Monte Carlo creates a novel range for A/W ’15

Monte Carlo is ready with its A/W ’15 range which consists of casual and formal line of clothing. New innovations include floor duster coat with flash of 90’s fashion with broad belts and statement shoes for women and wool reversible jackets and over dye sweat shirts for men. The company will also launch a new range of ethnic wear, winter accessories, socks and lounge wear.

Elaborating on the USP of the range, Sandeep Jain, Executive Director, Monte Carlo says, “We have used new colours this season like: damson red, pomegranate, camel earthy tone, iris blue and jewel tones. In fabrics, we have used: cotton, cotton and wool blends and leather coating, quilted fabric, structured weaves for jackets and coats.”

Trends dominating A/W ’15

The brand has used peached fabrics, quilted fabrics especially for sweatshirts, coated PU and pure leather are new fabrics in use for jackets. Jain says the overall trend is towards all over printed hoodies and fine pure wool Modi jackets, fusion knitted jackets with a focus on stretch enhanced fabrics, minimalistic bomber jacket styles and certain styles under the new athleisure trend are in vogue under the men’s category.

“Floor duster coats for women with fur details, 90’s fashion flashback, rugged jackets with Moroccan motives and sweatshirts are in demand among the new generation of women,” he avers.

At Monte Carlo, a new collection is created based one market surveys of last season and current season data, secondary data from style reports and colour forecasts. “We plan our range on the basis of last season’s demand and forecast for upcoming season which goes with our brand and target customers. The collection is theme based as well as utility based,” explains Jain.

The brand has also launched innovative collections of convertibles trench coats, reversible jackets, double the look jackets, swackets (hybrid sweatshirt jackets), mix and match of different fabrics and foldable jackets for hassle- free wearing.

Expectations low amid a slowdown

Winter wear is a major segment in Monte Carlo’s product line, which covers 65 percent of the total business. “We were earlier completely dependent on winter wear but now a summer range has been added. Revenue is also coming from summer wear category. For the industry as a whole, winter wear rakes in more sales for brands compared to summer season,” informs Jain.

The company witnessed a growth of about 17 percent last year, however, this year, due to slow economy, Jain anticipates growth of 10 to 12 percent. “Economy is slow and you cannot outperform it, so lowering growth rate is better for us. We do not know how much time economy will take to bounce back, so all we can do is hope for the best,” he says.

While Monte Carlo caters to men’s and women’s categories, the response is almost the same for both in terms of sales, even though the brand is involved majorly in men’s segment. “In the past, we were doing 90 percent men and 10 percent women, now this has come down to 70 percent for men and 30 percent for women,” Jain clarifies.