Know why Louis Philippe is set to launch range of watches..

Louis Philippe, the premium menswear brand of Aditya Birla Group-owned Madura Fashion and Lifestyle, is set to launch its range of watches under Louis Philippe Time brand.

Besides time-wear, the brand has evaluated eyewear and writing instruments, which it will launch subsequently, a top company executive said. "We have conducted market research on time-wear for the past 1.5 years, and will launch Louis Philippe Time by the end of this month," Sooraj Bhat, Chief Operating Officer of Louis Philippe, told as per PTI.

"We are also in the process of evaluating eye-wear and writing instruments but will focus on time-wear at present," he added.

The 26-year-old brand will retail the watches at 85 exclusive Louis Philippe stores, and will take it to 130 of its stores by November, he said.

Louis Philippe Time watches will be priced between Rs 6,999 and Rs 23,000 for four or five Swiss-made models.

While Bhat did not reveal the store expansion plans, he said there are presently about 250 exclusive Louis Philippe stores.

He said the company has invested Rs 5 crore in launching the new category and is not manufacturing here.

"We are importing it from a trusted vendor Daily Win, in Hong Kong," Bhat said. The company, which started as a premium shirt company, moved into the mens apparel category. Six years ago, it diversified into allied sub-brands including LP Sport, LP Footwear four years ago and LP Jeans for smart casual-wear two years ago to expand from its completely formal image.

Madura Fashion and Lifestyle owns and sells apparel under labels such as Allen Solly, Van Heusen and Peter England, besides Louis Philippe.

Earlier this year, Madura Fashion launched an online retail store for its brands Trendin.com, but Bhat did not indicate when the company would retail the watches online.