Apparel players wooing customers with customised clothing

The garment industry, both offline and online has come full-circle from tailormade to readymade to customised clothing. From leading textile companies, to brands and e-retailers, all are now offering customized clothing services to woo buyers who are still stuck to the idea of wearing perfectly fitting ensembles. Neighbourhood tailors were once a favourite among Indians looking for perfectly fitted clothes. However, with the advent of ready-to-wear ensembles by leading brands in variety of sizes from XS to XXL or even XXXL, customers gradually shunned the tailor and moved towards branded ready-to-wear. Ecommerce companies further expanded the reach of readymade clothing to remote places, wooing those who still lacked exposure. Experts feel that the latest move by ecommerce platforms such as Jabong and Fashionara could further make a negative impact on business of brick and mortar clothing stores.

Customisation the new mantra for success

Cutomised or made to measure clothing is emerging as a mantra for success in the highly competitive ecommerce market. Fashion portal Kaaryah.com for instance, which caters to women between 23 to 45 years, has introduced almost 18 different sizes after studying the Indian woman’s body size. The Gurgaon-based start-up got positive response from customers for well-fitting western wear since neighbourhood tailors lack expertise in trimming a western ensemble to a perfectly fit shape.

Not just e-retailers textile and apparel industry majors Madura Fashion and Lifestyle and Arvind, who have now logged on to the ecommerce wagon, are focusing on customised clothing with MYFIT on trendin.com and Creyate, respectively. While, there is still a long way to go, as far as tailormade clothing options for women is concerned but companies are initiating steps to reach there. For example, Fashionara has introduced a pilot project across Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad with a ‘fitting’ doorstep service to bring down return orders over sizing issues.

Physical retailers focus on customization

While e-retailers like Fashionara, Jabong, Fashionove or Kaaryah are witnessing jump in sales after introducing bespoke clothing, physical retailers and brands too are innovating to woo customers back by providing customised products.

Raymond, known for its suits, is building on its Made to Measure stores, which according to Ashish Grover, the company’s Vice President-internal business & garmenting, represent a ‘culmination of craft and science’. According to him the process has two facets, fashion advice and perfect fit. These two work in unison to deliver the requisite result to the customer.

Eyeing an opportunity to generate revenues through ecommerce medium, textile companies are roping in neighbourhood tailors to boost identity of their fabric brand. Textile majors such as Grasim, Raymond and Siyaram have taken an initiative of training and upgrading the skills of local tailors in cities across the country.