Basil Leaf eyeing a bigger pie of women’s wear biz

Their aim is to enter the women’s wear segment in a big way and brand Basil Leaf from X&O Clothing has drawn out plans to foray in this space. Also on cards is retail expansion in a big way. Elaborating on their plans, Samir Dedhia, Director, X&O

Clothing says, “Basil Leaf is a 10-year-old brand and we introduced Tulsi label to convey purity and essence of Indian ethnic wear for girls between 2 to 14 years of age. We started making collections for corporate and began with Pantaloons with Basil Leaf and then added Lifestyle and Shoppers Stop followed by MBOs. In the next two to three years, we are looking at a 20 to 25 percent turnover growth. We are working towards being the leading brand in this category.”

The brand is now being retailed through 600 MBOs across India. “We have pulled out of large formats but are thinking of going back to them next year. We want to focus more on the East as of now,” says Dedhia, adding, “E-retailing is picking up fast. There are a lot of sites which are approaching us and there are a lot of places we are present in. On Facebook we have got 30,000 likes. There is a great potential but because our styles are copied extensively, we are hesitant about aggressively entering the etailing space.”

The brand offers lehenga-cholis, gowns, kurtis, salwar suits in the price range Rs 3,000 to Rs 8,000. “We have tunics for women and began with pure European linen tunics, now we have added more prints, fabrics, and fashion to these. Initially, our tunics were for women in the 38 to 50 age-group. Now we cater to a younger segment as well. We may have women’s ethnics like lehenga-cholis but they are different from what we offer in the girls’ category,” states Dedhia giving an insight on their product portfolio.

The brand takes inspirations and ideas from fashion forecasts, movies, serials and international brands. “There is a tendency for women’s fashion to creep into girls’ fashion. Girls want the same look,” he opines. The fabrics used for the various collections range from polyester-based fabrics to chiffons, georgettes, satin, silk to brocades in neon colors like yellow, pink and coral, mint which are currently in vogue.
Talking about the price points and excise roll-back, Dedhia said, “Our price points have gone up. Input costs and labor costs have increased but I expect prices to come down by 6 or 7 percent because of removal of excise from readymade garments in this budget. We will reduce prices by 6 or 7 percent and pass on the benefit to customers.”