Jaydeep Shetty appointed new CEO of Soch Apparels

Jaydeep Shetty has been appointed the new chief executive officer of Soch Apparels. He will be responsible for fuelling growth, charting expansion and firmly establishing the brand in the women’s wear segment in India. He has over 28 years experience across retail, cinema and the media. He was also part of the founding management team of Shoppers Stop and Inox and has held leadership positions at BBC Worldwide and Future Group.

Soch Apparels, based in Bangalore, is a 15-year-old ethnic wear brand. It has 129 stores across 49 cities in the country as well as a strong online presence. Besides running its own brand stores, Soch also retails through shop-in-shops across Shoppers Stop and Central. Next year, Soch is looking at opening 35 to 40 stores and that's not including any shop-in-shops.

In India, ethnic wear is the single biggest category in the women's wear segment with a share of 71 per cent. Ethnic wear is still considered formal wear for women. It is considered de rigueur office wear. Spends on women’s wear in the apparel market are catching up with the share of menswear. This is driven largely by Indian ethnic and fusion wear brands which appeal to young audiences. Fast fashion turnaround based on innovative technology and materials at relatively affordable price has been the key to this growth.