Indo-western brand Zola eyes expansion through LFS

Zola, the western wear fashion brand for women and kids is known for its stylish clothing line. The brand launched by Pragati Fashions in 1991 has been witnessing a steady growth of 25 to 35 percent for the past five years.

Talking about their future plans, Kirti Shah, Director, Pragati Fashions says, “We will continue to offer trendy clothing, while focusing on marketing initiatives to increase our customer-base. We also want to increase our retail presence through franchises to begin with and later in large formats after FY-17.”

Indo-western wardrobe for women and kids

Zola offers western and Indo-western outfits today, however, when the brand was launched in 1991, it used to offer western outfits including tops, shirts and jeans. “Since the last 15 years, we have been doing Indo-western,” informs Shah. Western dresses like gowns, dresses, fancy tops, casual tops, according to Shah, are in trend this festive season. Zola has also launched short dresses for the season. The colours are in bright shades of purple, red, dark pink, and so on. “The styles in trend are A-line, long dresses, all pure western styles. Chiffons are in, while digital prints are in demand. In fabrics, we have synthetic, cotton, chiffon, rayon, and Lycra-based hosiery garments,” he explains.

Catering to 2 to 40 year olds, the brand offers various sizes ranging from ‘S’ to ‘5 XL’. The company has been running sales operations from 45,000 square feet space in Dadar, Mumbai.

Expansion through large formats

Zola enjoys presence across India and over 15 countries with approximately 6,800 wholesale points of sale. “We have buyers from 15 countries such as the Middle East, Bahrain, Muscat, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Mauritius. In India, we are in all metros. We supply to major retailers in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and states like West Bengal, Karnataka, Assam, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra,” states Shah.

While it has not partnered any ecommerce platform yet, the company has launched its own app called ‘Zola’for bulk selling. Expansion through large formats is also on the cards, but right now, it is focusing on expanding in all states and to maximum retailers.

Shah sums up by saying, “Zola is in the niche segment, so we don’t feel the heat of competition, in terms of prices or styles. However, competition is necessary to keep us on our toes.”