CATEGORIES

KOCHI BIDS ADIEU TO THE GRANDIOSE FASHION SPECTACLE!

LULU FASHION WEEK 2023 - SPRING/SUMMER

The woman at the helm of Melissa India

Ruchi Sally currently helms Melissa India, a company founded in 1979 in Rio de Jenario, now a fashion favourite across 90 countries, including the fashion capitals of New York, London and Sao Paolo. The brand has seen multiple design partnerships with leading names including Karl Lagerfeld, Zaha Hadid, Jason Wu, Jeremy Scott, and Vivienne Westwood. With 16 years of experience in building brands in India, in her current role Sally is tasked with growing this international favorite brand's footprint in India.

ELI BITTON: BRIDGE-TO-LUXURY

Left battered and in a dilemma by Covid, Eli Bitton had to make a decision. To launch a fashion house in India. Thus the eponymous brand was born.

HUMAN FACES OF FASHION: UNVEILING THE EMOTIONAL PERSONAS OF 3 STAKEHOLDERS IN FASHION RETAIL STORES

Every fashion brand has its own unique identity, which is a reflection of the people behind it. And behind every successful fashion retail brand are individuals who are passionate, resilient, and emotionally invested in their work.

We are all about fashion

In May 2005, ALDO was introduced to India with the first store opening in Mumbai, Phoenix High Street. Since then it has further expanded and has its presence in all major cities across India. As an extension to the ALDO brand, ALDO Accessories stores were launched. Apparel Group India Pvt.Ltd has been the partner in India. The brand has roped in Bollywood actor Janhvi Kapoor as its ambassador. It has recently launched its Spring-Summer collection. N Bobo Meitei interacted with Abhishek Bajpai, CEO of Apparel Group India, to discuss a range of topics. Excerpts

THE RECIPES FOR VALUE CREATION

At the 22nd edition of India Fashion Forum (IFF) held between February 28 and March 01, 2023 at Conard Bengaluru, several brand custodians shared their strategic moves that veered their businesses toward profitability. The session was conducted by Bijou Kurien, Chairman, Retailers Association of India.

Green Is The New Black

The Indian economy will add another trillion of merchandise in the next 10 years, which means doubling the consumption. This is a great opportunity the country offers, Saloni Nangia, President at Technopak, India, shared in her keynote at the 22nd India Fashion Forum

Hemp Fabric: An Alternative To Cotton

Just producing 1kg of cotton fibre, which roughly amounts to the production of one t-shirt and a pair of jeans, requires around 20,000 litres of water. On the other hand, producing the same amount of hemp fibre needs less than 3,000 litres of water. This means that one saves 1,000-2,000 litres of water per t-shirt. The expansive use of cotton in today’s time has hence led to serious environmental concerns, such as soil degradation, water pollution and biodiversity loss.

Blissclub: A community-first D2C brand

Minu Margeret discovered that women in India frequently have difficulty finding the right activewear due to lack of options, improper size, poor material quality, and the item's technical unsuitability for them. She felt that while some clothes were comfortable, they did not stretch enough, and those that did were too compressive. This resulted in the birth of Blissclub in 2022.

FULFILLING SARTORIAL NEEDS

Arrow, a brand with 167 years of legacy, was launched in India in 1993 by Arvind Fashion Limited. Today, it has over 200 exclusive brand stores in the country, and is available in over 1000 multibrand outlets. In an email interview with Images Business of Fashion, the brand’s CEO, Suman Saha said, The brand has to grow in double digits, that’s the main goal. As we scale, the focus will also be on transforming the brand for the postCovid consumer and re-establishing it as a contemporary brand without taking away its heritage value.” Excerpts of the interview.

SUCCESS STORIES BY TITAN'S BRAND CUSTODIANS

Titan’s journey has not only created great brands, built strong partnerships and delivered exceptional value to customers, but also produced some of the most outstanding business leaders. Its success story perfectly tted the theme of 22nd India Fashion Forum.

IMAGES FASHION AWARDS 2023

HONOURING GREAT INSPIRATIONS

INDIGENIZING FASHION TREND FORECAST

The need for India to emphasize its indigenous fashion trend forecast has gained more momentum over the years. How seriously this is being considered and how much it has evolved is resonated in how modern technologies such AI and deep learning are deployed to enable fashion trend forecast.

VISENZE: ENABLING DIGITAL SEARCH ACCURACY

Started in 2012, ViSenze says it processes over a billion queries a month from retailers, supporting them in-store and on e-commerce sites. Use cases range from enhanced visual search, product tagging, smart product recommendations, and retail analytics.

A PURPOSE BEYOND MERE PROFITABILITY

Today, the purpose of a brand goes far beyond mere profitability; its mission and values are manifested in its business decisions, corporate culture, and codes of conduct, not limiting to sustainability. It also addresses issues such as child labor, fair pay, ethical business practices, transparency and traceability.

DECODES THE DNA OF PROFITABILITY

The forum, held between February 28 and March 1, 2023 was a signi cant convergence of industry captains and observers to address how businesses can ensure long-term survivability in the backdrop of India emerging as a major global market.

What's driving the fashion rental market in India

The global market for fashion rental is expected to expand at a CAGR of 11% from 2021 to 2031. With the model gaining popularity among young consumers, India may not be far behind. A peek  into what’s driving this growth.

LAKSHEETA GOVIL

CEO and Founder, Fizzy Goblet 34

KAVERI LALCHAND

Founder, Coastal Designer 49

FARIDA KALIYADAN

COO, Louis Philippe, Planet Fashion, Customer Centricity Head

DIPTT TOLANI

Founder CEO, Salt Attire| 38

CHENDURAN SUNDARARAJAN

Managing Director, Angel Rocket 33

BOBBY ARORA

Director Co-Founder, Status Quo 45

BIDYUT BHANJDEO

Chief Business Officer, Ethnix by Raymond, Head Sales, LFS and Ecommerce. | 50

AYUSHI GUDWANI

Founder & CEO, FS Life - FableStreet, Mikoto, Pink Fort

AMRISH PRAKASH KUMAR

Creative Director, Ritu Kumar

ABHISHEK GANGULY

Managing Director PUMA India & South East Asia, Puma | 45

ABHISHEK BAJPAI

CEO, Apparel Group India Pvt.Ltd | 46

Leather Footwear And Accessories In 2023

The growth of the leather footwear and accessories market is expected to be driven by the increasing popularity of versatile and multi-functional footwear and accessories. With consumers leading increasingly busy lives, they are looking for products that can be worn for a variety of occasions and activities. This trend is expected to lead to increasing demand for versatile leather footwear and accessories in the future.

Madame: In sync with times and one step ahead

Daughter company of Jain Amar Clothing Pvt.Ltd., Madame was launched in 1993. With the brand's first exclusive store in Mumbai in 2002, it has now expanded to over 155 stores all over India. With ever-evolving trends, Madame claims to be in sync with the times, and sometimes one step ahead. Be it adopting latest technology, intuitive consumer interface, compelling in-store experience, or serving the hottest global trends at accessible price points, Madame has always been counted among the top fashion brands in India. In an interview with Images Business of Fashion's Bhavishya Bir, Akhil Jain, Executive Director of Madama discusses the company's expansion plan, marketing strategy, product collection and more.