Kidology: Raising the glamour quotient for children

Kidology’s road to success has just got smoother. The brand has partnered with a big US chain store which focuses on recreation centers for children with a play area, an apparel section and other sections dedicated to kids’ activities.

The first such center will open in Mumbai and then elsewhere in India. Meanwhile Kidology opened its first store in Mumbai in May 2011 and the response has been exceptional. Neha Sachar Mittal, Joint Managing Director, Kidology Design India LLP, says, “These are considered to be typically slow months in the Mumbai retail circuit but the combination of our new product offering and some helpful word-of-mouth publicity from our loyal customers in both Delhi and Mumbai has generated encouraging sales. It is also our first franchise store. We have also had a few Bollywood celebs at our Mumbai store shopping for their kids.”

The brand now wants to open a second store in Delhi. “We are looking for a location. We have taken off in a big way in Hyderabad, through Anahita, a multi-designer store that opened in February 2011,” says Mittal. Besides Kidology will be participating in trunk shows both domestically and internationally in the second half of this year. “This may lead to a couple of more stores in the first quarter of 2012,” she adds.

That’s not all. The brand’s e-commerce website is almost ready and will be launched within six months. Mittal believes that this will help generate sales not only in India but also internationally. Lately it has also started with maternity wear, which Mittal believes is a largely ignored segment. The brand has also partnered with Little Vadhera for a furnishing range for kids.

Kidology houses apparel by designers like Gauri & Nainika, Malini Ramani, Gaurav Gupta, Namrata Joshipura, Ritu Kumar and an in-house range by Maya Nocon. “We also have accessories like headbands, bags, jewelry, shoes and furniture by Little Vadhera designed exclusively for Kidology,” informs Mittal. They plan to venture into soft furnishing as well. The winter collection draws influences from the Brit-chic look, the movie Black Swan and everything vintage. The fabrics used are wool, silk, velvet, corduroy, plaid, sequins, silks and vintage lace. The color palette is a mix of quintessential winter shades like black, grey, navy and brown along with deeper shades of color like purple, red, pink and teal. “Our winter collection this year is like a history lesson with styles being inspired from various eras of the past. This is from the in-house collection by Maya Nocon,” says Mittal.

With a presence in two metros, the one-year-old brand aims to have at least six exclusive Kidology stores by the end of 2012. “We are also exploring a couple of other retail concepts which we have seen working internationally. Since our product offering is new, we believe the whole country is an untapped market for us. Cities like Delhi and Mumbai alone can afford at least 2-3 Kidology stores each. We will enter into selective partnerships with other retailers within India and internationally to showcase our collection.”