CATEGORIES

LEATHER APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES SECTOR TO SHRINK 7-8%

Owing to slowdown in consumer demand in Europe and the United States, revenue of the Indian leather apparel and accessories sector is set to decline 7-8% in fiscal 2024, says CRISIL Ratings.

The Changing Landscape of Indian Handbag Market

The Indian handbag market, segmented as clutches and wallets, shoulder bags, satchels and saddlebags, and totes, has grown manifold over the last decades. This growth has also spawned several homegrown brands, which today compete with global brands on their home turf and, at the same time, are either eyeing a global presence or mulling further expansion.

The return of rose-cut diamonds

Uniquely radiant, a rose-cut diamond is one of the oldest diamond cuts and was first developed in 1400s. This beautiful cut has been used in jewellery for centuries. Unlike the brilliant cut, a rose cut is a flat bottom diamond and has three to twenty-four facets on its domeshaped crown top resembling a rosebud and therefore the name. It was very popular till late 1900 when the brilliant cuts came in and took over the market. Therefore, most of the vintage jewellery you see would be set with rose-cut diamonds.

Why the year 2023 holds promise for India's jewellery sector?

In recent years, the sector has faced several challenges, including a decline in consumer demand and a decrease in exports. Despite these challenges, the year 2023 holds promise for India's jewellery sector for several reasons.

Untapped potential of homegrown D2C footwear brands

After strong growth in recent years, Indian D2C brands are optimistic entering 2023. D2C brands are estimated to be growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40% in India.

INDIA FASHION FORUM 2023 Decoding the DNA of Profitability: Growth Defined by Value Creation

India Fashion Forum (IFF), India's largest fashion intelligence event, returns for its 22nd edition on 28 February to 1 March at the Conrad, Bengaluru, shaped by the theme of 'Decoding the DNA of profitability: Growth defined by Value Creation'. Set to host over 200 speakers, representatives from 400+ brands and companies and 1000+ attendees, the IFF 2023 conference will cut through topline naivete and focus on real metrics that matter, including building operational capabilities for consistent high-quality execution, creating wealth through profitability and focus on return on capital employed.

Like London, like New York,

Shailesh Chaturvedi, MD and Chief Executive officer of Arvind Fashions, is a veteran of India's fashion and lifestyle business with about three decades in the retail industry. He is the chairman of the India Fashion Forum (IFF) 2023. In a freewheeling interview with Rasul Bailay, group managing editor of IMAGES Group, Chaturvedi talks about India growth as a lucrative yet challenging market for fashion and lifestyle business and advises local and foreign brands to not to get carried away by the attractiveness of India's fashion and lifestyle market and they should rather focus on the basics like consumer definition, better execution of plans and to chase profitability.

Fashion in every fibre

In his three decades in the fashion industry, Shailesh Chaturvedi has seen things unfolding in the country's fashion and lifestyle market - from a predominantly tailored-and-stitched apparel market to one of the top future markets for global brands. As the chairman of India Fashion Forum (IFF), Chaturvedi brings a wealth of fashion and retail knowledge to the country's premier fashion and lifestyle event where the glitterati and top honchos of the fashion industry will search for the next big thing and opportunities in the business.

NEW STORES

The growing landscape of India's fashion and lifestyle industry is marked by brands adding more retail outlets. Discover where the new retail points are.

NEWS BREAKERS

Some news turns more heads than others. Learn the reasons.

NEW COLLECTIONS

Find out what brands were up to, from Caprese collaborating with Manish Malhotra to Rangriti's Lohri collection.

Why Men Ditching Unisex Range!

India’s men’s grooming market is expected to grow with a CAGR of more than 11% during the forecast period with more than ₹31,000 crore market size. While a bulk of this is being driven by D2C online sales, there has been significant traction in offline sales too.

Impacts Of Farm-Closet: A Collective Responsibility

The fashion industry produces about 53 million tonnes of fibre every year, 70 percent of which ends up in garbage dumps or is incinerated, adversely affecting the environment. This reality demands that we look hard at the impacts of farm-closet.

The growing lure for kids’ fashion

From being an entity solely reserved for adults, fashion in kids’ wear has come a long way where it has seamlessly permeated into the kids’ wear segment as well. Nowadays, there is a rising propensity for fashion in the sector.

CLOVIA: Capturing consumers' imagination

Clovia made headlines when Reliance Retail Venture, an arm of Reliance Industries, acquired 89% in the Purple Panda Fashion-owned intimate brand. The oil-to-retail conglomerate made the investment in the form of secondary share purchase and primary capital infusion.

Handcrafted Success - Dilip Kapur Founder, Hidesign

In the era of fast fashion, Puducherry-based leather goods brand Hidesign claims that it still works towards handcrafting goods. Founded by Dilip Kapur, the brand says it relies on the process of vegetable tanning, uses solar-powered energy, recycles water at its tanneries, and focuses on hiring employees from religious minorities and the LGBTQ community. In an interview with Images Business of Fashion’s Sanya Arora, Kapur discusses the company’s expansion plan, business model, product collection and more.

Fashion Accountability

The fashion industry is the second largest polluter, and the calls for the industry to do more to mitigate its adverse impacts have always been louder.

2022 The Year of Caution & Recovery

After experiencing 18 months from early 2021 through mid-2022 of growth, the fashion industry faced a challenging time again. Persistent inflation and depressed customer sentiments frustrated the growth pace in the year's second half. Inflation remained at the top of the year; it undercut consumer demand, pushing shoppers to curtail fashion spending.

Textile & Apparel Overview

The global apparel consumption in 2021 is estimated to be around $1.5 trillion. India's textile and apparel market has the potential to swell to $250 billion by 2025-26, up from an estimated size of $ 153 billion in 2021, says a report by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and retail consultancy Wazir Advisors.

BAGATT: Not just a shoe, but a statement - Sandip Kanti Baksi, Astor Muller India's COO - Retail

Astor Mueller, one of the Europe's leading shoemaking companies, entered the Indian market with bugatti. Today, it has a strong retail footprint in India. The shoemaker, which also holds the exclusive license for Daniel Hechter shoes, has recently launched another brand, BAGATT with eye on women. Images Business of Fashion's N Bobo Meitei interacted with Sandip Kanti Baksi, AstorMuller India's COO Retail, to understand what this means for the shoemaker, and many more.

‘HUMAN TOUCHPOINT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR US’ - Tomohiko Sei CEO, Uniqlo India

In 2018, Uniqlo sent Tomohiko Sei to India to spearhead its entry into the country that Retailing Co. ranks as the biggest future market for the Japanese brand. Prior to his India assignment, Sei was the chief operating officer for Fast Retailing in Singapore. Sei spoke to Rasul Bailay, group managing editor of IMAGES Group about Uniqlo's journey so far - its rollercoaster ride due to Covid-19 and about India as a potential market for Asia's largest fashion brand. Edited excerpts:

UNIQLO Making headway with made for all

Uniqlo, Asia's largest fashion retailer has managed to hit the sweet spot in the Indian market to not just become popular but also profitable in just three years. Images Group's group managing editor Rasul Bailay uncovers its success secrets, strategies and plans for India.

Clovia signs up Shraddha Kapoor for TVC

D2C fashion, lingerie and personal care brand Clovia has signed up with Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor as its first brand ambassador.

Havaianas Celebrates Five Years in Asia Paeifie

Brazilian Lifestyle brand Havaianas, part of the Alpargatas S.A. Group, celebrated the Asia Pacific (APAC) regional headquarters' fifth year of growing and strengthening the brand's presence across the APAC region.

Dr. Martens to Close All Philippines Stores

Footwear brand Dr. Martens has announced via a Facebook post that all of its stores in the Philippines will be closed.

Koi launehes footwear collaboration with the Teletubbies

Vegan and gender-neutral footwear brand Koi has released its first collaboration with the nostalgic 90's TV show, the Teletubbies.

Lee Jeans to launch footwear collection for the first time

American denim brand Lee Jeans is launching a footwear collection for the first time for AW23, to include men's, women's and children's casual footwear and sneakers.

TASVA launehes 25th store in Mumbai

TASVA, the men's Indianwear brand from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited and India's ace designer Tarun Tahiliani opens doors to a new store at Mumbai's Fort.

Faso opens first EBO in Chennai

Faso, a unit of KPR Mill Limited, has launched its first exclusive store open at MG Road, Adyar, Chennai.

Tarun Tahiliani launches flagship store in Bangalore

Designer Tarun Tahiliani has launched his eponymous label's flagship Bangalore boutique at the Woodlands Mansion.