Aditya Birla Group launches New Age fabric Liva Crème

A few years ago, Aditya Birla Group made an attempt at something that had never been tried in the Indian textiles industry. From a pure commodity product, the company has transformed VSF into a high quality aspirational brand popularly known as ‘Liva’. “I believe, there has been a phenomenal rise in the number of tagged Liva garments in the organized brands and retail sector. It has soared from 18 lakh in the first summer spring season 2015 to over 1.1 crore garments in the current summer season 2017. Liva garments straddle across 190 cities and 3,000 plus stores. That is an outstanding accomplishment for a brand that is still in its infancy,” opines Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group.

Alongside Liva, the company launched the Liva Accredited Partner Forum. Since then, as LAPF members, have engaged with the company every step of the way. “In line with our group’s philosophy of nurturing and promoting young talent, a while ago, we flagged off the Liva Protégé initiative. Under it, we have roped in India’s leading designers and fashion Institutes. They mentor young talent. They provide them with a great platform to launch their designs,” Birla observes.

Poised performance

Across all of their business sectors, the group has declared FY18 as the year of the Bosstomer. One of the finest examples of customer centricity within the Group has been their VSF business. From being just product focused, the business has moved to ‘providing solutions’ to customer by working seamlessly with the value chain. Liva’s end-to-end ecosystem of a high-quality product, continuous innovation, the LAPF network and aspiration created by communication and brand engagement is great case study in consumer focus.

Talking about Liva brand, Rajeev Gopal, CMO-Birla Cellulose elaborated, “Liva provides a luxurious softness, fluidity and sheen to garments. Liva has gone from strength to strength. There has been a tremendous growth in VSF consumption in India. This has led to the growth of Liva-backed garments. It has grown from a modest 18 lakh garments when we started two years back to over one crore garments in the current season. We have 32 leading brands and retail partners with a footprint across 194 cities. We cover 3,000 leading retail outlets. We have spinners, fabricators, processors as partners. They have been instrumental in providing innovative and quality Liva based products. They have played a key role in delivering the brand promise.

In 2016, the company began the annual partner meet. “We have a unique online marketplace to connect our retail partners with each other and with buyers. We have a studio in Noida. We will soon have a similar studio in New York. These studios will help spread awareness about the innovations done by our partners and provide a platform for buyers around the world to sample and source from our partners, added Gopal.

There has been a strong communication with consumers about brand Liva across print, outdoors, digital and TV, as well as mall promotions. This season the company has partnered with leading designers and top brands to make exquisite collections using Liva and delight the consumer. The company also acknowledged stunning performance of its partners during an award ceremony. From now on, these will be annual awards decided by an eminent and independent jury.

Fashion, all about innovation

Fashion is about innovation…and Liva is about innovation. “We have Liva, Liva Trim and we will come up with new ideas. The idea is to give the consumer more choice. Liva is about giving choices. Fibers and fabrics make a difference to the garment. With Liva we have started with women. But we have a bit of children’s wear. We have men’s wear in mind. We have home textiles in mind. So Liva will span textile segments and consumer segments of garments. But it will be done in phases. Liva is in its infancy. First, we will establish with Liva women’s wear and then branch out. With Liva we are into saris, western, leggings, tops, intimate wear, Indian ethnic, etc. You will see a lot of Liva in intimate wear. Liva is an ideal fabric for intimate wear. We are with Jockey and other brands. We are looking at men’s innerwear. But right now, it’s women’s wear. Liva is a natural fit for women’s wear. It has comfort, fluidity, softness, which women look for. You can design excellent garments for women using Liva fabric. Brands are coming into women’s wear. That makes it easier to find partners and introduce Liva. Earlier this space was unorganised,” explains Gopal.

With Liva, the group wants to create an aspiration. For any brand, you have to create an aspiration. But volumes will come only from the lower segment. So gradually, the company will come down to the mass segments. We have started working with labels in the mass segment as well. In India, what’s done by top brands is copied by mass brands. The Liva tag will assure the customer the garment is high quality and authentic. A consumer wearing a Liva garment can experience unmatched fluidity, softness, comfort, adds Gopal.

Business Dynamics

Talking about the overall industry performance, Dilip Gaur, Business Director -Pulp & Fibre said Liva allows for better design, better products, better quality. The VSF industry has grown annually by 10 to 12 per cent over the last three or four years. Liva has contributed to this. People now understand what viscose fiber is, what it can do. We will expand Liva’s footprint. Liva now is in one crore garments. Assuming the fabric price is Rs1500, you can figure out the turnover. Talking about price point, he remarks that Liva is an ingredient brand. It is not the end product. The notion Liva is expensive is incorrect. The fabric can be done in many ways. There are different price segments. You have a range for Rs1000, Rs1500, Rs2000. Liva has a connection with Linen Club too. With pride, he says, “We are part of the Aditya Birla Group. With fibres, we can make superior garments. We are trying to brand the ingredient. Liva is the best quality product from Aditya Birla which can help manufacturers in designing great garments.”

Growing expanse

Going forward, the company’s vision is to establish Liva as a brand of choice in all apparel categories. “We intend to integrate Liva and texture it in other fabric categories like home textiles. We will continue to focus on innovative solutions and to partner with brand and category leaders to bring these to market. Our commitment to bring Liva to the fore through ongoing communication with the consumer, is a given. Our endeavour is to create aspiration and build excitement,” Birla explained.