Neva to launch lingerie and winter active wear

Neva, the pioneers of thermals in India are now planning to expand into lingerie range and the entire active wear range for both men and women. And in thermals, they intend to promote ozone quilts for premium customers and also foresee entering into woolen thermals this year.

Vishal Jain, Executive Director & CEO, Neva Garments says, “We are looking to launching the winter active wear range. We also want to enter the woolen thermals market because we feel it is still untapped. We are also developing pre-winter vests. We also intend to launch more color in thermals and launch winter accessories like caps, mufflers, gloves.”

At present Neva is sold through 3,500 retail points and it seeks to increase the number of stores to 4,000 by 2010-11. They also plan to expand to 70 per cent of A+, A, B+ and B cities pan India. That’s not all the brand plans to start e-retailing soon. “E-retailing is the next marketplace and today many people are converting into e-purchasers. We are working on various models of e-retailing and trying to develop it. By 2011, we intend to launch ourselves in this space. This shall also help us promote sales globally,” says Jain.

In terms of innovation and technology Neva thoroughly researches everything they launch. “Neva is another name for innovation. We introduced CPS technology in our thermals, which provides a polyfill sandwiched between two cotton layers leading to heat retention. Special knits and yarns are being researched to provide durable and comfortable fabrics. We not only focus on technical and functional aspects but also fashion aspects keeping in mind the best and the latest trends,” explains Jain.  

Talking of the latest trends this spring/summer, Neva has focused more on their active wear range primarily track pants and value packs as this segment holds a lot of potential and is in sync with the Indian customer. Jain adds, “We are not focusing on formal wear or party wear or the latest fashion clothing. We want to provide a healthy lifestyle. We provide products for after 9 pm dressing, something that consumers wake up in, relax in, sleep in, and spend the weekend in. We target value /combo packs which give value for money for a good product feel.”

Neva as a brand has been growing not only in thermals but in summer wear as well. Thermals grew by 20 per cent this year closing sales at Rs 30 crores. The active wear range both for women and men grew at 35 per cent with a turnover of Rs 12 crores. The overall turnover was Rs 75 crores and the company aims to attain Rs 100 crores this year.