Elle, Arvind join hands to enter kids’ wear segment

French couturier Elle and Arvind Lifestyle Brand will shortly be

entering into a licensing agreement to introduce a kids-wear range in India. The move comes a month after the two signed an agreement to retail women’s ‘fast fashion range’ in India.

“We will be introducing a new collection every 15 days. We are working on getting the replenishment strategy right,” J Suresh, MD and CEO, Arvind Lifestyle Brands said. Elle, a part of Lagardere Active Group, that owns lifestyle magazine Elle, said it is also thinking of introducing other businesses like cafes, spas and drinking water in India. Arvind Lifestyle will be investing around Rs 25 crores to set up the brand. As a part of the alliance, Arvind announced the opening of exclusive Elle boutiques in Delhi, Bangalore and Chandigarh, wherein Elle will offer a wide variety of stylish apparels, shoes and bags which are definitely à la mode and desirable.

“We were looking for the right partner. Elle is about style and fashion and we have found the retail expertise in Arvind Brands. In February, we brought the women’s fashion range and we will now be introducing kidswear in the Indian retail market,” Fabrice A Plaquevent, CEO, Lagardere Active Enterprises said.

Speaking on the group’s foray into India, he said, Arvind Lifestyle Brands will be setting up 20 stores pan-India. Elle will also be retailed through several leading lifestyle brands including Shoppers Stop and Central among others as shop-in-shops. The company will also sell bags, footwear and lingerie separately. Company hopes that India will start contributing to about 15 per cent of Elle’s sales in the next three years.

Currently, global retail sales of Elle products and services (excluding media business) is $800 million and should reach $1 billion in the next three years, he added. Elle’s range will be manufactured in India. The brand is targeted at women in the age bracket of 18-35 years.

Meanwhile, Arvind also markets other international labels such as Arrow, Izod, Gant, US Polo. It also operates value retail chain Megamart that has 225 outlets.