Status Quo introduces its knit collection for A/W ’16

Lifestyle brand Status Quo has been always ahead of competitor and this time too, it has done the same. It has introduced its first exclusive knits collection for the forthcoming Autumn/Winter ’16. The collection comprises 100 percent cotton, cotton-Lycra, structured yarn and mix yarn fabrics. The 100 percent knit collection includes coats, waistcoats, trousers, denims, shirts, T-shirts and joggers.

Most of Status Quo collection is 100 percent cotton. This time, the brand has done indigo and cotton linen collection. There is another line that they make where Lycra is blended with cotton and in few styles a blend of cotton and polyester is used. Almost 25 percent of Status quo’s collection has used fibres like Lycra, Tencel for value addition. Interestingly, its entire ‘Emblem’ collection is a tribute to legends of the world and made with cotton Lycra.

Knitwear grows fast, India takes to it

Bobby Arora, Director, Status Quo points out knitwear is emerging as the fastest growing segment compared to all other segments, including woven and mill-made garments. “Within the textiles industry, the role of hosiery or knitwear sector is increasing. Knitted garments are preferred over woven garments all over the world due to comfort, stretch ability and easy breathe ability built within the knitted fabric structure. The major growth drivers are rich resources of raw material for knitwear industry; highly trained manpower and highly competitive in the spinning sector and has presence in almost all processes of the value chain.”

Online retail is the future

Status Quo enjoys a huge presence online. It is present on Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong, Snapdeal and Abof. It also retails through its own website, Arora feels the biggest challenge in online is to get cataloguing and products live. Also, there are high costs involved in cash on delivery option. “But Status Quo realises that the online is the future. The marketing expenditure as compared to offline is less. There are no rental costs as it is in the case of EBOs,” explains Arora. He goes on to say, “We are planning to expand our business online and day by day we are expanding our reach. Today, we are reaching and delivering to 10,000 plus pin codes.”

As a brand Status Quo is known for its T-shirts. Approximately 60-65 percent of sales come from T-shirts alone. However, in recent times knitted joggers have been growing at a steady pace. At Status Quo, at least 25 options are done every season. As for retail, the brand is present with more than 1,100 MBOs, and is largely present across LFS like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Westside and Central with 140 touchpoints. Currently, the brand has five EBOs. The MBOs contributes 43 percent, LFS 38 percent and EBOs 4 percent to the company’s turnover.