Fibre2Fashion Magazine June 2018 June 2018 | Page 50

Fashionably
intimate
The Indian domestic intimatewear market is sizeable, and its potential is reckoned to
be enormous. The prospects of exports too are substantial—a Fibre2Fashion report
anchored by Subir Ghosh, with base inputs from Sanjay Arora, Anubha Sehgal
and Barnaa Dekaa
hose were once perceived as only functional elementary necessities that no one needed to talk
about or give second thoughts to. But today, they are used to assert style statements.
That’s how much the sheer concept of intimatewear itself has changed. These days, the term
‘intimatewear’ connotes one of those handful of product ranges that are both a necessity and
luxury. The once-traditional intimatewear market that was underlined by abysmal production quality
and desultory promotions is now seeing experimentation of untold scale in terms of product design,
style, colours, fabrics and what-have-you. The insipid, anaemic market of yesterday is now bustling
with life. Some indicators: ad spends by intimatewear brands have grown exponentially; there are
fashion weeks dedicated specifically to intimatewear, and the intimatewear market is expanding at
a stunning rate.
Innumerable international brands have hurtled into the segment, rightly fathoming its immense
potential in the Indian scenario. Intimatewear is now a talking point; intimatewear is something
that an Indian cannot do without. The market needs to talk about it too—it can’t be all hush-hush
anymore.
50  | FIBRE 2 FASHION JUNE 2018