109°F, the international fashion wear brand from Creative Lifestyles, unveiled a brilliant collection for the ongoing monsoon season. The spunky, stylish collection has shorts, skirts and capris that are both fashionable and mood shifters for the wet season.
The brand is aimed at women between 20 to 35 years, who are self-assured, confident, fashionable, and yet sensitive to Indian traditions, and who belong to the upwardly mobile upper middle class and. Its products consist of women’s western wear -- tops, T-shirts, tunics, skirts, jeans, trousers, jackets etc. With autumn/winter round the corner it is all set to introduce new colors, fabrics and cuts designed to suit the colder conditions of the season. Being relatively new to the winter wear category 109°F is continuing to introduce fashionable winter wear for Indian consumers, giving them a new experience of trendy yet comfortable clothes. Rahul Mehta, Managing Director, Creative Lifestyles says they are targeting 60 per cent growth over the 80 per cent growth that they achieved last year. “We are planning to double our own and franchisee stores, and are expecting some major expansion from our buyers such as Shoppers Stop, Central, etc.”
The brand is present in most large cities and is experiencing a gradual increase in the share of smaller cities. Mehta says, “There is a huge untapped potential emerging in the smaller towns, but for a purely western wear brand such as ours, the challenge is to bring fashion without hurting the social and cultural sensibilities which tend to be different from those of the larger cities. Consumers in small towns do understand fashion, but have more restrictions in their ability to wear it, due to conservative norms. However, this is changing and if the brands do keep their sensibilities in mind, there is a huge potential waiting to be exploited.” In addition to advertising pan India, 109°F does a lot of localized promotion, which helps it in smaller markets. The brand has a small range of products which sells only in the smaller markets and is more sharply priced.
At present 109°F is available through 15 EBOs, 150 shop-in-shops, and about 175 MBOs. It is also present in the Middle East and Nepal under its own brand name. Creative Lifestyles, the makers of 109°F also has a production capacity of 50,000-75,000 pieces per month with major markets in Italy, France and the US. Its list of customers include: Ittierre Spa group (Roberto Cavalli, Just Cavalli, Versace, D&G), Morgan, Miss Sixty, Replay, Hale-Bob, DDP, Ginger Blu among others. Interestingly, within just four years of its launch, 109°F has achieved a premier status in the market and hopes to double turnovers in the next two years.