COVER STORY
comparatively lower base of market size and increasing acceptance of casual clothing among women .
The current size of the T-shirts market in India is estimated to be US $ 3.38 billion , which is expected to touch US $ 9.03 billion by 2027 . T-shirts is widely accepted among a wide range of customers for its soft knit fabric , fitting and versatility , making it a comfortable and dynamic category under knitwear .
The T-shirts market of India comprises of Polo T-shirts , Knit T-shirts , Henley T-shirts , Knit Tops , etc .
Winterwear – Jackets and Sweaters : Men ’ s category accounts for 50 %
Initially a necessity-based market , rising lifestyle habits is giving a boost to winterwear , which in 2016 stood at US $ 2.45 billion and is expected to touch a whopping US $ 4.23 billion by 2026 , growing at Compound Annual Growth Rate ( CAGR ) of 6 per cent . Categorised into men ’ s , women ’ s , boys ’ and girls ’ sections , men ’ s category accounts for almost 50 per cent of the total market , followed by women ’ s ( 21 per cent ), boys ’ ( 15 per cent ) and girls ’ ( 14 per cent ).
The major products in men ’ s category – which stood at US $ 1.20 billion in 2016 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5 per cent to reach a market size of US $ 1.98 billion , consists of jackets , sweaters , pullovers , cardigans , sweat shirts , mufflers , thermals , blazers and suits , while main products in the women ’ s category – which stood at US $ 527 million and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5 per cent to reach market size of US $ 858 million by 2026 – are sweaters , cardigans , pullovers , stoles & shawls , thermal innerwear , track suits , tunics , etc ., which are
more fashionable and come with a wider range of designs , feels and embellishments .
Compared to men ’ s and women ’ s , the kidswear segment in India is gaining traction in the overall apparel market with numerous national and international brands actively catering it to cash in the opportunities and thereby making it grow even more rapidly .
The potential segments that could be future growth drivers
Even though T-shirts is still the forerunner in knitwear market ( accounting for 34 per cent market share ), innerwear is fast catching up with current market share of 28 per cent while other product categories such as winterwear , knitted bottomwear for kids , sleepwear , etc ., are also coming up strongly .
Innerwear goes fashionable and premium
Categorised into men ’ s and women ’ s , innerwear is a key segment in the Indian knitwear market that is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10 per cent in the next 10 years .
Women ’ s innerwear category is currently leading accounting for 66 per cent of the total innerwear market and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 12 per cent while men ’ s innerwear makes up for the remaining 34 per cent and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7 per cent .
The current market size of the innerwear market is worth US $ 4.07 billion , which is estimated to touch US $ 10.82 billion by 2027 . In this time period , the women ’ s segment , which currently stands at US $ 2.70 billion , is expected to touch US $ 8.35 billion while the men ’ s segment ( currently US $ 1.38 billion ) is
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Major products imported to India from Bangladesh
Product category
Qty ( in mn pcs )
Jan . -Dec . 2017
Value ( in US mn $)
Unit Value ( in US $)
Woven Trousers 17.98 75.98 4.23 Woven Shirts 5.72 32.07 5.61 Knit T-Shirts 24.07 24.50 1.02
Woven Jackets & Blazers
1.25 20.21 16.11
Knit Sweaters 3.29 16.35 4.97 Woven Shorts 8.68 12.05 1.39
* Knit / Woven Underwear
2.73 7.43 2.73
* Knit Pyjamas 0.44 1.66 3.76 * Knit Leggings 0.51 1.99 3.86
Data Source : www . apparelresources . com / business-news / data /
* Some export offerings from Bangladesh , which may not be in the same league as the top 6 currently , hold a lot of future potential :
Underwear : A strongly emerging product , Bangladesh has already exported innerwear worth US $ 7.43 million to India ( in the specified time period ) with enough signs of making deeper inroads in the coming days .
Leggings : A favourite amongst the women in India , Bangladesh ’ s exports to India in this segment has already touched the US $ 1.99 million mark , which is expected to increase further as an increasing number of economicallyindependent , working ladies are expected to splurge on this bottomwear .
Knit Pyjamas : Last but not the least , riding high on good unit prices , knit pyjamas are strongly emerging as a very promising product category from Bangladesh after registering US $ 1.66 million in export between January-December 2017 .
16 Apparel Online Bangladesh | September 2018 | www . apparelresources . com