Top designers eye smaller towns

With the western markets still not fully recovered from the economic slowdown, top Indian designers

are now looking to newer markets in Asia and Tier II cities within India to expand their business. Small towns are fast replacing Paris and New York as the hotspot for Indian fashion designers. Designers like Anamika Khanna, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Rajesh Pratap Singh, have started looking to non metros with cheaper offerings. Newer markets in Latin America and Asia are also in their radar. Rajesh Pratap Singh says he is started exploring markets in Latin America after a lot of orders were cancelled in the last two seasons.
In fact, many designers have even opted out of international fashion weeks and diverted their funds towards what they see as emerging markets outside the big five cities. Sabyasachi Mukherjee for example is holding shows in cities such as Chandigarh and Nagpur and has launched an ethno-pret (ready-to-wear) in a lower price band of Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000. The strategy helped his business expand 65 per cent this year to Rs 22 crore.  According to him, since the middle class is becoming more affluent, it would be foolish not to capitalize on this growing market. Next year, he plans to launch a sub-brand in a lower price category that will exponentially increase his customer base.
One reason behind the domestic designers’ sudden penchant for cheaper offerings is the fear of foreign brands. Many have even brought down their prices as well. For example, Three Clothing Company, which owns Manish Arora’s label, brought down the prices of western wear to between Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000. Earlier they were priced above Rs 20,000.