Moustache Jeans growing beyond the east

Whilst denim brands battle it out all across India, Moustache Jeans has emerged the victor on the Eastern front. The popularity of this brand is very high in the region and this is validated by the fact that the brand has won two awards recently – Asia

Retail Congress’ Retail Icon of the Year 2010 and in January 2011 the Eastern India Retail Forum declared Moustache as the most admired denim brand in the region.

Moustache has come a long way from being one of the pioneering branded denim products in India with its launch in 1984. Inspired by the rugged denim wearing Texan cowboys, Moustache started out with a distinctly macho image reflected in its rugged denim wear. Today, the Moustache phenomenon is visible across 600 MBOs, 72 EBOs and in large format stores like Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, Pratik Lifestyle, Central and Reliance Trends. The large format stores have played a vital role in creating the Moustache pan Indian brand.

Basically a denim product, Moustache offers jeans for men and women, casual shirts, cotton trousers and T-shirts. Men’s jeans are from Rs 995 to Rs 2,595 and the limited range of women’s jeans, are from Rs 895 to Rs 1,095. Moustache jeans are available in all three waist styles, i.e. regular, high and low and three fits: normal, straight and skinny. It also has a special line called Beyond Skinny, which may be referred to as a super tight pencil fit. Moustache jeans for both genders are designed in New York. “Recently, a new product line called M was introduced to spruce up the women’s jeans range. The Southern California collection, priced between Rs 2,195 and Rs 2,595 has been a success,” says Hari Narayan Shah, Chairman, Moustache International. According to Shah, “Women’s jeans contribute 15 per cent of our category. Nearly 75 per cent is from our basic jeans. Our designer jeans are subtle and contribute about 25 per cent.”

To complement their jeans line, Moustache also has V-neck, polos, round neck and collared T-shirts are priced between Rs 395 and Rs 695. For non denim bottoms, there is a range of pleated as well as flat fronted cotton trousers, priced between Rs 795 and Rs 1,195. “We are thinking of women’s and men’s perfumes as well as belts and casual shoes. Very shortly these will be in the market and they will reflect my brand image. They will carry the Moustache name,” Shah informs.

Talking about the brand’s retail expansion plans Shah says, “By March 2012 we will have a total of 100 EBOs. And we want to be in 50 more large formats since Reliance and Shoppers Stop are expanding, we want to go along with them. We increase our MBOs by 10 per cent a year because the recovery cycle is slow. Another 100 MBOs may come up this year. Exclusive stores give 50 per cent of our sales, MBOs 30 per cent and large formats the rest.” Already present in the east the brand’s target is north, south and a part of western India. “We target A, A plus and B plus cities. Then we will venture into other areas like C plus,” Shah says.

Moustache also has a sister concern called Moustache Exports and another brand, Court, which they export to the US. Court has shirts, trousers and jeans. Moustache is exported to UAE and UK as well under its own brand name. They provide to the Lulu chain of stores.