The Growing Western Trend

Women across metros and smaller cities are increasingly embracing western wear, making it one of the fast­est growing categories in apparel segment. The cat­egory is gaining traction owing to growing fashion consciousness among Indian women, increasing disposable income and more women joining the workforce.

The apparel market in India is estimated at $45 billion and is expected to touch $200 billion by 2025, according to a study conducted by consulting firm Wazir Ad­visors. Besides, women’s western clothing market is growing at a CAGR of 35-40 per cent.

This growing market has urged not only na­tional brands to expand fast but also international brands to invest here.

Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is bullish on brick and mortar stores expansion and has plans to open a store every month as part of its strategy to drive sales. Janne Einola, CEO, H&M India, says, “World­wide, sales through offline medium still account 50 per cent of total sales despite the convenience of e-commerce and that is why we are betting big on brick and mortar stores to drive our sales here in India, where e-commerce still hasn’t covered much ground. We are still going ahead with our strategy of one store a month to drive our expansion.”

India is one of the key markets for Marks and Spencer as well, which currently operates 57 stores in India across 27 cities, the highest outside the UK. “As one of our key growth markets, this is a really exciting time to be re-joining the team,” says James Munson, newly-appointed Marks and Spencer India MD.

Non-casual Growth

The non-casual or work wear segment is becoming the fastest growing cat­egory within women fash­ion segment. E-commerce fashion startups such as Kaaryah, Limeroad and Fabel Steet are witness­ing a strong growth in this segment.

“When Queens, an exclusive western wear label, launched their Autumn-Winter collection on LimeRoad in brighter hues as opposed to the conventional dark hues, it was a major sellout,” says Suchi Mukherjee, CEO & Founder, LimeRoad.

Besides, Linen, one of the most expensive fabrics, is currently in vogue. India’s leading linen fabric maker, Aditya Birla Group has launched its 144th Linen Club store recently at Linking Road, Bandra, Mumbai. “Our plan is to grow about 300 stores by 2020. Each store needs a capital investment of about Rs 60-70 lakh. Therefore, we are plan­ning to invest Rs 80-100 crore,” shares Thomas Varghese, Business Head, Textiles, Acrylic Fibre & Overseas Spinning, Aditya Birla Group.

Manjula Tiwari, CEO, Future Style Lab, says, “There is a huge oppor­tunity in the women’s western wear segment.” Talking about the incep­tion of Cover Story, she adds, “Women in India are incorporating global trends and sensibilities in their dressing but there isn’t any Indian fast fashion brand which can truly keep pace with their expectations. That is how the idea of Cover Story came along.”

The brand may also explore the sub-franchis­ing option in future. The investment required for a store is about Rs 40 lakh.

Certainly, the increase in demand is driving retailers to expand the category, which in turn will help the industry grow further.

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