Madame ready with flowy silhouettes in pastel, solid blends for A/W

Popular women’s wear brand Madame has been making a mark with its styles and designs since the 1980s. Every year it introduces collections which are in tune with international standards. This year, too, it has brought out its Autumn/Winter collection and hopes to win hearts again. The brand has been growing significantly with a growth rate of 25 per cent year-on-year and aims to continue with that in the next fiscal too.

The Autumn/Winter 2016 collection is about flowy silhouettes where pastel solids blend easily with pinstripes and floral prints. Palazzos and maxi outfits reign supreme in all spheres. Usually, cotton is a front-runner among fabrics but this time rayon and rayon blends have surpassed cotton. Along with that, viscose and viscose blends have also been used. Also, there will be more variety in maxi-outfits, better finishes in denims and newer trends in leg wear.

More choice make people buy more

Unlike in the past, today there is a wide variety in winter wear. Most brands have added winter wear as a separate category within their portfolios. Also, there is a lot of awareness about different types of winter wear and people are keen to try out latest winter fashion that is there internationally. As such, the market has grown manifold. Fashion conscious consumers prefer changing their entire winter wardrobe more frequently that they did even five years ago.

Women’s winter wear grows

Women’s winter wear has been on a growth trajectory. The size of women’s winter wear is worth Rs 3,290 crores in India and is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent to reach Rs 8,080 crores by 2024. The major products in this segment are cardigans, sweaters, jackets, sweater tops, sweater-cum-kurtis, pullovers, sweatshirts, tracksuits, stoles and shawls, caps, mufflers. The overall winter wear market was pegged at Rs 15,670 crores in 2014. It is expected to grow at CAGR 8 per cent to reach Rs 33,590 crores by 2024.

Says Bipan Jain, CMD, “In India, both light and heavy stuff are equally in demand. A lot is, of course, dependent on climate. When the cold is severe, heavy fabric items are more in demand and the places where winter is moderate, products made of light fabrics are preferred. The young people look for smart fits but we are favoured by the people in the age group of 30 plus also.”

For brands like Madame, small duration of winter season is a major concern because the time period for EOSS is not receding accordingly. However, customers benefit but not retailers and manufacturers. Madame is available through MBOs, EBOs, LFS and online.