Kidology spreads wings outside India

Designer kids’ brand Kidology is spreading its wings and looking beyond India. The company has already started export by retailing through a couple of stores in Dubai and will soon be in Abu Dhabi.

Kidology is looking beyond Indian shores

“We are speaking to couple of stores in North America as well. There is a huge potential to reach out to NRIs across the world who love ‘India inspired’ designs. In Dubai, where we primarily retail our western and fusion wear, our partners have informed us that Arabs and Russians in particular form a major part of our clientele,” says Neha Sachar Mittal, Joint Managing Director of Kidology.

Even in the domestic market, the brand has set a trend by being one of the first to launch designer ware of kids. “Being the first mover in this industry was a challenge task, since until then no one had really experimented with designer clothes for kids in retail nor had our price points existed,” opines Mittal. “However, with changing demographics and earning structure parents today are more willing to spend on their kids,” she adds further pointing out that real estate is one of the biggest challenges when trying to expand any retail brand. “Since real estate prices are amongst the highest in India, at Kidology we are focusing on developing smaller format 300-500 square feet stores in the right locations to expand responsibly and maximize our per square foot profits,” says Mittal.

The brand is present in two company leased stores, one FOCO (franchisee owned, company owned) store, four shop-in-shop arrangements. Recently, it has tied up with Kimaya, India’s leading fashion store, across different cities. “We have also started online retail. And without much advertising, we got orders from people across the world. We have also tied up with a few websites,” explains Mittal.

Designer wear for kids

With Kidology, the company brought together some of the best names in the fashion industry under one roof. The design team includes Gaurav Gupta, Gauri and Nainika, Malini Ramani, Nandita Basu, Siddhartha Tytler and its in-house collection designer Maya Nocon. Elaborating on the USP, Mittal says, “With a multi-designer panel, we can offer unique sensibilities all under one roof. These designers not just create mini versions of their adult lines but also modify them to adapt to children. Kidology tries to mould each designer’s sensibility into something that’s international in outlook, yet is not far from India’s core design strengths like embroidery and handwork.”

Kidology currently offers apparels – semi-formal and formal, accessories (hairbands, shoes and bags), soft furnishings as well as furniture. It also is the first choice for some of the leading international brands when looking to retail from India like Seven For All Mankind jeans, Havaianas, etc. Its online store has received very encouraging response from buyers across the world.

“We began with our flagship store in Dlf Promenade Mall and have since expanded with another store in Pacific Mall in Delhi a franchise store in Mumbai and Chandigarh. We also have shop-in-shops at Anahita in Hyderabad and Smitten and Bubbles and Giggles in Dubai,” Mittal informs.

Kidology’s Fall/Winter collection is a beautiful bouquet of all the possible trends forecasted. “Neon, colour blocking and black and white are some of the anchor trends this season. These are reflected in not only our western, but have also been beautifully adapted in the Indian styles,” Mittal sums up.