With the global economy yet to recover from the ongoing slowdown, consumer`s buying habits are undergoing a change the worldover. Only basic necessities now form a major chunk of the wallet share. Of these, one basic necessity is apparel.
Though apparel sounds like a basic necessity which one buys for a basic purpose, however, that`s not how today`s consumers and retailers perceive it. There is an opportunity which can be found to solve the clothing requirements of the nation. Apparel now boasts of trends which are set every season by fashionistas and designers.
Apparel industry by and large remains to be the largest foreign exchange earner for India. Apparel industry touches the lives of millions of people by its products and by employment. Talking about apparel sector`s role in India`s exports, Chetan Bijesure, Team Leader, Manufacturing and, Deputy Director, WTO, FTA and Foreign Trade, FICCI, New Delhi says, “Apparel contributes around 8 to 9 per cent of India`s exports. The sector provides employment to over 6 million people in the country out of which 38 per cent are women. It is the second largest employer after agriculture in the country. The size of the domestic apparel market is estimated at around $1800 crore.”
With a multitude of layers this dynamic and ever changing industry is not everyone`s cup of tea where a brand takes years of research and planning to make its mark in the society. Though, these at the end of the day have to reach out to the masses to earn the bread and butter with the means of sales. This is where franchising makes its presence felt.
From the past 10 years when franchising started making its mark on the Indian terrain to the last five years the time from when modern retailing has started spreading its wings in India, apparel franchising has made giant strides benefiting both sections.
Retailing which was earlier regarded as just the selling of product to the consumer has taken a shape of giving an experience to the customer where he or she enjoys each and every aspect of it whether it is the display of clothes or the variety of clothes to the extra care a sales person puts in to make the buyer feel comfortable.
Franchising today has not been restricted to product only where the franchisor, franchisee transact the product but the Indian franchisor has transcended limits to include into fold training and orientation of franchisee and his team in maneuvering incredibly successful sales and imprinting brand name in the minds of customers, through franchise outlet, who surrogates the face of the brand. Though apparel industry largely remains to be product driven it actually conveys a message of the brand, its perspective and experience which it brings along.

Apparel categories
Though menswear has held a special place amongst apparel retailers from the start, women and kids wear are gaining momentum as the untapped market and an industry with a lot of potential. Most of the organised retailers picked up men`s clothing section, but a great deal of women`s and kids wear sections lay in hands of unorganized sector. However, now-a-days, many apparel makers are eyeing a share of this bigger pie with companies focusing entirely on women`s wear or kids wear, and menswear makers too launching special lines of women and kids wear. There is lot of specialization coming up in ethnic and western clothing, in both men`s wear and women`s wear sections.

Not small anymore – kids wear
A major segment in the apparel industry is held by kidswear, which accounts for a market size of Rs 13,000 crore. Growing at a rate of 15-20 per cent per annum the segment is being ruled in India by leading names like Lilliput, Gini & Jony, Catmoss, Li`l Tomatoes and Ruff Kids.
Earlier in India, the trend was that most of the people preferred buying functional kids` apparel rather than branded ones. Children`s garments were usually purchased from small stores and from street shops, while branded garments were only bought by the elite section of the society. Over the years there has been a gradual surge in this trend; the branded Kidswear industry has grown and is now a more evolved market.
What is driving the growth in this market is the increasing number of dual income families where both parents are working and have high disposable income and are ready to splurge on branded fashionable clothes for their kids. Industry experts believe the market has a potential to grow to a further Rs 45,000 crore by 2013 out of which branded kids wear is expected to be of Rs 20,00 crore. So, there is a huge market share to be captured. But the market is not the domain of Indian kidswear makers only. International players have also started eyeing this growing market.
Considering the entry of many international players in the Indian domain, Indian companies are enjoying a fair share of the global market per se. Target markets for Indian kids wear makers are Gulf, Egypt and China.
Kidswear major Gini & Jony exports has presence in Saudi Arabia and UAE and is on a look out for international tie ups.
Catmoss is also planning to make an international foray in the coming season. It has a total of 150 EBOs with a judicious mix of 78 company-owned and 72 franchised outlets. The company crossed a turnover of Rs 70 crore in the last financial year.
Lilliput Kidswear Ltd, incorporated in 1991 has a large number of, say, 210 stores in India, besides its presence in China, Middle East, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt clocking a turnover of Rs 300 crores. Lilliput has two collections to offer in a year namely, Spring-Summer and Autumn-Winter collections. It has a set up of six manufacturing units with 5500 machines producing 1 million units per month. Lilliput exports its range to the likes of Carter`s, GAP, Next, Macy`s etc.
D. S. Corporation, the flagship company of Dearson group of companies engaged in manufacturing of garments since last 28 years ventured in the field of casuals in 1995 under the Brand label of "Ruff". The company has created stores with concepts such as Water Melon (an in house hair styling saloon), Kids Flix (a mini theater) to keep the customers entertained. Apart from being available in 16 Brand stores, Ruff is also available at 250 plus Multi brand outlets, more than 70 large format store and Retail chains across India. Internationally, the company has presence in U.A.E, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Tanzania.
Talking about the sea change the market has undergone Riaz Patca, CEO, Ruff Kids, says “Today, Indian kids wear is not just about grading the men`s wear clothing into smaller sizes and it`s also not about making “Baba-suits” only. Kids have a mind of their own and they decide the best for themselves.”
Talking about emerging brand Toon Kidz`s presence abroad, Venkat RV, MD, Toon Kidz says, “In the Gulf, we have our presence in 85 LFS formats and three EBOs are coming up soon. We will also have presence through six EBOs getting launched in Egypt.”
ToonKidz is promoted by AR Knit Process & NF Retail. It is an umbrella store of most popular global animation characters merchandise, for example Popeye, Ben10, Bob the Builder, Powerpuff Girls, Marvel Heroes from popular global TV channels like Cartoon Network, Pogo and Spacetoons.
Urban 10, a brand promoting kids wear for ages 1 to 14 years was established a year ago by a 200 crore consortium with diversified business interests in garment exports, BPO, real estate and food retailing. A wide range of almost 200 styles in different sizes is launched every two months to provide freshness to the stores. The brand has 120 points of sale – both in large formats (like Bharti Walmart and Chunmun) and MBOs, and is planning to come up with 80 outlets in the next five years which would be both, company owned and franchised.

Increasing focus on women-wear market
In India, men`s apparel market is larger than women`s wear market. And then, growing number of working women, information from electronic and other media channels, economic empowerment, changing fashion trends have all given a new dimension to women`s wear industry in India. Lack of organized players in women`s wear sector has given way to apparel brands eyeing a bigger share of this untapped market.
In year, 2007, this market reached at more than Rs 37,000 crore. A recent report by RNCOS estimates the market to increase at a CAGR of over 17 per cent, and is expected to cross Rs. 61,000 crore by 2010.
Chhabra 555 is the most leading name in women ethnic wear offering a wide range of women`s wear, comprising lehanga, sareers and suits starting from casual wear to wedding wear. Every season, a new collection is introduced which is four times in a year. Jagdeep Chhabra, Director, Chhabra 555 counts locations and manpower as the two important aspects for the success of an apparel store.
Femella Fashions, women wear