Hard Currency to expand shirt portfolio

Hard Currency, the men’s denim brand from Aru Enterprises is planning business growth through an increased pan-India presence. Director duo Unita and Paresh Chandan explain their strategy, “Small cities in the south give us our major business.

In the next six months we are planning to venture into Tamil Nadu. We also have a distributor in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Kolkata and are looking at exploring Mumbai before entering Punjab.”

The brand started off only with denim but has now expanded into casual shirts and trousers. They make both fashion and basic denims in 80:20 ratio. Every month they introduce about 25 new styles. Now they are looking at expanding their shirt portfolio. “Right now these are just 20 per cent of the denim range but we want to double our shirt output in a year,” they say. With a turnover of about Rs 12 crores, it now wants to target 50 per cent growth within a year by introducing new categories. The brand’s basic denims are priced between Rs 900 to Rs 1,000, whereas fashion denims are between Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,600. At the moment, Hard Currency is available through 500 MBOs and in the next six months they plan to add 400 more.

The company’s denim range fall under the smart fit category which is: a tapered fit, low waist with vintage washes. Talking about denim fashion, Paresh Chandan opines, “I don’t see flared or boot-cut denims becoming popular in India. Between mid and low rise is what’s working in Indian men’s denim segment. Faded jeans, sand washed, acid washed, enzyme washed jeans are still in. Wrinkled effect jeans were in three years back but have reduced now. They are replaced by vintage, damages having a subtle distressed look.”

With a lot of IT companies moving to casual dressing, denim got a big boost in India. They feel in the last few years, not only have customers moved from formals to denim, they have also started understanding denim fashion. There is a large sector that understands why some denims cost so much. “Men are brand conscious because they don’t go shopping as often as women do. So it’s difficult to create a new brand in men’s minds. That’s the challenge. Rising prices is the second thing. International brands that have come to India have opened up bigger avenues. They introduce new styles. Those who can’t afford international brands open up opportunities for mid-segment brands,” Unita says.

Hard Currency is a mid segment brand. “In the higher segments, there may be some vacuum but in the lower segments there is very tough competition mainly due to the presence of unbranded players. Consumers in different states have different tastes and preferences. It may be difficult to cater to all. As for our brand, we do something unique and don’t do forward booking. We have about 60 items in ready stock and launch a new product almost every day,” they conclude.