Derby Clothing best known for its fashion jeans and urban wear for men with an USP of being sporty, energetic and exclusive, is now planning to launch an IPO by 2014 and revamp manufacturing processes to become a global brand.
With over 17 years in the textile and apparel business and with the young Indian already having a strong brand identification, Derby is focusing on extensive research and development with a professional design team that ensures international styling standards to their product portfolio of jeans, shirts, tees and trousers.
“By 2015, Derby should be a powerhouse in terms of knowledge base. Indian brands have always been dependent on western influence and the entire knowledge coming from there and that’s why they have not been successful in crossing the borders of the country. I am aiming for a manufacturing facility having 1,000 machines and employing 10,000 people. The land has been procured in Chennai. We want to put up not only a manufacturing facility but a knowledge base, which will have the entire design team that’s going to do forecasting and the entire merchandising. The factory will also manufacture not only for Derby but for the best of brands globally,” says Vijay Kapoor, Founder and MD, Derby Clothing. He says Derby is going to be split into two verticals. One is a brand and the other a manufacturing powerhouse or knowledge base. It will manufacture not only for Derby because the capacity will be far higher than what they need but will also become a powerhouse knowledge base for many other brands in the world.
The Derby Jeans Community is a fast fashion brand which studies global trends and creates new styles while keeping in mind the Indian climate and conditions. It has a professional in-house design studio to study global fashion trends. The company does not believe in the concept of autumn/winter, spring/summer rather, it follows fast fashion where every 60 days there is a new collection from ramp to street, which is put on the shelves as fast as possible.
Derby Clothing currently operates through more than 30 EBOs. It also has a strong presence in select MBOs. The company’s flagship stores in Mumbai and Delhi will be operational in the first quarter of the year 2011-12. It has also signed up franchisee stores across major cities, which will be launched in systematic way. Product displays at Large Format Stores too should happen around the same time.
Moreover, Derby will be introducing women’s wear and kid’s wear as a natural extension over time as part of its journey to become a truly global fashion wear brand. With products such as shoes, sunglasses and perfumes becoming more of necessities rather than fashion statements, Derby has plans to make accessories an integral part of every range depending upon the season and region. It has already introduced a premium range of belts and bags and will be making shoes and other related products to ensure a complete collection.
