| His premium shoe brand, Skin Sin, got a major visibility boost when at least six fashion designers including Rajesh Pratap Singh, Manish Arora and Suneet Verma teamed up their clothes' line with 120 different shoe styles from his shoe label, launched in the domestic market three months ago. Skin Sin was launched in the European market two years ago. |
| The exposure during the fashion week could perhaps help him win part of the battle to popularise his Skin Sin brand of designer shoes as the young CEO, who started his first outlet in the capital, plans to open another eight in cities like Mumbai and Bangalore other than Delhi. |
| An investment of Rs 12-14 crore has been earmarked for the retail expansion. |
| "Though our product line follows the latest fashion forecast and retails at high-end boutiques in Europe, our biggest challenge will be to build a national brand," says Bajaj. |
| The company has roped in Vinod Kaul, former director-general of the Fashion Design Council of India (that organises the Lakme Fashion Week), to market the brand in India. |
| Kaul says that usually the accessories' market constitutes 20-40 per cent of the fashion industry. Of this, shoes are the biggest category. |
| "In India, accessories brands for bags and shoes are always difficult to find and the market is less than five per cent," he adds. |
| In order to expand its share in the small but growing branded women's shoe market, the company has positioned Skin Sin as a premium label, priced between Rs 1,900 and Rs 2,500. |
| The women's market is currently pegged at 20 per cent of the Rs 1,600 crore organised shoe industry. The size of the premium shoe market is said to be under Rs 150 crore. |
| Recently, the company also announced its five-year contract with fashion designer J J Valaya to jointly design, produce and market its second label 'Valaya by Skin Sin'. |
| Amar Shoes' Agra factory produces nearly 300,000 pairs of shoes a year. |
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