Madura will extend its inner wear offerings

Madura Garments will extend its innerwear offerings to Peter England and Allen Solly labels by January-March next. This will mark the second phase of the innerwear roll out for the company, which in October forayed into the Rs 2,500 crore men's innerwear market through its Van Heusen brand.

Company officials said that like Van Heusen, innerwear from Peter England and Allen Solly will stick to the brand's image. While Van Heusen inner and lounge wear are functional technology oriented products, Allen Solly's will be positioned in the pure fashion category with a dash of colour and Peter England's will fall under the popular segment taking on the likes of VIP and Rupa .

The result Peter England innerwear will be priced in the Rs 70 to Rs 110 category, while Allen Solly will be Rs 120 upwards like Van Heusen. Again following Van Heusen, the Allen Solly range will include lounge wear as well. Peter England though will stick to innerwear alone.

This extension will mean that only the 'upper crest' Louis Philippe "" the remaining wardrobe brand from Madura's stable "" will not have a presence in the innerwear segment. Officials clarified that, they are already addressing that, "We are working on a very unique range for our trump card brand. A launch is likely during the middle to late next calendar."

The move to build innerwear categories into the brands follows a strong showing by Van Heusen in this segment. Officials said, "Van Heusen innerwear range is present in 30 of the 57-odd Madura outlets across the country. The initial sales have far exceeded expectations. We are on course to net 20,000 pieces a month from February."

They added that, with Van Heusen clearing the pilot stage, Madura is close to a marketing tie- up with one of the national retain chains. Adding, Peter England and Allen Solly innerwear too will tread the same marketing path as Van Heusen "" starting at Madura outlets and then moving into multi-branded outlets.

The innerwear foray in a big way is expected to assist the company's topline growth. The cyclical nature of apparel retailing has considerably slowed down the company's revenue growth in recent times. Madura, for instance, expects its Peter England innerwear range to ring in large volumes.

In a similar vein, the market is hotting up as well with a host of Indian and international labels entering the fray. MNC's Tommy Hilfiger, Hanes from Sara Lee are already in, while a clutch of regional brands have launched products.