Mauritian brand IV Play plans India entry

Mauritius apparel brand IV Play will soon be launched in

the country. IV Play is a fashion brand for men, women and children launched in 1994 by Mario Guillot, a French designer. He fell in love with Mauritius and made it his home. It is a fast-selling brand with five stores in Mauritius where it is placed with the likes of Calvin Klein and Diesel.

Chennai-based entrepreneur Vijay Jhaver has bagged the licensing rights to manufacture and distribute the brand in India. The collection offers quirky, bold fashion like jeans in colours such as red and orange. Even the trims and buttons being used are unusual.

Jhaver is in talks with a couple of departmental stores to launch the brand in July with men’s and women’s wear in Chennai first, followed by Bangalore, Chandigarh and Ludhiana. IV Play hopes to compete with brands such as US Polo, Benetton, Jack and Jones and Levi’s. T-shirts will be priced at Rs 700-1,200, jeans at Rs 2,800-4,000 and shirts at Rs 1,400-2,200. Jhaver has also tied up with vendors in Tirupur, Chennai and Bangalore to source the clothes. His company, Mess Age, is also supplying products to the Mauritian stores.

The company opened a store in Mumbai last week and plans to open in Hyderabad and Chandigarh too. About 3,000 customers thronged the store on the first day. That is a big draw for a niche segment currently valued at Rs 2,500 crores but estimated to grow to 6 billion dollars (Rs 32, 562 crores) by 2025 in India.