October 2019 Edition Apparel October 2019 issue | Page 20

MARKET WATCH Jaya Shree Textiles’ fabric brand Linen Club expects to double its revenue to R1,500 crore by 2024. For this, the brand will introduce many new products. The brand’s present revenue base ranges between R700 crore– R800 crore. The Aditya Birla Group company also plans to expand its operations in Tier II and III markets through a cluster-based approach. It currently has a couple of stores in the Middle East and plans to open additional 400 stores in these regions. It will also expand its presence to around 11,000 multi-brand outlets (MBOs) from the present 6,500 MBOs. The company also has long-term plans to introduce Linen Club in Western markets. It aims to open design hubs in the United States (US) and Europe. Linen Club to Double Its Revenue by 2024 Airport Retail Popular among Indian Shoppers Indian airports are witnessing a shopping boom and retailers are leaving no stone unturned to have passengers spend more time and money at their stores. Luxury goods, apparel, footwear, watches, accessories—everything is fair game at the high-flying shelves of airport stores. By 2021, duty-free spend at Indian airports will increase eightfold over a decade. Over the last five years, airport retail has been seeing an upward trend in India. Privatisation of airports has allowed more brands to leverage the opportunity to access a highly segmented audience. Travel retail in India is growing at a fast rate with local and international brands seeking a retail presence across key airports. This trend is expected to only accelerate over the coming years. Womenswear: Growing Choices, Higher Brands Play Catalyst for Growth The women’s apparel industry in India is riding a wave of momentum accelerated by relaxed dress codes, fabric innovations, and fusion dressing. A Technopak study reveals that western-wear takes up about 25 per cent of the R78,500 crore worth of the womenswear market in India. In fact, the growth of this market is much higher than menswear, which is growing at nine per cent in comparison. The market is flooded with unbranded smaller players with a share in women’s western-wear segment, which is estimated to be below 25 per cent. However, the segment is expected to grow by a whopping 20 per cent to eventually cross 40 per cent by 2025. Ashish Gurnani, Co-founder, PostFold, says, “The market will see a sixfold increase over the next decade. It is faring well owing to the push provided by various e-commerce platforms. This negates the misconception that the branded market, owing to its price range, has no takers.” Along with western-wear, denim, too, has gained popularity amongst women of all ages, shapes, and sizes because of the comfort it provides, functional aspects, and durability. Earlier known as the aspirational subcategory of ethnic wear, fusion-wear, too, has evolved into a separate category by itself. Sreyashee Haldar, Design Head at W, points out, “In recent times, the fusion-wear segment has been flooded by international brands that have slowly pushed up the aspiration levels and purchasing patterns of Indians. However, the presence of these brands is restricted to western-wear. Increasing purchasing power of the mid to premium segment is leading to many high-end designers launching their retail prêt sub-brands to push overall sales.” 18 I APPAREL I October 2019