Tommy Hilfiger: Keeping its ‘International Feel’ in India

Tommy Hilfiger Apparels India, the first super premium international brand to arrive in India, is now expanding its product portfolio with the introduction of bags and shoes. In addition to its apparel range they are introducing two more products to make a strong lifestyle statement.

Manish Saksena, COO, Tommy Hilfiger Apparels India says, “Both make strong lifestyle statements and bring in the required pep to the brand in terms of style and fashion. They complete the look.”

This year, they have followed a concept theme for Hilfiger’s denim ’10 collection. It draws inspiration from the 1960’s, a decade of social changes and progressive views of the next generation, which created an optimism never seen before in the US. “There is a great deal of color which is inherent to Tommy. However chinos and khakis too make a strong statement. In terms of styling, the America of the ’60s is a great inspiration, with its slim silhouettes, dresses and blouses”, adds Saksena.

Tommy Hilfiger Apparels India came to the country five years ago and with its American heritage and appeal it connected very well with customers in the super premium segment. The product range is varied across menswear and women’s wear categories of top wear and bottom wear. The line is further divided into sportswear and denim. While sportswear caters to the urban, peppy, matured customer the denim line with its street and sexy edgy styling is more targeted at teens and youngsters who are in their early 20s. Some key categories include men’s shirts, women and men’s knits, denims, pants and dresses. As for retailing Saksena says, “There are various retail formats that are emerging. Apart from the main route of exclusive brand stores there are shop-in-shops with experts in retailing that are in the offing.

The company has no manufacturing capacities in India as they truly believe that being an international brand, their customers in India should experience and get the same feel as he would by picking up a Tommy Hilfiger product anywhere in the world. “The product is an integral part and it needs to be the same everywhere. We are therefore only operating as an import model. We distribute all through a single warehouse and we have no distributors in the chain. We are at 50 doors currently across 13 cities. While a large part of this distribution is in the metros, we are also making a foray into the Tier II cities that is proving exciting and promising,” concludes Saksena.