Mufti’s Goals: To be a global brand with Indian roots

Aspiring to be a globally relevant brand with a complete lifestyle positioning, men’s casual wear brand Mufti from Credo Brands Marketing recently introduced a women’s line in select Exclusive Brand Outlets and Westside. The brand is also

expanding its retail footprint by launching more stores. As Kamal Khushlani, Director, Credo Brands Marketing explains “Mufti has an all India presence with 183 EBOs and 950 MBOs and shop-in-shops at large format stores. We see a market for around 300 EBO’s pan India and intend to fill up this space in the near future.” The brand’s product line includes denim, shirts, T-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets.

Mufti was incepted in 1992 when Khushlani started with making men’s shirts under the brand Mr Mister. Recognizing fashion as the core strength of this fledgling brand, many boutiques deemed this startup label fit for their shelves. Realizing its true potential the brand decided to move into overdrive and in 1998 and Mufti was launched. The aim was to attract the self-assured customer who desires to make a fashion statement reflecting his own distinct persona.

With a projected turnover of Rs 230 crores for the year, Mufti achieved a constant growth over the past few calendar years. Elaborates Khushlani, “Mufti believes in the philosophy that fashion that is just right for the time, does not need to be oversold, just presented. True fashion is never old, dies young and is reincarnated as another young manifestation. Mufti doesn't want just customers, but cult followers: Mufti people. This philosophy is best reflected in the progressive tag-lines associated with the Brand. From ‘Mufti Anything else is a uniform’ to ‘Mufti – Alternative Clothing’, the brand has evolved and adjusted to the changing socio-economic demographics in India.”

Resilient, Khushlani says a balanced strategy has worked in positioning the brand in all verticals including EBOs, MBOs and LFS. “The definition of Tier II and III cities is largely based on population statistics. Our expansion will not just depend on the population, but also the buying strength of the city. We are a mid to upper end brand and believe that we have a market beyond the metros. At the current levels of income, we believe that Mufti’s presence in MBOs is possible in all district headquarters in India and EBOs should be viable in 100 to 150 cities,” he opines.

Its growth plans are strongly linked to the emergence of India as an economic powerhouse. “We believe that the ‘East’ is the new ‘West’ and are well prepared to take our place as a global brand with roots in India,” Khushlani sums up.