Madura brands diversifying products to gain market spread

The brands under Madura Fashion and Lifestyle such as Louis Philippe, Allen Solly, Peter England are now focusing on non-apparels in a big way. After introducing smart casuals and formal wear for men, women and kids, these brands

are venturing into new growth categories like footwear and even laptop bags to capture eyeballs.

While premium casual wear brand Allen Solly announced its plans of entering the footwear segment recently, super-premium brand Louise Philippe has launched office and laptop bags and mid-priced brand Peter England unveiled luggage products sometime back. Louis Philippe was the first brand to diversify from apparels and offer footwear and accessories. The brand launched its only footwear store in Pune six months ago and plans to open 20 more stores in three to four years.

Experts say, margins in accessories are a big draw. It’s 50 per cent as against 20-25 per cent in apparels. If sourcing is right, then margins can be as high as 80 percent for accessories. In case of bags, it is around 40-45 percent. Accessories are driving luxury retail in India compared to clothing. And as Arvind K Singhal, Chairman, Technopak Advisors opines, “In the West, luxury forms a large part of clothing in sales but luxury clothing is negligible in India. In India, we don’t have formal gowns and dresses because for Indian weddings, we have Indian style clothes. In this market a Chanel or a Dior can’t get in. However, accessories market including luxury watches, bags, eye wear, jewellery are growing phenomenally in India.”

No wonder, Madura is concentrating on capturing market share as global giants are readying to make solo-entry post 100 percent FDI in single brand retail. Currently, the contribution from non-apparel is around 4-5 percent and is expected to touch 10 percent in three to four years.

Madura joins a growing list of big brands diversifying into accessories and footwear. Samsonite, which is essentially into bags, has entered the footwear category, while Lavie, which sells women’s handbags, has also started doing the same. The Indian footwear industry is pegged at Rs 30,000 crores and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 12 percent per annum. In value terms, the casual footwear segment accounts for almost 65 percent of the market, followed by formal footwear at 15 percent.

While Allen Solly is not looking at a significant contribution from these categories in this fiscal, but it expects to ramp up gradually. On the other hand, Louis Philippe wants these categories to account for 5 percent of its total turnover of more than Rs 1,000 crores this year. After bags, Louis Philippe plans to enter the heavy luggage segment to make it a one-stop shop for accessories.