Scullers’ upcoming collection inspired from Cuba

The upcoming collection from Scullers will see a vibrant colours across sub brands for men, women and kids, true to the spirit of Cuba. In essence, Cuba is the inspiration this season. “Our mainstay of the brand, chinos, is also inspired by Cuban theme with chinos in the form of Cigar. A lot of improvement has gone into washes of chinos, making it more desirable along with a lot of detailing of inner trims making it look premium,” says Sangeet Kishore, Senior Brand Manager, Scullers. The company’s T-shirt line has been revamped with focus on detailing on the sleeves and collars, giving it a premium look. Lots of new silhouettes have been introduced in the women’s range to make it look more contemporary and premium. Kids range has been revamped ensuring the silhouettes/colours/detailing, etc, is true to the focus age group of tween.

Market dynamics

Styles in India for almost all the brands are influenced by styles abroad and the company is no exception. Detailing on a shirt is important to make it look more premium and give value for money proposition to the consumer, explains Kishore. “We are working on the same and in a season or two, we will have that as DNA of the brand.” Differentiated prints along with various kinds of solid looking shirts are the most desired ones these days as far as trends are concerned.

As for colours, various shades of blue with prints (subtle) and checks are the most preferred choices. Costumer is looking for value for money in a garment, hence, the product/pricing equation has to be right. “We have done a course correction in products to ensure this,” informs Kishore. When asked about collar style, he says a normal regular collar shirt is the most sold in formal as well as a casual. One of the growing categories is pure linen and cotton linen. This category becomes desirable in Spring/Summer, given the colour and vibrancy.

Consumer’s clearly differentiate between a semi-formal, casual and occasion wear shirt. Though the differentiator between a semi formal and casual shirt is narrow but there is good differentiation for an occasion-led shirt. It has to be with high detailing, costly trims and a subtle sheen in fabrics. For the company, around 70-80 per cent shirts line is solid looking shirts and differentiated prints. Checks contributes around 20-30 per cent with just a few stripe shirts.

On current market dynamics he elaborates, “Market is sluggish and the brand which has got the product/pricing equation right with extraordinary offering will sail through.” Scullers has done course correction before the start of season and with things in place, the company looks to 15-20 per cent growth this season.

The company retails through 100 EBOs, 35 Centrals, 30 RIL and key MBOs in Kerala. It generates around 25 per cent business from EBOs and around 30 per cent from large format stores, 7 per cent is from MBOs. As far as online is concerned, they are present on Amazon, Myntra, Flipkart and Jabong.

Expansion plans

As of now, the company is consolidating and strengthening its current product offerings. It is also strengthening efficiencies in EBOs with plans of expansions in the East.