, Reliance Trends, et cetra in addition to 13 shopin-shops across the country. The brand has 9 warehouses, across the country, spread across an area of 1 lakh sq. ft. to cater to the market needs. “We started as a T-shirt brand offering the best quality products at an affordable price range with the widest collection available, strong manufacturing background and export exposure with research and development as a special strength.”

Consistent quality with excellent customer service is also one of the reasons behind the success of the brand.

Now, Classic Polo has also added woven denim, sportswear, winterwear and other few innovations in T-shirts.

The journey of Classic Polo has not been a cakewalk. It had an exclusive showroom in Singapore along with some shop-in-shops in malls during special fairs which picked up very well initially as the products were liked by customers. “We were tagged as the value-for-money brand.”

However, the brand soon realised that an EBO was working out to be more expensive in terms of brand building exercise and promotions. Recession added fuel to the fire affecting the business which took a toll on the brand in Singapore. Therefore, the store was withdrawn last year. “But it is still available at one of the most prestigious malls currently along with other major international brands,”he said.

The company is keeping its options open and may bounce back with its EBOs soon. Sivaram considers the April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 135

• The journey •

Fact Sheet journey of Classic Polo as a rich learning experience. Though the brand has been making its presence felt overseas, it is being very cautious.

There are always competitors in market but Classic Polo focused on its strengths and kept growing. “Any focused brand or company does not have to worry about the competition as long as it fulfills its promise and meets customer’s perception. Competition is good as it allows one to grow. Brands which could not sustain the competition have washed out. This is a process where only the fittest will survive and customers are the decision-makers here,” says Sivaram.

The company not only had to increase its product range but also strategise its distribution network. The merchandise stock, in the initial years, used to go to the dealers directly and in some cases it was distributed through super

136 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

stockiest who was servicing a bigger area. However, now, the company has a well-established distribution network of 30 distribution points apart from the EBOs and 4,000 dealer network spread across the country.

The brand feels that every decision has supported in improving the business.

“One of the major decisions has been to specialise Classic Polo into a T-shirt brand and opening 70 EBOs within a decade and in-house design studios.

The company has in-house systems and procedures which not only expedite the entire retail process but also helps us to understand the trade feedback faster and address it at a good pace,” he says.

Sivaram feels that the company started retailing woven apparels in MBOs in the sixth year which was a late entry and was a mistake. He feels that having the right infrastructure facility along with a talented team, the brand has been able to achieve success and tapped the market within a short span of time.

“Once we forayed in the market, we further fortified our presence with the addition of other vital range to complete the bouquet known as the complete men’s wardrobe solution,” he adds.

Classic Polo is continuing to grow with its core strengths.

“We make mercerized products. Hundred per cent vertically integrated company is an innovation as well, which ensures best supply compliance with assured quality all under one roof at the best price which not many brands can possible offer,” says Sivaram.

The RCG group comprises of facilities required for knitwear

• The Royal Classic Group has an export division called Classic Knits which was incepted in 1991.

• Under this division, the group manufactures menswear, womenswear and kidswear for export to the USA and Europe.

• The group has the production capacity of about 1,20,000 pieces a day which it manufactures from three units built in the textile city of Tiruppur.

• In a group with a turnover of `400 crore, around `250 crore worth of business is contributed by the export division.

• Currently, RCG manufactures for FILA, Esprit, Walmart, GAP, TJ's, Bealls, Falls Creek, Baby Vision, C&A, Meijer, Mother Care, Lovable Friend, De. Corp and others.

Category contribution (Export)

Apparel (Boys & Girls below the age of 25 years) 30% Kidswear 25%

Menswear 30%

Womenswear 15%

manufacturing, right from knitting, wet processing (dyeing), finishing, garmenting and retailing. The modern facilities ensure maximum productivity, with minimum workforce required at every stage of production. All factories are wellplanned and spaced to take care of future expansion plans too, with all statutory compliances made up-to-date. Recently, Classic Polo and Karnataka Tourism shared the Advertiser of the Year award in the fifth edition of the Pepper Awards by Cochin Advertisement Club.

It has extensive expansion plans of penetrating into the tier II cities and then into other regions after reaching a certain milestone number with the existing potential in South India. RCG has no plans yet to enter the womenswear and kidswear segment in India. BoF

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• brand watch •

Taking the

Denim Road B Beginning its journey in the year 1995, the brand is now venturing in other regions with a diverse array of jeans and casualwear.

Paresh Chandan, proprietor of the firm talks to IMAGES BoF about growth of the brand.

138 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

angalore-based casualwear brand Hard Currency started in the year 1995.

The brand has well established itself in the southern market and now has plans to venture in other regions across the country.

Paresh Chandan, Proprietor, Hard Currency, was always passionate about manufacturing ready-made garments, specially jeans, which he initially sold to small retail outlets.

His entrepreneur aspirations led to the birth of the brand Hard Currency.

Asking him about the reason behind the name of the brand, Chandan, says, “Initially, we had named the brand just Currency but the name was already registered. Not wanting to change the name completely we renamed it as Hard Currency.” Today, the turnover of this entity is `10 crore, and the brand is looking forward to increase it to `18 crore by the end of this year. The brand caters to a wide consumer base, ranging from fashion-conscious youth to consumers who prefer simple and sophisticated designs.

Therefore, the merchandise mix consists of a variety of products to suit the vast target consumer.

“The USP of our brand is to provide comfort, style, quality and variety at an affordable price. All our products are handcrafted with utmost care. Currently, we offer a wide variety of denims, which include basics, casuals and vintage collections. We are also planning to launch a new range called HC Premium denims, casual shirts and casual cotton trousers by the month of May. The HC Premium range is the designer denims and reflects high quality and style in terms of fabrics. The collection will offer unique patterns, exquisite washes and impeccable finishes. The range of casual shirts and trousers are meant for the summer,” says Chandan.

The brand believes in the philosophy of utmost customer satisfaction. To remain ahead of the competition, it is very important to provide the best quality products and the latest fashion.

Therefore, the brand’s prime focus is on careful detailing in the cutting and trimming to provide a good silhouette and a proper fit.

To remain ahead of the competition it is very important to provide the best quality products and the latest fashion.

According to Chandan, “Personal attention is given to every piece at every stage of production. We also believe in giving the customers as much variation in styles as possible. The brand has an in-house team of fashion designers. We aim to launch at least 50 designs a month, with the focus on global trends.” Hard Currency gets the design inspiration from international trends and try to relate the same in day-to-day fashion. “The concern is to combine the trend with comfort.

We aim to converting high fashion into wearable and affordable fashion,” he adds.

Hard Currency outsources the fabric, however, has its own manufacturing units, which produces ready-made garments.

The manufacturing capacity is 15,000 units per month and the brand outsource raw materials as per requirement. “The unit doesn’t produce the fabric so we purchase the same from traders and mills.” The brand adopts customised measures to ensure quality assurance.

Proper distribution networking plays a pivotal role in establishing a brand across the country. Believing in maintaining proper relationship with distributors, the brand supply ensures timely delivery of all materials to its distributors and aims to enhance its distribution network.

“Being a manufacturer we are able to offer our products at an affordable price range to our customers. In order to run the business and operate smoothly, efficient systems have been established. Keeping it simple, organised and straightforward is what works for us,” he adds. Many changes including improvement in style, quality and efficiency have been incorporated in building the brand over a period of time. The firm had hired a professional consultant for designing products and improved technology and newer machines to increase efficiency. Various quality control systems were also put in place and many qualified personnel were hired for the efficient functioning of the business.

With the growth of the brand, the people behind the company also grew.

“We aim to provide opportunity for growth and enhance skill development of all employees. We make sure that they are provided enough facilities to keep them motivated and help in their overall growth, which will eventually lead to the growth of the business,” says Chandan.

Keeping updated with latest happening is essential to survive in the industry. The brand undertakes market surveys and research, and refers to several fashion magazines and websites to keep abreast of current trends as well as consumer tastes and preferences.

This also helps in forecasting trends.

Currently, Hard Currency does not own any retail outlets but supplies products to 450 stores. As a part of their promotional initiative, it provides retailers with carry bags, posters, light boards, pamphlets, et cetera. The future plans of the brand is to supply its products to another 500 stores over the next five years, and to double the turnover. “The regions of Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh are our strongest markets, and Bangalore is our main market. We also intend to form alliances with corporate clients and establish EBOs in order to strengthen our market presence,” says Chandan.

The Indian fashion industry is fast changing with many national and international players venturing into the market and providing high fashion, therefore, increasing the competition many folds. Today, with more than a decade of experience, Hard Currency believes that in order to succeed in the market, one has to understand customers’ tastes and preference and be able to forecast trends and styles.

Adapting to changes in fashion at the right time is also crucial. “We have also learnt that having a dynamic strategy to cope with unfavourable situations and sudden changes is highly beneficial,” says Chandan. BoF April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 139

• fashion forecast | ss 2012 •

INDIA FASHION FORECAST MENSWEAR

2012 SPRING SUMMER

140 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

N. Roshan Singh Associate Professor, Fashion Design Department, Pearl Academy of Fashion, New Delhi

I

t’s time to reset with positive energy and pep up the season!

Spring Summer 2012 will be a mix of abstract and narrative with a distinct tendency towards pure, formal lines and shapes covered in an avalanche of drawings and patterns.

Minimalism and nomadism come together to form a theme that’s focused on reviving the original and timeless paired-down styles. The focus will also be on electric and glitter effects, which will boost the basics and infuse new life into casualwear. Romantic and clinical designs will be in trend and there will be a return of easy and simple dressing with: • Colourful spring florals and nautical summer stripes • Vintage-inspired florals and ditsy prints • Layers for the ultimate bohemian effect • Retro feel of the 1960s and 1970s • Handmade textiles and retro Hawaiian prints • Brighter colour palette to sweeten the look • Infusion of stripes, colour blocks and plaids • Attention to midriff and shoulders Menswear isn’t shying away from this bold take, either. The men will have their share of bright colours and patterns with vibrantly hued pants and shorts regaining popularity.

Wild prints, ranging from traditional animal prints to blown-up photo imagery of wild animals, will bring adventure to women’s ready-to-wear; a particularly creative take on this theme is the large-scale butterfly wing prints in womenswear.

Lest the patterns and colours begin to overwhelm, basic white will also be a major trend. A more urban style is achieved through layering white-coloured silken fabrics. And when paired with basic black, optical patterns will come into play. Spring Summer 2012 is “all about the interesting mix of this print and pattern.”

Research methodology: The information of the trends for each season Spring Summer, Autumn Winter is a guide that helps in defining the designs and fashion. The information of trend is composed of important groups for each season – key inspiration, theme, colours, textile and prints, key silhouette and detailing. Our research methodology follows a reality-based strategy with consumer behaviour being at the heart of our research and analysis. Future season trends are interpreted by using experience and intuition oriented towards analysis and interpretation of trends, based on the

observation of the consumers’ lifestyle in the global and local market.

The research itself consists of: • Analysis of the fashion forecast • Analysis of the market • Analysis of the trend • Industry feedback • Trade journals • Fashion week runway show reports • Trade show reports Our research methods enable us to best apply our information to describe and demystify future styles and trends for your understanding.

Resources: WGSN, Promostyl, Printsource, Interstoff, Nelly Rodi, Premiere Vision, Textile View 2, Textile View, Collezioni Trends, Textile Design (Susan Meller & Joost Elfer) April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 141

• fashion forecast | ss 2012 •

COLOURS Pale neutrals offer primitive and raw quality, which is a clear move from the stark and unprocessed white of Autumn Winter. Yellowed tones of ecru, vanilla and buttermilk are the key colours.

Warm tones of peach, saffron and orange emerge, and brown appears as a single essential dark.

There is a tinge of pinks in red and purple areas, creating a brownish cast to pale pinks with tea-stained dusky hues. As life-affirming warm reds have an orange cast in corals, intense fiery shades, deeper-baked reds and intense cochineal are the key colours.

Layering of yellow is a key message. Retro vanilla, buttermilk, fresh primrose and yellow-green citrus tones are used.

Also, green remains a key colour group. Yellow-green cast with gleaming olive shades and blue-green cast with the teals are being replaced by softer aqua and pine.

Blue continues to remain as one

of the most changeable areas. Cool and clear blues move on from last summer’s turquoise to lilac-cast blue and indigo, which emerge as important colours.

Purple and pink merge to give pinkhued purples and cool, blue-cast pinks.

There is a desire for normality, anxiety, pleasure of the senses and simplicity. Also there is use of bright lights as opposed to deep darkness.

Like the abundance of nature and the austerity of industrial architecture, we can go on playing with various opposites that will influence Spring Summer 2012. The season is open to many influences and poised to embrace new experiences that will take us along unusual chromatic and creative routes.

Colours are divided into groups for easy reading, but their usage and combinations is totally unrestricted to allow scope for the unpredictable and for greater depth of emotion.

PANTONE 17-1663 TPX Bittersweet

PANTONE 19-2434 TPX Festival Fuchsia

PANTONE 17-1562 TPX Mandarin Red

PANTONE 18-2120 TPX Honeysuckle

PANTONE 16-1641 TPX Georgia Peach

PANTONE 16-2126 TPX Azalea Pink

PANTONE 16-1462 TPX Golden Poppy

PANTONE 16-1715 TPX Wild Rose

PANTONE 14-0941 TPX Beeswax

PANTONE 12-2903 TPX Light Lilac

PANTONE 12-0825 TPX Popcorn

PANTONE 12-1108 TPX Dew

PANTONE 18-5616 TPX Posy Green

PANTONE 12-4306 TPX Barely Blue

PANTONE 16-5425 TPX Pool Green

PANTONE 12-4604 TPX Skylight

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colours PANTONE 19-5914 TPX Jungle Green PANTONE 17-0145 TPX Online Lime PANTONE 16-6340 TPX Classic Green PANTONE 15-0146 TPX Green Flash PANTONE 16-0954 TPX Arrowwood PANTONE 14-0754 TPX Super Lemon PANTONE 12-0643 TPX Blazing Yellow PANTONE 12-0722 TPX French Vanilla PANTONE 18-1547 TPX Bossa Nova PANTONE 18-1447 TPX Orange Rust PANTONE 17-1462 TPX Flame PANTONE 18-4247 TPX Brilliant Blue PANTONE 14-4121 TPX Blue Bell PANTONE 13-0000 TPX Moonbeam PANTONE 19-3921 TPX Black Iris PANTONE 12-0752 TPX Buttercup PANTONE 18-1222 TPX Cocoa Brown PANTONE 17-0000 TPX Frost Gray PANTONE 18-1421 TPX Cognac PANTONE 16-1318 TPX Warm Taupe PANTONE 14-4203 TPX Vapor Blue PANTONE 14-1310 TPX Cameo Rose PANTONE 11-0510 TPX Afterglow PANTONE 11-4301 TPX Lily White

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 143

• fashion forecast | ss 2012 •

TEXTILE

Formal wovens Interrupted pinstripes, Formal play on gingham, Distorted plaid, Micro pattern, Natural, Pigment coating, Static, Flecked

Casual wovens Bold gingham, Chambray denim look, Casual linen checks, Highlight contrast stripe, Mud coatings canvas, Painted canvas, Stripe cotton flats

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For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• fashion forecast | ss 2012 •

Slim fit, contrast stitch detail, narrow collar, chest button flap patch pockets

Fitted boxy shirt, short sleeve with turned cuff, chest panel with jetted pocket, drop yoke, concealed placket, epaulets

Hidden button front, asymmetric knife-pleat details down front

Pringle of Scotland

Armani Collezioni

D&G

Short sleeves, banded cuffs with button tabs, chest button-flap patch pockets.

Valentino

Short sleeves fitted shirt with epaulets and chest pockets

Slim fit with dart, short sleeves with snap-flap detail and detailed cuffs, snap flap multi chest pocket, epaulets, concealed placket

Easy fit, tapping at collar edge, button through placket and cuff, concealed placket, gathered sleeve head, concealed patch pocket

Tabbed stand collar, hidden button front with exposed bottom button, front bib detail

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Just Cavalli

Just Cavalli

Valentino

Military style, button down collar, hidden button front, small epaulets, long sleeves with roll-up button-tab cuffs, button flap patch pockets with pleated details

SHirts Armani Collezioni

MensWear Key Silhouette and Detailing

Button front with knife-pleat placket, shoulders with frayed details, chest flap pockets with frayed edges

Easy fit tunic shirt, stand collar, drop yoke, partially concealed placket, classic shirt hem, button front with knife-pleat placket

Tuxedo inspired knife pleat panels down front, long sleeves with notched button cuffs

Royal Underground

Alexander McQueen

Rogue

shirts Chest patch pockets with metal zip closure and leather pulls, leather strip detail

Burberry Prorsum

Spread collar with button-tab

Elizabeth and James

Diesel

Contrast stitching, spread collar, half sleeves with roll-up buttontabs cuffs

Partially hidden button front, epaulets, banded cuff, military pockets

Narrow collar, button front, knife pleat bib, long sleeves with button cuffs, side inserts

D&G

Royal Underground

Snap front, yoked shoulder with raw edges, short sleeves with tab detail cuffs, chest snap flap pockets

Hood with grommets, long raglan sleeves with button cuffs, shirttail hem

Black velvet taping down sleeves and sides, spread collar with stitched details, button front with pintucked placket

Sleeveless shirt, narrow collar with yoked shoulder, epaulets, concealed placket, patch flap pockets

Striking contrast, tonal check on collar, placket, cuffs and pocket, short sleeves with banded cuffs

Shirts: Military shirt, Hooded shirt, Baseball shirt, Open collar shirt, Boxy short sleeve shirt, Worker shirt, Cropped shirt, Sleeveless shirt, Panelled shirt, Tuxedo shirt, Tunic shirt.

• Spread collar • Partially hidden button front • Epaulets • Short sleeves with banded cuffs • Military pockets • Raglan sleeves • Long sleeves with button cuffs • Flap pockets • Shirttail hem • Cutaway front • Half sleeves with roll-up

button tabs cuffs • Rounded hem • Roll-up button tabs • Pleat details • Knife pleat placket • Frayed details • Side slits • Slim silhouettes • Spread collar with button tab • Notched button cuffs • Zip closure • Patch pockets

• Velvet taping down sleeves and sides • Welt pockets • Multi pockets • Tabbed stand collar • Pleated bib • Contrast stitch detail • Contrast detail • Easy fit tunic shirt • Stand collar • Drop yoke • Concealed placket

• Split sleeve • Drop shoulder • Bound neck and hem • Cap sleeve • Volume gathered sleeve head • Taping at collar edge • Easy fit • Button down collar • Bellow pockets • Panelled waist seam • Open collar

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• fashion forecast | ss 2012 •

Jackets

Notched lapels, SB2 button front, box pleat patch pockets, cutaway hem

Distressed edging, Napoleonic collar, asymmetric DB3 button/ zip front, epaulets, long raglan sleeves, front zip flap pockets, drawstring

DB3 button front, shawl collar, belted sleeve cuffs

Seven for all Mankind

Fitted and tailored, SB3 sleeveless, drop yoke, panelled waist seam, flap and welt pockets

Valentino

Lanvin

MensWear Key Silhouette and Detailing

Belted stand collar, two-way front zip, epaulets, long sleeve with belted cuffs, five front flap pockets, inside drawstring waist

Contemporary cut jacket makes bold statement, oversized pockets and sportive colour

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Versace

Longer line tailored jacket, concealed SB fastening, darted front, angled pockets

Notched lapels, SB2 button front, long sleeves with button cuffs, chest welt pocket, flap pockets

Brunello Cucinelli

A mix of bold details and discreet tailoring, pocket detailing

Burberry Prorsum

Armani Collezioni

Belted waist, chest flap patch pockets, hip flap pockets, concealed front zip

Pringle of Scotland

Prada

Cropped and fitted, angled front with engineered buttons, stitched detail, flap patch pockets

Notched lapels, SB2 button front, long sleeves with button cuffs, front cargo pockets, chest welt pockets

Tuxedo inspired knife pleat panels down front, long sleeves with notched button cuffs

Prada

Royal Underground

jackets Theory

Ermenegildo Zegna

Fitted block, stand collar, angled pockets, welt cuff and hem

Military, notched lapels, SB3 button front, chest button flap pocket, vertical button welt pocket

Removable striped jersey zip hoodie lining, notched lapels, SB2 button front, epaulets, chest and front welt pockets, tabbed sides Michael Kors

D&G

Cinched waist, front angled flap pockets, hidden snap/zipfront

Open clean neck, collarless, raglan sleeve, turned ham and button cuff

Armani Collezioni

Front zip pockets, flap pockets

Contrast trim, notched lapels, SB2 button front, large patch pockets, curved hem

Easy fit, concealed front, big flap patch pockets

Notched lapels, SB1 button front, front flap pockets

Contrast stitch detail, contour seams, flap patch pockets

Jackets: Utility jacket, Nehru jacket, Archive blouson, Anorak, Harrington, Tech Biker, Collarless, Wrap tailored jacket, Elongated jacket, Artisan jacket, Hooded worker jacket, Hunter jacket, Military jacket, Driving jacket, Sleeveless jacket.

Hoodie lined jacket, Sport jacket • Fitted and tailored • Cropped and fitted • SB2, SB3 fastening • Drop yoke • Paneled waist seam • Flap hip pockets • Tabbed sides • Chest and front welt pockets • Belted cuffs • Inside drawstring waist • Contrast stitch detail • Stand collar

• Extended front • Underarm dart • Hip patch pocket with zip fastening • Double end zip fastening • Crop length • Split sleeve panel • Angled notch lapel • Piped collar • Darted front for modern fit • Engineered button placement • Self fabric hood

• Extended tab • Concealed front fastening • Zip patch pocket • Button cuff placket • Curved hem • Part concealed patch pocket • Jet chest pocket • Concealed SB fastening • Wrap front panel • Easy fit • Collarless • Raglan sleeve

• Welt cuff and hem • Epaulets • Belted waist • Hidden front zip • Contour seam • Notched satin lapels • Front oversized patch pockets • Button cuffs • Peaked satin lapels • Cutaway hem • Angled flap pockets

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 149

• fashion forecast | ss 2012 •

Suits & Waistcoats Gucci

D&G

MensWear Key Silhouette and Detailing

Tonal covered buttons, notched collar, SB2 button front, flap pockets

Theory

Notched satin lapels, welt pockets and flap pockets, long sleeves with button cuffs, SB2 button front

DB4 fastening, fitted and tailored, peak lapel, flap pockets, chest jet pocket tapered pant, high waist with single button, on seam jet pockets, pressed crease, turned hem

Versace

D&G

Slim fit DB1 show 2 fastening, Notched collar, taping edge, drop yoke, welt pockets, cuff insert detail Tapered silhouette, concealed fastening, hip jet pockets, pressed crease

Peaked lapels, SB1 button front, welt and angled flap pockets

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SB2 button front, notched lapels, pocket free chest, front darts for modern fit, horizontal welt pockets at hip, slim leg shorts hit just above the knee, side slash pockets

Shawl collar SB1 button front, patch pockets, full sleeve buttoned cuff slim leg tailored short, above knee length, concealed waist, pressed crease, cross side pocket, turned hem

Peaked satin lapels, SB2 button front, welt and flap pockets

Zara

suits & waistcoats

Gucci

SB5 fastening, satin contrast, angled hem front, back adjustable, darted front, welt pocket, covered button

Zara

DB8 button fastening, fitted tailored, shawl collar, jet pockets

Fitted utility waistcoat, drop yoke, zip fastening, multiple bellows pockets

SB5 fastening, double layer with angled front hem, micro stripe, tailored fitted, jet pockets

Crop jacket with high break, SB2 fastening, narrow peak lapel, Tapered slim fit pant, single inverted pleat, on seam jet pockets

Tonal grosgrain trim, notched collar, flap pockets at hip

Double layer with angled front hem, taping on edge, tailored and fitted, SB1 fastening, darted front into flap pockets

Suits and Waistcoats: SB1 suit, SB2 suit, SB3 suit, Shrunken suit, The short suit, Tuxedo update, Slim DB suit, Shawl collar suit, Shell waistcoat, Utility waistcoat, Sleeveless western waistcoat, Draped waistcoat.

Upper (Jacket & Waistcoat) • Notched satin lapels • Peaked satin lapels • Long sleeve with button cuffs • Chest welt pockets • Front angled flap pockets • Cutaway hem • Front dart for modern fit • Tonal grosgrain trim • Shawl collar • Slim fit • Drop yoke

• Flap pockets • Cuff insert detail • Chest jet pocket • Fitted and tailored • DB2, DB4, DB6, DB8 fastening • Slim line fitted • Stand collar • SB1, SB2, SB3 fastening • Cuff button stand • Patch hip pockets • Narrow peak lapel • Cropped length

• Back adjustment • Drop shoulder seam darts • Fitted utility waistcoat • Double end zip fastening • Multiple bellow pockets • Loose fit silhouette • Drape waterfall effect front • Open front, no fastening Lower (Trouser) • High waist trouser • Tapered trouser

• Single pleat • Drop crotch • Panelled waistband • Concealed fastening • Hip jet pockets • Straight leg • Classic belt loops • Cross pockets • Pressed crease • Turned hem • Ticket pocket • Slim fit

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 151

• fashion forecast | ss 2012 •

Tapered fit, volume through thigh, high waistband, drop crotch, dropped harem pockets, ankle zip fastening

Bermuda shorts, side slash pockets, knee length legs, adjustable belted sides, rolled hem

Tapered peg leg, drop crotch, multi belt loops, patch pockets with vertical jet pockets, ankle zip fastening, ergonomic cut

Slash pockets with button through flap, seamed knee patch details, high waistband with drawstring detail, elasticated side hem

The classic appeal of drawstring shorts, side slash pockets, drawstring waist

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Slim legs with rolled cuffs

Burberry Prorsum

Classic styles, side slash pockets, slim, straight legs, button front, belt loops

Armani Collezioni

Straight leg fit, dropped crotch, extended waistband, cross side pockets, twin inverted pleat, rolled cuffs

Burberry Prorsum

Prada

Classic look, side slash pockets, relaxed, knee length legs with cargo pockets, frayed hem

Pants & Shorts

D&G

True Religion

MensWear Key Silhouette and Detailing

Twisted horseshoe leg, front yoke, ergonomic cuts, cargo pockets on side, angled jet pockets

Breeches short, drop crotch, inverted pleat hem, deep angle pocket with side patch flap pockets

Military tinged biker look, side vertical flap pockets, slim legs with fitted cuffs, seamed knee patch details, drawstring waist

Side adjustable, single inverted pleat, cross side pockets, turned hem with inserts

Slim multi pocket pants, front oversized cargo pockets, flap patch pocket, low rise, slim, straight legs Moncher

Front patch pockets with continental opening, straight legs, horizontal pleat at knee for ease.

Contrasting waist with stripe piping, slash zip pockets, cargo pockets with inverted pleat at outer leg, banded hem

Dip-dye hem, side slash pockets, slim legs, button/zip front, belt loops

Fitted, thigh length, 3D bellows pockets with velcro, turned hem with tab

Diesel

Chino cargo shorts, banded waist, slash pockets, cargo pockets on outer leg, banded hem Rogue

D&G

Michael Kors

Prada

Pants & Shorts

Front vertical button flap pockets, cargo pockets, drawstring cuffs, adjustable button tabs at hip, double button/zip front, belt loops

Pants: Ergonomic pant, Narrow leg chino, Lounge pant, Tapered volume pant, Slip tapered pant, Harem pant, Peg leg pant, Slim leg jogger, Panelled cargo, Horseshoe leg cargo, Crop short, Utility short, Tie waist short, Desert short, Distressed short, Breeches short, Capri pant, Plush pant, Modern fit short, Bermuda short, Biker pant, Skinny pant, Cargo short, Chino cargo short • Tapered and fitted silhouette • Drop crotch • Loose fit • Ticket pocket • Multi stitch waistband • Turned hem with inserts • Relaxed volume fit • Single and twin pleat • High waisted • Tie wait fastening • Turned and press hem • Bellow pockets with strap • Concealed waistband

• Flat front • Slim fit • Side welt pockets • Wide belt loops • Straight relaxed legs • Drawstring waist • Button tab cuffs • Side slash pockets • Adjustable belted side • Tabbed waist • Rolled cuff • Roll-up cuffs with loop detail • Zip and button flap cargo

pockets • Patch pockets • Adjustable drawstring cuffs • Medium low rise • Contrasting waist with stripe piping • Inverted pleat detail • Banded hem • Button/zip front • Low rise • Modern cut • Frayed hem • Stitch detail

• Twisted horseshoe leg • On seam zip pockets • Extended waistband • Deep cuff stitch • Panelled • Slim leg • Pressed crease • Elasticated side waistband and hem • Tapered peg leg • Volume through thigh • Dropped harem pockets • Curved cross pockets

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 153

• dream merchants •

Bohemian W

ith Cricket World Cup 2011 grabbing all the TRPs, Bollywood played safe with very few releases this season. So, it’s the right time for you to add some international flavours to your wardrobe and for retailers to bring in some Hollywood and international trends into their stores.

Remember the dum maro dum era in Bollywood? Well, hippies are back! The recently released movie Beastly, apart from the cast of many beautiful actors such as Vanessa Hudgens (of the High School Musical fame) Alex Pettyfer, Mary Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris, brings in some amazing Boho styles that one can expect to see in the coming months.

The trends in this film bring back a sense of nostalgia of the free love and self expression, which was at its peak during the colourful and eclectic sixties and seventies. The hippy and the bohemian look is at its best with Vanessa wearing a beautiful silk peasant top with a forehead headband and loads of neck pieces to accentuate the gypsy look.

This Hollywood-inspired international trend adds the seventiesinspired flair to your basics. Your favourite pair of jeans or a cute hot skirt is fodder to this style. Details around the neckline and a clinched waistline lend an unexpected twist to this trend.

In the movie, Mary Kate Olsen flaunts beautifully-draped sleeves that give a visual effect of layering. The sleeve is draped in such a way that it looks like a wedding gown with French bustles, creating a

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Charm dramatic effect. We would see these sleeves in various forms all throughout this year.

However, because of the heavy and bulky feel this trend is recommended for slimmer bodies.

Boho dresses are going to hit big time this summer. The idea is to create a summery feel along with the mix of seventies flower power. Colours will play a primary role in this type of styling. Keeping the season in mind will be one of the key factors that will drive the fashion trend.

Accessories will also play a primary role to add to the Boho feel and look. You can also enhance the look by adding two or more neck pieces with small charms. Gold or silver chains with cute charms are going to rule this season’s accessory market.

Retailers can add value to their stores by having counters of make your own charm bracelets or neck pieces. So, one could walk into the store, pick up a chain and select the charms to create their own style, and voila you have your own personalised piece just like Vanessa’s!

This movie is going to bring in several trends this season and it’s time for retailers to gear up and get innovative to offer some international fashion trends to consumers.

- by Nital Ganatra

BoF reflects the true democracy of the Indian constitution. We are a “for the people, by the people, of the people” magazine and are eager to know how the industry receives us. Share with us your thoughts on this segment on trends inspired by movies. Send us pictures of your stores carrying such trends. We will carry them in our forthcoming issues to reinforce the power of movies in driving fashion. Next month, we’ll carry a new trend. Be there!

Write to me at madhumita@imagesfashion.com.

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 155

• IN THE CLOSET •

Evolved and elegant Vikram Raizada, Executive Director Marketing, Retail & Business Development, Tara Jewels, knows a thing or two about fashion. Having been associated with Lakme Fashion Week, MTV, Vh1, Calvin Klein and French Connection, Vikram strongly believes that style is something individualistic. effortlessly mixing high street with luxury and formal with casualwear. he is undisputedly fashionable. flaunting Indian designerwear on travels abroad and having fun with his wardrobe is something that sets raizada apart. Here he is opening his cupboard to Nivedita Jayaram Pawar.

156 | April March2011 2011| IMAGES | IMAGESBusiness BusinessofofFashion Fashion

Panerai watch Like most men I do favour watches. This is my weekend and travel watch.

Panerai comes with a great heritage. My work watch is a Frank Muller Master Square.

Cufflinks from Paul Smith I like to have a little bit of fun with my cufflinks. This one’s quite quirky and irreverent.

Belt from Paul Smith This striped belt is my weekend belt – mostly for a causal brunch.

Jo Malone perfume I am making an obvious shift from the obvious labels in perfumes. I am trying to get back to the fundamental, essential essences. This one smells like an Indian temple – sandal wood and rose water.

Pocket squares by Paul Smith I believe the pocket square is the new tie. It’s functional with a splash of colour, but without the formality of a neck tie. I like the flashes of colourful irreverence of Paul Smith.

Gucci shades I picked it up on my trip to Italy last year. It’s very functional and very handy on my driving holidays.

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 157

• IN THE CLOSET •

Scarf by Zara This is a great travel accessory to minimize both the scorching heat as well as the biting cold.

Maroon Ferragamo shoes and yellow and white Gucci shoes I love shoes and tend to be a little bit more flamboyant in the numbers I own (around 20 pairs) but have very few options here in India. These are my Friday wears.

Troy Costa jacket I have a thing for jackets. This one is a lovely purple. And the fabric (linen) is great for afternoons.

Jackets bring in some level of formality to the occasion.

Prada bag I am partial to Prada. I like the effortless formality and “chicness” of Prada. I bought it a couple of years ago from Hong Kong and I like the way it has aged.

Prada wallet Another Prada, this one was picked up from London more recently. I like the fact that the branding is very discreet.

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Cooling Trends

Hot Trends

• window TRENDs | march 2011 •

WHAT’S HOT

what’s not

The report is a trend indicator based on observations made on snapshots of store windows in March 2011. Brands observed include those from sportswear, menswear, kidswear and womenswear, with stores in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

SS 2011 trend is all set to bring the extremes together. The trend showcases everything starting from vibrant colours to soft innocent pastels; from casual elegance to more chic and sophisticated look. Bohemian clothing gets prominence this season with floral prints to emphasise flirty and mischievous mood. Indian trends are yet to catch up the seventiesinspired flared items. Props made of wood dominate the scene in visual merchandising.

Research & Report: Sangeetha Rajan

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• window TRENDs | march 2011 •

sportswear >>

Nike, Brigade Road, Bangalore

Reebok, Indira Nagar, Bangalore

VM TRENDS

Puma, Vashi, Mumbai

FASHION TRENDS

Onset of Spring Summer 2011 (D, M & B)

Red, black, purple, green & blue (D, M & B)

Lifesize posters (D, M & B)

Slim-fit tops (women) (D, M & B)

Props - Wooden logs & sports kits (D, M & B) Clean & large font style (D, M & B)

Coloured mannequins (M & B)

Normal-fit T-shirts (men) (D, M & B)

Floral and animated motif print T-shirts (D, M & B) Bright coloured footwear & handbags (D, M & B) Fabric and bright coloured belts (D, M & B) Graphic prints shirts (D, M & B) Shorts & skirts (D, M & B)

M - Mumbai D - Delhi B - Bangalore

Puma, Brigade Road, Bangalore

Red indicates ‘hot’ trends or more sightings; blue indicates ‘cooling’ trends or less sightings

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This report should not be treated as a trend forecast.

<< menswear

Allen Solly, Indira Nagar, Bangalore

Tommy Hilfiger, Koramangala, Bangalore

VM TRENDS Onset of Spring Summer 2011 (D, M & B)

John Players, Karol Bagh, Delhi

Allen Solly, Indira Nagar, Bangalore

FASHION TRENDS Green, red, blue and white (D, M & B)

Life-size posters (D, M & B)

Collared T-shirts (D, M & B) Blue colour base T-shirts and shirts (D, M & B)

Foliage and vintage inspired VM theme (D, M & B)

Ultra casual attire (Rolled up sleeves and pants) (D, M & B)

Wooden furniture as props (D, M & B)

Striped polo T-shirts (D, M & B) Bright-coloured plaid shirts (D & B)

M - Mumbai D - Delhi B - Bangalore

Louis Phillipe, Select Citywalk, Delhi

Red indicates ‘hot’ trends or more sightings; blue indicates ‘cooling’ trends or less sightings

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 161

• window TRENDs | march 2011 •

womenswear >>

VM TRENDS

FASHION TRENDS

Onset of Spring Summer 2011 (D, M & B)

Trendiest colour of the season-purple, blue, green, red, yellow (D, M & B)

Lifesize posters (D, M & B)

Floral and animated motif printed kurtis and tops (D, M & B)

3D props and wooden twigs (D, M & B)

Cowl, round and V-necklines (D, M & B) Bright colour combinations in tops and dresses (D, M & B)

Flora based VM themes (D, M & B)

Leggings (D, M & B)

clean & large font style (D, M & B)

Capris and hot pants (D, M & B)

Madame, Greater Kailash- I, Delhi

Faded and light blue denims (D, M & B)

M - Mumbai D - Delhi B - Bangalore

W, Malleshwaram, Bagalore

BIBA, DLF Saket, Delhi

Red indicates ‘hot’ trends or more sightings; blue indicates ‘cooling’ trends or less sightings

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Jealous 21, Ambience Mall, Gurgaon

<< kidswear

Lilliput, Select Citywalk, Delhi

Mothercare, Mantri Mall, Bangalore.

VM TRENDS Life-size posters (D, M & B) Onset of Spring Summer 2011 (D, M & B)

Reebok Junior, Indira Nagar Bangalore.

FASHION TRENDS Bright fruity revitalising colors of blue,green and orange tones (D, M & B) Striped and plaid T-shirts and shirts (D, M & B)

Toys as props (D, M & B)

Floral printed T-shirts and dress for girls (D, M & B)

Wooden shelves (D, M & B)

Fabric belt, hats, footwear and bags (D, M & B) Denim jeans, shorts and pinafore (D,M & B)

Graffiti and music inspired graphics printed T-shirts (D, M & B)

M - Mumbai D - Delhi B - Bangalore

Catmoss, Select Citywalk, Delhi

Red indicates ‘hot’ trends or more sightings; blue indicates ‘cooling’ trends or less sightings

To participate in this report and to give your feedback & comments, write to editorial@imagesfashion.com

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 163

â&#x20AC;˘ window TRENDs | march 2011 â&#x20AC;˘

Roundup January, February & March 2011 Quarterly roundup pattern confirms the dwindling Fall Winter trends and the dawning Spring Summer looks. VM trends emerged with the festive spirit along with exuberant colours and then trickled down to clean and minimalistic concepts. During AW 2010, the apparel trend was stereotypical masculine clothes and sporty jackets. Hippie fashion was at its peak enhancing the festive mood of the season. Floral and animated motif prints were

the dominating trends in womenswear, whereas in menswear plaids turned to be the modern classics in shirt, stoles and overcoats. With the onset of SS 2011, womenswear is becoming more feminine with the 70s wide-leg pants and vibrant-coloured floral prints. This confirms the vintage influences. The colour palette continues to stay energetic and glamourous. Orange, purple, green and bright yellow were the mainstay of the season.

Sportswear >> Sportswear was extremely sporty with striking energy. Technology and fashion blended together with elegance. Rain-proof jackets, cropped jackets, double-breasted coats, heavily-quilted jackets with fur hoods were the key pieces pinpointing the over protected feel. Vibrant coloured sleeveless jackets, T-shirts and plaid stoles were the banging combinations of the season. Flamboyant and zippy colours such as blue, red, yellow, orange and purple were in trend.

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menswear >> In menswear, bright-coloured plaid scarf was a must-have in the season until Spring Summer collection entered. The seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s menswear trends continued with the last season in terms of plaids which dominated the apparel section from jackets to stoles. With the onset of Spring Summer, brightly-coloured graphic print T-shirts and clean lines on striped T-shirts added to the trend. Yellow, purple, red and tone of beige formed the colour palette. Shopping bags were the most dominating sale prop in VM.

kidswear >> Highly flavoured juicy tones of purple, red, green, yellow and orange were the key colour tones in the kidswear section. Floral, printed and heavily-quilted jackets, bright coloured velvet jacket, multicoloured stoles are though hippie inspired they still ensured a sophisticated look. Layering seemed to be prominent with the combination of skirts with capris or leggings and shirts with T-shirts. Motifs of dramatic floral repeats, illustrated plants and colourful polka dots dominated the section.

womenswear >>

Womenswear trends were inline with sportswear trends this season. Rain-proof jackets, heavily-quilted jackets, vibrant-coloured plaid stoles, sleeveless jackets confirmed it. Plaids formed the key pattern for womenswear. Brightly coloured woollen caps and multicoloured stoles were the eye-catching accessories trends.

Seventies comeback is prominent with enchanted floral motifs of hippie fashion and bold colour prints in ladies tops and ethnicwear.

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 165

TRADE

• trade calendar •

CALENDAR

Listing a selection of the top Indian and international fashion trade events

Preview: MAY-june 2011 Apparel Accessories

>>COMING UP! FAME Business Journals Inc.

India Shopping Centre Forum Images Multimedia May 13-14 +91-11-40525000 New Delhi www.indiashoppingcentreforum.com Supported by the Shopping Centers Association of India, The Shopping Centre Forum has been devised with a vision of bringing together leading retailers and brands, shopping centre developers, consultants, financial institutions and support professionals and companies on a platform where prospective alliances can be formed and a path for the future defined. The gala awards function named the India Shopping Centre awards recognizes and salutes the visionaries who have cracked the success mantra for developing and running successful shopping centers across the country.

Moda Prima International 2011

Chicago Fabric & Trim Show

Pitti Immagine 21-23 May +(39)-(55)-36931 Italy www.pittimmagine.com Moda Prima is one of the renowned events in the fashion industry. The event will showcase the complete range of the latest trends in clothing and accessories.

The visitors’ profile includes large-scale retailers, designers, shops owners, importers, exporters, retail distributors, et cetera. Approximately 1,650 visitors had participated at the last edition.

Manufacturers and retailers related to the fashion apparel and accessories industry will participate and exhibit their products.

Apparel Industry Board, Inc 26-27 May +(312)-(836)-1041 Chicago www.aibi.com The Chicago Fabric and Trim show takes place twice a year and is one of the renowned shows at Midwest. The event attracts up to 500 buyers from different parts of world and features more than 100 resources of fabric and trim that cater to small businesses. This show provides an immense opportunity to entrepreneurs and manufacturers to review and purchase fabric locally at wholesale prices. The show is not open for general public.

International Jewelry Fair/ General Merchandise Show

Western Apparel Markets

Helen Brett Enterprises May 21-24 +(630)-(241)-9865 New Orleans www.gift2jewelry.com The International Jewelry Fair/ General Merchandise Show is a cash and carry event. Buyers can also place their orders at this event. Established in the year 1985, the event has grown to be recognised as one of the largest shows of its kind. It attracts almost 44,000 buyers every year. The show is open to all who are related to the jewellery industry.

Can Am Western Apparel Trade Show 30 May - 1 June + (604)-(682)-5719 North Vancouver www.passporttofashion.com Western Apparel Markets is a great platform which brings together retailers and sales representatives to launch the latest and trendiest apparels and accessories in the womenswear category and to develop long-term business deals. The targeted visitors are professionals related to the fashion apparel and accessory industries. Profile of exhibitors include importers, exporters, manufacturers and retailers

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4-6 May +(212)-(686)-4412 New York www.fameshows.com FAME is a popular trade event which features ready-to-wear collections and also supply accessory resources. The show will present traditional, classic and popular trends and will also feature many new designers. The main focus of the show is to generate customers’ interest and to ultimately drive sales. One can also find over 500 junior and young contemporary ready-to-wear lines. Expected visitors are professionals related to the fashion apparel and accessory industry.

Proposte Expo Proposte SRL 4-6 May +(39)-(2)-6434054 Italy www.propostefair.it Proposte Expo is an event which showcases a wide variety of items related to home and apparel. Manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers are expected as visitors along with exhibitors of home accessories, textiles, apparel and handcrafted products. Visitors are allowed if they are invited by the operative secretariat of the fair. The event is not open to the public.

FUTURMODA Institucion Ferial Alicantina 11-12 May +(34)-(965)-682500 Spain www.futurmoda.es FUTURMODA is one of the renowned trade fairs and it has evolved to become a one-stop platform for numerous labels and brands. The visitors profile includes importers and exporters of garments, casualwear, childrenswear, kidswear, womenswear, menswear, textile, fabrics, yarn, accessories, fashion institutes, designers. The event is also open for general public. Manufacturers, retailers and fashion forecasters are the expected exhibitors at the event.

Fashion Industry Gallery Fashion Industry Gallery 2-4 June

+(214)-(748)-4344 Dallas www.fashionindustrygallery.com Fashion Industry Gallery is a boutique wholesale fashion venue, showcasing the latest apparel and accessories in the womenswear and menswear category. The show is open to all those who are related to the fashion apparel and accessories business. Exhibitors’ profile includes a variety of exhibitors dealing in products ranging from casual to sportswear category, also accessories manufacturers and retailers will showcase their products.

Dallas Apparel & Accessories Market Dallas Market Center 2-5 June +(214)-(655)-6100 Dallas www.dallasmarketcenter.com The show Dallas Apparel & Accessories Market takes place four times a year at the Fashion Center, Dallas.

In addition to the permanent showrooms at the venue, there will be a many temporary exhibitors during the event. Dallas Market Center offers resources from leading designers and manufacturers across all categories including womenswear, menswear and kidswear. The event is open for professionals related to the fashion industry and numerous manufacturers, retailers and designers are expected to showcase their products.

Jewelry, Fashion & Accessories

Ready-to-wear fair Istanbul

Transworld Fashion 3 -5 June +(800)- (323)-5462 Chicago www.jfashow.com Jewelery, Fashion & Accessories (JF&A) is one of the renowned fashion events of Chicago. The event showcases products related to the fashion industry. Every year large number of buyers across the globe participate in this event and use the platform to build network and professional tie-ups. Renowned designers, buyers, brands and retailers exhibit their latest merchandise at the show.

Tuyap Fairs and Exhibitions Organization Inc. 16-18 June +(90)-(212)-8866843 Istanbul, Turkey www.cnrexpo.com Ready-to-wear fair Istanbul is a great platform which covers a wide range of lifestyle fashion products. Exhibitors and buyers from all around the world participate in it. Professional related to fashion lifestyle and accessories industry and also the general public can visit the show.

Expected exhibitors are manufacturers of classic, small leather goods, handbags and briefcases, fashionable handbags, footwear, leather garments, fashion accessories and lifestyle products.

>>COMING UP! Textech Indonesia 2011 International Expo Krista Media Pratama PT 11-14 May +(62)-(21)-6345861 Indonesia www.textechonline.org Textech Indonesia 2011 International Expo (Indogartex), is one of the renowned trade shows. The fair showcases the latest products, services, trends in the industry for global fashion buffs and textile industry giants. With the right combination of fashion, design and quality products, the event attracts numerous importers, foreign buyers, wholesalers, manufacturers, merchandisers, media and other related fashion-related professionals. Manufacturers of various fibre, yarn, garments and accessories will also be present to showcase their products.

Chibidue Fiera Milano International SpA and Reed Exhibitions 20-23 May +(39)-(2)-49971/ +(1)-(203)-8404800 Italy www.fieramilano.it Chibidue, an Italian fashion event is considered as one of the biggest platforms for networking and conduction business deals for players of the gem and jewellery industry. Products including jewellery, gems and accessories such as watches, belts and buckles, scarves, shawls, handbags and other beauty items will be showcased at the event. Expected visitors are manufacturers and retailers of the fashion industry and also the general public.

The Footwear Show New York Shoe Buyer’s Market

Chibimart 2011

7-9 June +( 941)-(378)-2840 New York www.thefootwearshow.com The Footwear Show, which was formerly known as The Shoe Shows, features two event under one roof - one for luxury brands and another for the popular price brands. The division has been done to facilitate the exhibitors in presenting the idea of their product correctly to visitors. Professionals from all across the world participate in this show and present their products. The fair highlights the latest trends and serves as a platform to develop business with renowned designers and brands.

Fiera Milano International Spa 20-23 May +(39)- (02)- 49971 Milan www.chibi.fieramilano.it Chibimart, is a cash and carry event, which showcases ethnic products such as fashion jewellery, semi-precious stones, furnishing fittings, crafts, variety of candles and other natural products. The expected visitors’ profile includes everybody who are interested in natural products and home products. The manufacturers and retailers will also be present at the show.

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 167

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

• glamour clamour • My Homespun Picks AND 109oF Tresmode Insense Eliza Donatein Life remanika Tribal Zone

h g n i S i t i Ad Sharma Venue

With the recent Bollywood chartbusters Dilli Dilli and Aali Re from the film No One Killed Jessica, playback singer, Aditi Singh Sharma has been making news. Her duet with singer KK for the film Game has been creating waves for a while now.

When she’s not recording or belting out songs at a live performance, Aditi is scanning the city for newer shopping hubs. Nivedita Jayaram Pawar of Images Bof was privy to one such shopping jaunt in Mumbai.

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C

bai, d), Mum ll (Mala Fotocorp rbit Ma i, o In sh , p rs Sto meer Jo Shoppe to credits: Sa ourtesy: Pho

I

t’s been a while since I have shopped, as I was busy with recording and live shows. When it comes to dressing up, I role-play a bit. On stage, I am this rocker chic in red lipstick, jeans, boots, gloves and so on, and when I am recording it’s always jeans and T-shirts. Being a sensible shopper, I generally stick to what I am looking for, but, it’s only when I pass by the footwear section I lose all resolve. Shoes are my weakness and I have a separate closet dedicated to this passion. So known is my penchant for footwear that even my friends and family gift it to me. The current score is close to 60 pairs.

Having shifted my base from Delhi to Mumbai, I need to align my wardrobe to the needs of this fashion capital. Today’s expedition at Shoppers Stop is to add a few more dresses and some funky tops to my wardrobe. The first stop of the day is at the AND section where I spy a bright blue tunic top (AND `799). It’s loud, very funky and slightly off the edge.

I simply adore it. The top will make a great combination with a pair of leggings and high heels. So I tuck the top in my shopping bag and hunt for a pair of black leggings. Thankfully, they are also available at AND. Contented with my first purchase, I scan the other sections and a red dress with a crystal broach looks tempting (109oF `2,200). I like the fabric – it feels light and flowy and a trial puts the

final seal of approval to that dress. It is perfect for that night out with friends.

With two dresses in my shopping bag, it’s definitely time for some footwear hunting. I quickly sprint to the footwear section and spot a pair at Tresmode (`2,490). The studded pair is in my favourite colour - black and is very comfortable, which means I can even wear them for my stage shows.

Elated at the fact that I could restrict myself to just a single pair of shoes, I divert my attention towards clothes. Being a stage performer, I get photographed often, and therefore, I shall go for some more dresses.

A black dress (Insense `999) with a grey shoulder patch looks promising.

Quickly, I grab the last piece on the rack and put it in my shopping bag.

However, I soon realise that it’s a size larger but that’s fine with me. Another one in black (Eliza Donatein `999) with a studded belt also lands up on the growing heap of dresses. The beauty of this dress is its simplicity. A different belt will give it a completely new look.

Now it’s time for some casual T-shirts. I can never have enough of them. I like them in bright colours teamed with a pair of blue jeans.

The brand Life has some that I like.

I particularly like the long ones with two pockets (Life `350) and would

April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion | 171

• glamour clamour •

When it comes to dressing up I role play a bit. On stage I am this rocker chic in red lipstick, jeans, boots, gloves and so on, and when I am recording it’s always jeans and T-shirts. love to wear them with blue jeans and flat boots. I pick two of them, as my shopping philosophy is that if you find something good, pick two. I also like a pair of grey dhoti pants (Remanika `799). Grey, I believe, is in and moreover, the fit is perfect. I can just slip into it and team it up with a T-shirt and chappals for my recordings or when I am out for movies with friends. It has a very relaxed feel to it without being slouchy.

I like to add a touch of vibrancy to my ensemble with chunky accessories. This set of multi-coloured bangles (Tribal Zone `400) is funky. I am crazy about finger rings but can’t seem to spot any here. So, I settle for a long neckpiece in matt steel with metallic pom poms dangling from it (Tribal Zone `735). With stern resolve I call a halt to my shopping spree and head towards the payment counter. A day spent shopping is a day well spent. And especially when you get what you are looking for. BoF

The brands I love: Lee Lee is my favourite brand when it comes to jeans. The stretch factor in Lee is what makes it top my list.

d re) m a store calle Think Pink (sto nerally shop fro ge d I en s. fri se a es by dr i. It’s owned I wear a lot of dwala, Mumba keep it an to e kh lik Lo I at e. m nk r Think Pi pieces fo ed heels. You some exclusive th bright colour and she makes wi s es dr k ac er done. bl ant ds are quite ov simple – an eleg and other bran ra Za el fe I it. can’t over do aring them.

Every body is we Aldo and Charles & Keith For my first concert with Amit Trivedi, my mom bought me the most expensive pair of black boots from Aldo. I love the brand for comfort. I wear them for my shows and they are super comfortable. Charles & Keith also has some great styles.

ge ows. I have a hu Aldo gloves for my sh tera. I also like offbeat nd ha g in ar we ce I love lon, et em in cotton, ny acelets, big collection of th t of studded br lo a up ck pi I . gs velling abroad. rin r tra ge am fin I r silve Aldo or when m fro gs in rr ea hoops and Tresmode, Esbeda and MANGO I love clutches for evening occasions. Aldo and Tresmode are my favourite brands. I also like big bags from Esbeda and MANGO as they can hold the world for me.

d TBS .A.C. M.A.C, Inglot an l my stage make up is from M op.

Al Sh rl. gi dy .C Bo .A e I am a M glot and Th t of stuff from In lo a ve ha so al I Hugo Boss, Bvlgari and Victoria’s Secret I am crazy about perfumes. My current favourite is Hugo Boss Deep Red and Bvlgari Blanc. I also love Vanila from Victoria’s Secret.

for the variety La Senza rgeous and I go go is e ng lling ra rie It’s linge when I am trave y them mostly bu I s. ur lo co of abroad.

Inorbit Mall, DLF promenade and Dubai Mall The Inorbit Mall (Mumbai) and DLF Promenade (Delhi) are amazing. I also love the Dubai Mall, and it’s so huge. Basically, I enjoy shopping at a place where there’s more to do other than

at we to see in India dia now, but wh Brands I long ign brands in In re ds in fo an e br th e of m t sa os m stores of the e Th I agree we have n. io e the ct or ef lle er ty in the co in size and th lack is the varie ds e times bigger an fiv br n be ig ll re wi fo ng e Ko so in awe of th is Dubai or Hong y es od tim yb At er t. ev ge. Here e dishing ou collection is hu st these brands ar ju er ld ev ou at sh wh y od up ck eryb that they will pi things. I feel ev ese aring the same pick up what th y dl in bl t no we all end up we d an em th its su at chill and buy wh offer. stores have to 172 | April 2011 | IMAGES Business of Fashion

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com

For advertising enquiries:

Lokesh Chopra +91-9811911340 email: lokesh@imagesfashion.com