Uniqlo looks for JV with Madura

Japanese brand Uniqlo wants to enter the Indian market through a joint venture with

Madura Fashion & Lifestyle. The casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer is a fashion forward giant famous for T-shirts, socks and jeans. It’s known for its interactive campaigns. Uniqo’s parent Fast Retailing is Asia’s largest clothing chain. The company aims to enter the Indian market in order to drive sales. The buzz is that Uniqlo is also exploring possibility of an alliance with DLF Retail. It expects its international business in 2011 to increase to 12 per cent from 8.9 per cent. Making Uniqlo’s 3,990 yen jeans available in India, where the government predicts economic growth of 8.6 per cent this year, may help Fast Retailing stem its slowest sales growth in more than seven years. Uniqlo typically enters international markets either on its own or through a joint venture. It does not use the franchise route

Madura is a branded apparel firm owning brands such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England. Madura is in the midst of rejigging its international brands business, which revolves around Esprit currently. This Aditya Birla firm has had a conservative approach to partnerships with global brands, and dropped joint venture plans with Giorgio Armani in the past. The market meltdown and a slumping economy affected the creation of Armani luxury malls and shopping centers.