Inner tales

With lingerie retailers entering the market with luxury and premium labels, Indian women are experimenting with their innerwear.

The retail revolution in India seems to be transforming Indian sense and sensibilities too. Take, for instance, the much hushed lingerie market.

Estimated at Rs 700-800 crore, the market is finally opening up to mass premium brands and the latest to enter through the door is French brand Etam.

There was a time when embarrassed and shy-eyed Indian women would enter a shop, state their size and colour preference, pay, and quietly exit the shop.

But in the last couple of years, demanding and experimental is the only way to describe women going lingerie shopping in India. With brands like La Senza, Marks and Spencer (M&S), Enamour, Wonder Bra and Etam, and lingerie boutiques like Underlines and Straps making public display of very private belongings, the market for lingerie "" daily wear and coordinated "" is finally being tapped.

Since M&S entered the Indian market in 2001, the brand has witnessed a year-on-year growth of 50-60 per cent in its lingerie segment, awareness and exposure to fashion being a major cause.

But more than that, what has brought Etam to India and upped the sale of existing brands is the demand for personal space where women can pick, try, choose, and buy lingerie, reveals a market research conducted by Etam. The brand plans to invest Rs 90 crore in the market and open 40 Etam doors by December this year, targetting break even by its third year of operations.

Jaydeep Shetty, CEO, Etam, says, "This is just the beginning. Our customers are very demanding and prefer to choose the brand that understands them the best."

Interestingly, all of the international brands are not yet worried about competition. M&S banks heavily on its everyday wear lingerie to keep the cash registers ringing.

Ashu Jain, head merchandiser, M&S, reveals, "Etam has just entered the market and we are yet to see how it does. But we see them as competitors only in the coordinated lingerie segment. Even so, the market is still completely untapped and there is space for everyone."

Jain points out that of late there has been a demand for multi-wear bras, which means that more and more women are experimenting with their clothes "" an obvious positive for the market.

However, even now, the bestseller remains everyday wear lingerie vis-a-vis the coordinated, dressy ones that brands like Etam and La Senza seem to be bringing in.

Their target though seems to be clear "" urban women who want excellent quality, fashionable innerwear. And with the market maturing with every passing day, from sheer good quality lingerie to designer wear, fancy innerwear might soon become the talk of the town.