Live In: To introduce casual shirts, designer sportswear

In last five years, Live In the men’s brand from Federal Brands has exponentially grown by around 400 percent both in volume and value terms. Already present in 3,500 MBOs, it now plans to add another 400 to 500 MBOs this season. “Apart from

aggressive retail strategy, new products are also in the pipeline. In summer ’13, we will add casual shirts in almost 400 styles. In the next two months, we are also going to introduce designer sportswear for men,” says Tirtha Bhowmick, National Sales Manager, Federal Brands (Live In). It will have polo T-shirts, crew neck tees, gym vests, tracks and shorts. The products will be tested in three to four markets including Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad.

The company is aiming to achieve a revenue target of Rs 150 crores this fiscal, riding on a retail expansion wave through MBOs in Tier II, III cities. Bhowmick expalins, “Apart from expanding our pan-India retail network, even in Tier II, III cities, direct to retail is a new distribution channel developed by us through which, we do business with certain MBOs across the country.”

Club Live In is another concept developed by the company for loyal MBOs who do sizeable business with them. And its online store is also contributing in terms of volumes, with the increase in the number of customers purchasing online, especially in the South. The company is seriously contemplating floating an IPO in the near future apart from looking to PE funding since it believes that it’s a stepping stone for a brand’s growth.

Live In was introduced in June 1998 focusing on the needs of young fashionable Indian men who love to see themselves in a pair of jeans. As Bhowmick says, “Live In was introduced with the famous ‘Washing Machine’ campaign featuring Bollywood actor Dino Morea coming out of a washing machine wearing a pair of jeans. This campaign created a required buzz and a huge brand recall.” Today, with product up-gradation, Live In has been repositioned as a semi premium brand having the cutting edge of fashion. Not only has it focused on redesigning its entire range of products, it has also fully refurbished its brand appeal, starting with creating a vibrant new logo that reflects the contemporary attitude of modern youth, along with designer tags and accessories. The product range includes casual trousers, Jeans, semi-formal trousers, basic T-shirts and sportswear. “We started with a single product in 1998, and have now reached an array of 15 and more core products and hundreds of fashion products introduced per collection. Live In has started and maintained the trend of ‘Khakis’ in Indian market. Live In’s nine pocket ‘Cargo’ was trend setter of cargo pants in India,” asserts Bhowmick.

The brand today enjoys a presence through a network of over 3,500 multi-brand stores across the country, making it one of the most dominant brands in the MBO network. It is also available in international markets like the Middle East in countries like Oman, Dubai, Bahrain and Riyadh. “Our mission is to stride forward in becoming the true leader in jeans and semi-formal wear space in the country by providing innovation to our styles/products and through long term customer satisfaction. Currently, Live In has 8 percent share of the overall branded apparel category and 22 percent in branded male jeans and semi-formal trouser category,” Bhowmick exclaims.