Urban middle class women buoy 'western' apparel brands

Western style women's apparel brands, it appears, have stooped to conquer.

After floundering initially, the brands are on a roll, claiming larger store space backed by a 25 per cent growth, compared to the 9 per cent rate at which which men's branded apparel segment is ticking along.

Market observers put the growth down to changing demographics, international exposure and shift to lifestyle spending. They add that the extra jingle in the pockets of the Indian urban middle class women, the target segment, has added fizz to the market.

The Western style women's apparel brands market is estimated at an annual Rs 740 crore by KSA Technopak, as compared to the Rs 3,000 crore men's branded apparel segment.

Sharmila Senthil Raja, a senior consultant at KSA-Technopak, terms the growth as more catalysed than revolutionised.

"It has been till date supply-driven. While there existed a latent demand for this category, the offerings were from the unorganised sector. With the entry of brands and introduction of private labels by retailers, the market has now been created for a much broader category."

The women's wear density in stores has risen at least three times in the last couple of years, says Arun Sirdeshmukh, head (marketing) at Indus League, the makers of Scullers women's wear. He adds that large format stores in specific regions are beginning to see 25 to 30 per cent of total sales coming from western women's wear.

Brands for their part have learnt from their early mistakes. After an initial battering, they metamorphosed from a high-end mainly fashion-driven offering into a premium daily and office wear range punctuated by innovations.

While re-positioning their range, apparel firms have also consciously pared down costs not only to just draw customers but also to check the growth of the unorganised segment.

The city-based Weekender, for example, played its cost-effective and fashion card well so that it's women's wear segment now accounts for 50 per cent of the total brand sales at Rs 12 crore.

But this is just a fraction of what it will crystallise at, Vijay Anand, its marketing manager, said. The women's wear segment has grown at 30 per cent consistently, outshining the more stoic menswear's average growth rate of 5 per cent.

Further, apparel makers, armed with extensive research, are addressing issues like fit, colour and exclusivity that earlier hampered growth. Madura Garments vice-president (marketing) Vasanth Kumar says anthropometric studies on body blocks helped them introduce several broad size categories that suited the Indian women.

Madura also adopts styles based on regional preferences. Allen Solly women's wear now rings in 8 per cent of total brand sales at Rs 110 crore. The brand is on course to register 15 per cent of its total sales from this segment within two years.

Brands, after restricting their women's range to specific stores, have now extended their reach. For instance, Wills Life Style has entered larger departmental stores to corner volumes. With a majority of consumers just beginning to dabble in western wear, affordability too came into play.

Even high-end designer wear like Be from Raymond revised their offerings to include everyday clothes from lesser known designers that command an affordable premium.

As a result Be, according to Aniruddha Deshmukh, executive director, projects its western women's wear to bringe in over 40 per cent of its total revenues in the next couple of years from less than 30 per cent now.

The market is currently limited to the tier I service industry-oriented cities. While acceptance at the workplace is the key, the market is said to be driven by the concentration of shopping malls and large format stores in these cities.

But, having tasted success, the apparel companies are focussing on adding a western tinge to the smaller cities as well. They reckon that with the service industry stepping into the smaller centres too, they too will take a liking to the western women's wear.