Toyotomi to expand in the Northeast, also have online presence this year

Kids’s wear segment has been growing in double digits over the past years in India. Master Kids Creation’s brand Toyotomi has been part of this growth and now they are aggressively expanding in the Northeastern states. Overseas expansion is also on the cards. But before that, this year the brand would like to have an online presence and more visibility.

Toyotomi has been making party wear for girls and has always focused on a mix of bright and pastel colours. Colour tones, hues and textures are intensively coordinated and perfectly matched. The target audience belongs to both the economy and premium categories while the price range is extremely competitive. This season will see legging and jegging sets, skirt sets, short and long midis and gowns. The prices will continue to be controlled.

Accessories for the look and style

All of Toyotomi’s garments come with matching accessories for the last one and half years. The company gets its accessories custom-made according to the garments and every garment has a different piece of either jewellery or a bag. Girls love the little trinkets and as a result the clothes become attractive to them. It works as a good strategy to sell.

Kids love cartoon characters

Cartoons are a substantial part of any kids’ growth. Cartoons are their first point of entertainment, and as such are extremely popular in kids’ wear. However, not all kids’ wear manufacturers get into cartoons. Bharat K Dedhia, owner, Master Kids Creations, says, “The foremost obstacle in this concept is the permits, agreements and legal formalities that allow the use of these characters in apparels. Sourcing and spending for these permits is a major cause of concern. It is wrong to say that this category is only for big players,” says Dedhia and adds “However, one should not forget that, apparels are the easiest to copy and sell cheap, the same as piracy. I think popularity of cartoon characters is big in India currently than it is in the western markets. This is solely because this concept originated in the West long ago and has been used over the years. On the other hand, this idea has only recently emerged in our local markets. Therefore, what has happened is that the westerners’ have moved on to some other forms of apparels and we have only recently adapted to cartoons in apparels. As such we have a long way to go.”

Toyotomi is present in 700 MBOs on a pan-India level. Every year, 10 to 15 MBOs are added in the company’s network. The focus is now on increasing presence in large format segment and for this the company has already earmarked a roadmap.