Van Heusen to launch 10-15 style studios in next 10-12 months

Van Heusen plans to roll out 10-15 style studios in the next 10-12 months. It recently launched the first-of-its-kind digital style studio in Bangalore. The ultra-modern store, offers an immersive experience which has been made possible through cutting edge technology. At the store shoppers are given personalised style recommendations, and provided with consultants, in-house stylists and style recommendation apps. It’s a holistic experience for the discerning customer.

The plan to scale the style studios is a profitable business to a certain extent but more than that it helps to build the brand image. At present Van Heusen, which a apparel brand from Aditya Birla Nuvo (ABNL) stable, is working on developing an app with a recommendation engine that can go on cloud. The company hopes to do a lot of innovation at this store, which Vinay Bhoptkar, COO, Van Heusen, says is a ‘true omnistore’.

Very few international brands such as Burberry stores have a similar experience stores but then they don’t have the same integrated features in just one store like style studios. So, for Van Heusen it’s a big challenge to make these stores work. It will take at least a minimum of three months to figure out whether the store is working, what needs to be added and so on. Once these issues are fixed, it would take about 10-15 months to roll out the new stores in key metros. Also, another challenge that the company will face is keeping its content updated. In fashion world, season changes every six months and over 1000 new designs get launched every time. So it’s important to keep these digital stores updated.

Van Heusen contributes about 24 per cent to Madhura’s business. It has about 280 exclusive stores and their defining position is ‘fashion for professionals’.