IIPM Global B-school Trade pundits believe that to make their mark in the cat-eat-cat world of the world’s billion dollar fashion business, desi designers need to take some risks and evolve contemporary strategies. With a sharp growth in the world’s millionaire population, the days when luxury was still exclusive are nearly over. In India itself, despite the slowdown, dollar millionaires are growing by the day. Clearly, it’s time for crafted sophistication and exclusivity to give way to creating brands for the fast-growing premium segment of the market, mass-marketing and profit margins. The queen bee of Indian fashionistas, Ritu Kumar, who kicked off her show at the recently concluded Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WLIFW) with her new ready-to-wear, lesser priced collection, takes not a moment to agree. “We have to break the barrier that fashion is only for the rich and make it more affordable to the Indian market,” says the lady behind the 40-year-old House of Ritu Kumar, one of the oldest designer labels in the country.
Like Kumar, most India-born designers began launching prêt lines a few years ago to cash in on this growing market. Rohit Bal (Balance), Raghavendra Rathore (Inde Prêt), Kiran Uttam Ghosh (Kimono) and Rocky S (Rocky S Jeans) are among those that capitalised on the opportunity early and are still reaping the benefits. Many others, despite launching their prêt lines, have faltered in evolving simultaneous distribution reach and logistics paraphernalia. Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, for example, obtain over 85-90% of their sales via a network of departmental stores and shop-in-shop formats. In contrast, unable to stitch up deals with corporate retailers, many designers continue to sell only through their own niche couture outlets – which are limited in number and reach. “Brands like Prada and Hugo Boss became famous, not only because of their designs but also because they are supported by strong logistics & retail. In India, the retail revolution has just started,” says stylist Raghavendra Rathore.
Says designer Anita Dongre, “To appeal to buyers, you need to be unique in your offerings. To create a popular brand, you will have to figure out the budget suitable to the various target segments and create brands accordingly.” In tune with her logic, Anita too has created five brands of her own, of which ‘And’ is for the masses and ‘Timeless’ (priced at Rs.50,000 and above) is for the classes. Agrees the spokesperson for US-based Anthropologie, a buyer at WLIFW, “I feel you need to have a USP or specialisation to create a proper brand, I mean if I am here to buy something from the designers, I am looking at what unique collection he can offer to my store.” Anita’s strategy is reminiscent of the one followed by legendary designer Giorgio Armani (turnover of three billion euros today) almost two decades back and has paid off. Her organisation has been growing at 50% y-o-y. Even maverick designer Manish Arora has loaded his brand portfolio with diverse offerings across price points. Insiders say that Manish (along with Ashish Soni) has bagged maximum orders from global buyers in the WLIFW despite the slowdown.
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