DYFI(R) to unveil a women’s line by autumn/winter ’12

Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn’s young, trendy and fashionable brand DYFI® is on an expansion mode. Commenting on their retail strategy, Shakti Sinha, Business Head, Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn (DYFI®) says, “We hope to grow by 250 per cent by March 2013.

While many international brands are coming to India and those that are already here, are looking beyond metros for getting into Tier II and Tier III towns is equally important. That’s where the bulk is. With DYFI®, we target the youth between 18 to 35 years belonging to Sec A, Sec B plus and Sec C segments.”

What works for DYFI® is that it is from Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn (SLCL) which belongs to the Rs 1,800 crores Shri Lakshmi Group. As Sinha explains “We have vertically integrated state of the art technical fabric and garment manufacturing plants and there is no dearth of raw materials or ideas. While, this season we start off with men’s wear, by autumn/winter 2012, we will unveil a trendy women’s casual line.” As of now, the men’s range includes casual and semi-casual shirts, T-shirts, denim and belts. Also on the anvil are more categories like bags, footwear soon. SLCL can produce 20 million meters of denim fabric, 24 million meters of shirting and suiting per annum. The garment factory has a capacity of 6.6 million pieces per annum.

Currently, DYFI®is working at increasing its brand presence. As Sinha elaborates, “We are building our channel partners and business associates to serve our customers better. We will be scaling up DYFI®'s communication. Right now, it’s limited to a select print and outdoor media. Region specific branding will happen in a faster and more effective manner. A lot of below the line activities to promote the brand are also being planned.”

SLCL exports women’s wear to major brands worldwide. Therefore, launching a women’s line is a natural extension for DYFI®. But Sinha says they will take a judicious call before entering the domestic women’s wear market. “In women’s wear, we are looking at three fits: skinny, slim and plum. Since we are targeting Tier II cities the pricing will be very competitive. Denim prices will range between Rs 1,299 to Rs 1,799 for men and women. But the entry point will be Rs 999 for basic and core products.”

Currently DYFI® has 12 EBOs. They are at Metropolitan Mall, Gurgaon, V3S Mall, Ansal Plaza and also at Hubli, Gulburga, Kurukshetra and Shimoga. By the end of 2012-13, it will cross the 45 store mark. On an average they plan to launch three stores a month. “We have franchisee tie-ups and are going through the distribution channel since distributors also have franchisee stores.” The brand is also available in more than 300 MBOs across India and is targeting 1,000 MBOs in 2012-13 apart from consolidating its network of business partners. “As of now, the north is our strongest market followed by the south,” he sums up.