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expected to reach approximately US $ 2.68 billion.
Innerwear is now evolving from core functional to being associated with more lifestyle attributes. Varied activities and enhanced lifestyle has led to increased demand for fashionable, functional and premium lingerie, which is expected to witness more innovation and experiment in shapes and materials in coming days.
Athleisure holds key to future: Leggings & Pyjamas lead the segment
Last year, Merriam-Webster updated its dictionary with the newest addition of the fashion term‘ Athleisure’ which means‘ casual clothing designed to be worn both for exercising and for general use’. A definite bend towards healthy lifestyle and fitness has created the need for an apparel that can be worn all day long.
The recent comfort trend has not only captivated the US market, but has also expanded its reach to the Chinese market and Indian market as well. Adding health and wellness routines to their busy schedules, Indian youth knows the complete inand-out of the trend and is wholly in love with it.
According to Euromonitor report, from 2015 to 2016, the Indian sportswear market grew by 22 per cent, outpacing the segment ' s global increase of 7 per cent. By 2020, it is expected to grow an additional 12 per cent CAGR with sales expected to reach US $ 8 billion.
The huge demand of leggings, knitted churidars, pyjama sets, etc., is propelling the growth of bottomwear in athleisure. Increased share of working women with their concern on low maintenance of apparel has made leggings popular in the section. The other categories coming up strongly in knitwear are winterwear, kid’ s bottomwear and sleepwear etc, which are expected to grow at a CAGR of 4 per cent, 9 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.
India: An important retail destination for Bangladesh exporters
The entrepreneurs of Bangladesh are amongst the most dynamic in the world, always ready to take on challenges – looking for ways to increase business with new products, improved working systems and exploring emerging markets. This upfront approach has made them the second largest apparel exporting nation just after China. And now realising that retail in the traditional markets has levelled out with growth just crawling ahead, many exporters in Bangladesh have started looking at the fast-moving retail markets of China and India as the next growth frontier. Of course, there are concerns and challenges, but the direction is set and efforts are on to capitalise on the opportunities.
The Indian market is not new for Bangladesh exporters and in the last decade, many efforts have been made to penetrate the market, but initially the failures outnumbered the successes and unfortunately the Indian retailers too were not fully prepared for the sourcing challenges.
“ The experience of the highly published Lilliput case, wherein the retailer declared bankruptcy and millions of dollars were left pending, has made most exporters in Bangladesh very cautious when approaching India,” says Arshad Jamal, Director, Tusuka Group. Many may recall that during the fallout, it was reported that Lilliput owes US $ 4 million to various vendors from Bangladesh.
“ No one can ignore the potential of the retail market in India. It is a huge market that is still unexplored and with Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities now joining the retail landscape, the size of the market is mind-blowing”
– M. A. Jabbar
However, the fact remains that India is an important emerging market and ignoring its potential would be a tactical mistake by the exporters.“ No one can ignore the potential of the retail market in India. It is a huge market that is still unexplored and with Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities now joining the retail landscape, the size of the market is mind-blowing,” says M. A. Jabbar, MD, DBL Group.
More than the expanding retail landscape, what is really exciting for most is the consumption pattern and the spending power of young India which is propelling retail growth.
The Indian consumer which comprises of the largest Gen Y population of the world with a median age of 27 years, prefers branded apparel over unbranded due to his / her inclination towards better lifestyle and willingness to try out new on-trend fashion. As per a report by Wazir Advisors, the per capita expenditure on apparel is expected to reach Rs. 8,000 by 2025, rising from Rs. 3,100 in 2015, which translates to a total Indian apparel consumption expenditure of Rs. 11.7 lakh crore( US $ 180 billion) by 2025.
“ The young upward mobile India is the audience we are looking for,” says Md. Manabber Ahmed, Director, Anowara Group. His thoughts are also shared by Shin Shin Group that is waiting for an opportunity to enter the market.
Many of the Indian brands and even international brands selling in India are already working with Bangladeshi vendors, and in 2017, the exports to the country jumped a
18 Apparel Online Bangladesh | September 2018 | www. apparelresources. com