Big Waves for small people

Established in 1992, Waves International has carved a niche for its brand Waves that largely specializes in children’s sweaters. With the current turnover of Rs 6 crores and targeting Rs10 crores by the end of the current fiscal, Waves is determined

to continue establishing its presence as premium children’s wear, especially for the winter wardrobe.

Ajay Marjara, Director, Waves International says despite the industry forecasting shorter winter spans, they continued growing annually between 30 and 40 per cent. According to him children’s sweaters account for 25 per cent of the Indian sweater industry, which is growing annually between 10 and 15 per cent and branded segment is a mere 2 to 3 per cent. Marjara explains, “For the last three or four years, we have seen a tremendous response in the high end market. Earlier, we faced certain constraints in pricing. But now retailers are looking for extraordinary stuff and price is not a consideration for any designer.” He added that, “We give value for money even if we are expensive compared to other brands. Our base materials are different. We use high end acrylic wool blends.” Quietly confident, Waves is splashing pretty as it knows its consumers are after its trendy designs which no competitor from the unbranded sector.

Being largely winter wear, EBOs are not exactly a top priority but plans are on to have two or three EBOs by 2011, in Delhi, Ludhiana and Chandigarh. The pilot project for EBOs is being finalized for a September-October launch next year. These will be a mix of company-owned and franchise models, the ideal space would be between 1,500 to 2,000 sq. ft. MBOs and large formats will continue remaining to play the lead sales channel as Waves is retailed through 225 MBOs and 30 large format stores. Marjara said that he is quite selective when it comes to dealers and is in no rush to up the game with just about anyone as a dealer. His selective foray into Srinagar proves his point as after months of decisions, the Srinagar outlet retailing Waves has yielded superb results. E-retailing is on the cards, but not for children’s apparel. Waves’ apparel can be found in major stores like RituWearS, Standard Max, Globus and Lifestyle.

Commenting on the winter fashion, Marjara says this winter purple is the new black in sweaters and the popular look is the long tunic style in a two piece set which consists of an inner vest and a fashionably designed and embellished outer jacket like ensemble. Special attention has been paid to ensure slim and streamlined silhouettes in keeping with the adult fashion diktats.