DYFI to launch women’s line next fiscal

DYFI Jeanswear, a brand from Shri Laksmi Cotsyn that was test marketed in Autumn/Winter 2010, has already spread its network and is now available in about 200 MBO’s across India. DYFI kicked off its retail journey from April 2011

by opening its first exclusive store in Delhi. And within a short span, it has launched six more EBOs in North India.

Talking about their aggressive strategy to take the newly launched denim brand to the next level, Sharad Agrawal, Business Head at Shri Lakshmi Group says, “Over a very short span, we have managed to make our presence felt with the DYFI denim brand. It has achieved a turnover of Rs 10 crores. The company has planned reasonable investments in terms of marketing and creating brand awareness in coming seasons.” The aim is to get 50 per cent of business through retail stores and launch ads and brand awareness campaigns which will be rotated in and around DYFI retail stores to generate higher footfalls. They also plan to launch a women’s line by next financial year.

Shri Lakshmi Group started its journey with manufacturing of shirting and suiting and gradually broadened its product basket to include an entire gamut of textile and defense products. In Just 16 years, the group has achieved sales turnover of $ 300 million. Its well-known arm Shri Laksmi Cotsyn that launched the DYFI brand has commissioned state-of-the-art garment factory at Roorkee with an installed capacity of 6.6 million pieces per annum.

DYFI’s product portfolio for men consists of jeans, casual shirts, tees, shorts, pants, cargos, pullovers, jackets and accessories like belts, caps in the price range of Rs 399 to Rs 1,799. It’s targeted at the youth aged 16-30 years. Talking about the current denim market, Agrawal opines that the scenario has changed in India in the last 10 years. Now Jeans are purchased by all income and age groups. “Consumers’ mindset has changed and denims are being worn for every occasion -- be it work, leisure or festival. I also foresee a lot of challenge in premium segment where many brands are offering jeans above Rs 2,000 and then there is immense potential in mid segment where the market is captured mostly by the unbranded segment,” he adds.

Agrawal further asserts that FDI will bring more competition with more brands entering the domestic market. “Initially, competition will be higher in metros and bigger towns in mid/economy segment. We need to see what efforts international brands put to capture the market,” he opines.

According to experts the branded denim segment is growing at 15 to 20 per cent and accounts for more than Rs 2,500 crores. Men’s denims market has 70 per cent market share. Talking about how brands can take advantage of the opportunities thrown open by the growing demand for denim, Agrawal opines, “Jeans sell when brands are able to create a brand identity and recall. There is huge cost involved and it’s very difficult to operate in mid segment if proper brand awareness exercise is not undertaken. At one point, it’s a great challenge to develop a brand in the mid segment but if we see there are very few brands in Indian market targeting the mid segment.”

In his view growth is assured in this segment but each and every new entrant is targeting this segment. Therefore, it will be challenging to sustain profitably in men’s wear but women and kids segment will have higher potential in the coming years.