The ethnic wear segment is winning the race

Again on Tuesday, RBL’s holding company Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd said it is taking a majority stake in Ritika Pvt. Ltd., a fashion house owned by designer Ritu Kumar, which, among other things, retails semi-formal and bridal ethnic wear.

At the time of the MM Styles deal, Reliance Brands said it was eyeing domestic talent rooted in Indian design sensibilities.

Reliance’s move comes after several investments made by apparel company Aditya Birla Fashion Retail Ltd (ABFRL), which traditionally sells men’s formal wear brands to Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England. Since 2019, it has acquired stake in ethnic wear labels such as Jeypore, Sabyasachi Couture and Tarun Tahiliani.

Harminder Sawhney, founder, Wazir Advisors, who advised Tarun Tahiliani on the partnership with ABFRL, said most of the major apparel companies have completely missed out on the rapid growth in the readymade ethnic wear segment. Most continued to sell Western formals. “When success stories like Manyavar, Biba and W surfaced, they woke up to the potential of ethnic readymades,” he said.

Ankur Bisen, Senior Vice President, Retail & Consumer, Management Consultancy Technopak concurred. The Indian ethnic wear market has been a dream since last 10-15 years for two reasons. One, ethnic wear changed from cut-piece to ready-to-wear. Second, it changed from saree to fusion wear like kurta with slacks or jeans, he said. “Household brands rode the trend to prove that ‘ethnic’ was not just a sidebar reference but mainstream fashion,” he said.

Vedanta Fashion Ltd-owned Manyavar recently filed a draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India to raise funds through an initial public offering. The category leader in the branded Indian wedding and celebration wear market has a pan-India presence.

a first Mint As of June 30, it had a retail footprint of 1.1 million square feet, comprising 525 exclusive brand outlets, including 55 shop-in-shops across 207 cities and stores in the US, Canada and the UAE, the report said. The firm aims to double its national footprint in the next few years.

This year, on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, Louis Philippe and Peter England, known for men’s western wear, also launched new collections of ethnic wear. Interestingly, these brands are part of the portfolio of ABFRL, which also sells international brands such as American Eagle, Ralph Lauren and Ted Baker.

Again, investing in Tahiliani, ABFRL announced its focus on ethnic wear for the next few years as young Indians rediscover their culture and heritage. The company said its portfolio will address all ethnic wear segments: value, premium and luxury.

Clearly, seeing potential, Titan’s saree brand Tanera also entered the ready-to-wear category last December with the launch of EIRA premium-priced, handcrafted kurtas.

Sahni said that ethnic wear made a comeback in the 2000s when India started taking pride in its roots. The IT and retail boom brought youth from small towns to metros. While the previous generations who migrated to big cities for jobs tried to imbibe the habits of metro consumers by copying them, the new generations changed this, he said. “Today, our news, movies, food celebrate the small town India. The youth are also confident about their fashion.”

Bisen said the mammoth ethnic wear market has prompted large firms to tap into the brand value of designer labels, based on their skills and knowledge base. Both Sawhney and Bissen expect companies to use their design sensibility and craft strategies to scale operations, not work in niches.

Technopak estimates that 93% of India’s $20 billion ethnic wear market is women’s wear. This is because women wear ethnics to work. Men still don’t. Sahni is in favor of this change. Also, she looks forward to seeing when Armani and Gucci make Indian clothing to participate in this momentum.

Shuchi Bansal Mint Media, Marketing and Advertising Editor. The simple post will look at pre-assing issues related to all three. Or just fun stuff.