Ethnic wear brands on expansion mode

Regional ethnic wear brands are making a mark on India’s

organized retail sector and looking at expansion to more cities. While decades-old women’s wear brands such as Jaipur’s Kilol and Lucknow’s Jashn are betting on franchised exclusive stores to go national, others such as Mumbai’s Isvarah, Bangalore-based Soch and Jole Clothing and Hyderabad’s Neeru’s have tied up with retail chains.

Isvarah, for example, has tied up with K Raheja Group’s Shoppers Stop and Landmark Group’s Lifestyle to retail its lines. Neeru’s, which was retailing in Hyderabad for three decades, explored the shop-in-shop model with Central and Lifestyle since 2004. It has expanded its stand-alone presence to eight stores after venturing into Mumbai and Bangalore recently. Similarly, The Rs 40-crore Soch, which spends Rs 6 lakh a month on advertising, recently tied up with Central. It has six stores in Bangalore and is poised to enter Chennai and Mangalore.

Jashn, which has 28 exclusive stores across the country, is now targeting international expansion. While Hyderabad-based retailer Kalanjali and Chennai-based Nalli Silk’s value-added offerings Lavanya Nalli and Nalli Next are also looking at retail expansion.

In fact, a recent study on average trading density (sales per sq. ft. per month) across organized retail formats have ranked traditional ethnic fashion almost double than the western fashion brands. A study by market research firm Technopak estimates the Indian women’s wear market at Rs 43,500 crore. Ethnic wear accounts for 67 per cent of the Indian woman’s wardrobe and is growing at 8-9 per cent, annually. Perhaps this could explain why most ethnic brands are going all out to expand their retail presence in the country.