b:kind: Fostering western wear among Indian women

Stylish, trendy and affordable fashion— that is the mantra behind entrepreneur Vidhi Shah’s debut design range of women’s wear called b:kind. The brand has been introduced through M-square Clothing. It dares to be different, with a keen

eye for fashion trends and quality. Its aim is to bring to the table a range of women’s wear that is definitive in style while being affordable. Shah feels b:kind is in a challenging positioning because it’s difficult to run a women’s western wear brand in India especially in Tier II, III cities. “India is not easy to work with. We face challenges everyday with our products. But I wanted to start a western wear brand with a local flavor because of the lack of options in the segment. Our aim is to have a presence in every store across India that caters to western wear for women since we deal in wholesale distribution.”

Nearly 30 per cent of the range still comprises of tunics because as Shah mentions, people in India are still not open to a complete western look. “We have priced the range between Rs 599-1,699 in the western top wear category. This gives us a competitive edge.” From printed tops to graphic T-shirts to tunics, shorts and trousers b: kind is for the woman with a defined sense of style. b:kind’s endeavor is to provide practical everyday clothing with a keen eye on fashion. Shah says, “We want to be a brand that becomes synonymous with chic and trendy high-street fashion clothing, while providing our customers with up-to-date trends.”

It offers four new collections in a year: summer, mid-Summer, winter and mid -winter. Besides tops, shirts, shirt dresses, blouses in printed knits, wovens, and solid fabrics, it also has cardigans and pre-winter products in flat knits and jackets. Shah says even though she personally prefers the fast fashion model, the loss of quality is seen in garments due to pressure on vendors at the factory level. Hence, b:kind prefers producing quality garments as opposed to fast fashion which will eventually have its shelf life. “Since this is our first year, we aspire to provide the customer with fashion that is stylish and economical and at the same time build a brand value and brand recall in the consumers’ mind.”

With a target of Rs 8 crore turnover by 2012-13, the business model for b: kind is developing wholesale and retail network throughout India. Apart from exporting to the Middle East, it’s available in over 200 stores in India. Out of this 60 are in Mumbai. Plans are on to have 600 stores by the end of 2012. Currently it does not have EBOs. “We started out with a wholesale network where we supply to MBOs all over India. Our aim is to be available at stores across the country. We do plan our independent stores in the near future once the brand reaches a considerable size,” explains Shah.