One of the first indigenously manufactured Indian denim labels, Numero Uno has an exciting range of high street fashion wear retailing now as the brand’s spring/summer collection. The style trends for this season are: hooded T-shirts,
bright color blocked polo T-shirts and military influence detailing. Unpredictable and experimental bright color combinations and light weight jersey T-shirts are what create the brand’s style statement for this season -- street fashion. The palette is energizing with bright bold colors. Badal Chaudhary, CEO, Numero Uno Clothing, explains, “The fashion aspect in knits makes the garment more complex but at the same time it is a positive indication for more growth in the segment. The demand for fashion is on the rise. Our customers look forward to value for money fashion product with experimental styling.”
According to Chaudhary, the maximum demand even today is for regular flat rib collars in circular knits. The once popular rugby T-shirts with collars is now less in demand compared to flat-rib. The demand for collars with tipping and plaiting is on the rise as are flat-knits with Johnny collars. Chaudhary says that Numero Uno keeps its fingers on the fashion pulse and hence the collections are spot on the trends. However, as per demand, it has a similar mix as other established brands with a larger percentage dedicated to basics. At Numero Uno, basic styles account for 60 per cent of its production.
Talking about the brand’s retail strategy, Chaudhary said that in the point of sale revenue generation mix, EBOs bring in 70 per cent, whilst MBOs and large formats bring in 25 and 5 per cent respectively. Numero Uno only uses Shoppers Stop as its LFS partner and is available at every Shoppers Stop outlet. The total number of EBOs are 140 whilst there 300 MBOs retailing the brand. According to Chaudhury, 30 new outlets will be added in the fiscal ’12. “From April 1, 2007 the company changed its name to Numero Uno Clothing, in line with its growing presence in both national and international markets. The flagship brand Numero Uno has metamorphosed into a dynamic and responsive brand for the youth. Today, it is one of the few power brands that fuses international trends, innovative fabrics, washes, treatments and accessible pricing,” he avers.
Numero Uno started primarily as a manufacturer of jeans for men. Slowly it moved into jeans for women, and eventually designing and manufacturing complete wardrobes for men and women. A knitting plant was set up for the production of shirts and sweaters a few years ago. The company has been introducing trendy and innovative themes every season to cater to changing tastes and lifestyles.