A more fashionable India!

Marketmind

For a civilisation as rich in art and crafts as the Indian, and for a nation having so much diversity and creativity in its traditional art forms in terms of choice of material, colour, embellishment, silhouette, and coordination, it was painful to comment on the status of its 'fashion' industry till recently.

Somewhere during the last 150 years, we started losing an appreciation for fine art and trendsetting fashion. Several factors may have contributed to this decline "" the most notable being the (justifiably) increased involvement of the citizens of India with the freedom struggle and immediately after achieving Independence, the Gandhian virtues of simplicity and austerity somehow overshadowed the latent desire to look good and feel good!

Further, over millenniums, the Indian royalty provided patronage to all kinds of artisans and purveyors of couture and other forms of fashion including jewellery, footwear, personal care and beauty care products.

With the decline of such patronage in the last 50 years, fashion 'industry' (if one were to call it an industry) regressed even quicker.

Finally, in the 1990s, the trivialisation of the Indian fashion industry was complete with the emergence of the pseudo 'designer' community comprising of a gaggle of well-connected freshers out of NIFT, bored housewives from rich families, and a few socialites having access to PR outfits.

Fortunately, the last few months have given enough indications that this regressive state of affairs may finally be giving way to a more positively evolving one.

There is a small (relative to the size of the population) but rapidly growing section of young Indians who are just beginning to achieve a stronger financial independence.

Along with this financial independence, they are getting far more exposure to international lifestyles and fashion trends than they had ever got in the past. They are optimistic about their own future, and are increasingly more willing to experiment and seek differentiation.

On the supply side, the availability of a more international selection of consumer goods including lifestyle products is becoming better every year.

A dramatic improvement in retail options and retailing ambience in recent times has already brought many new international brands to India e.g. Mango, Marks & Spencer, Louis Vuitton and Hugo Boss. Many more are slated to come in shortly including Austin Reed from UK and Tommy Hilfiger from the USA.

There are encouraging signs of Indian manufacturers spotting an opportunity and introducing products with a growing emphasis on design and fashion. The trend is not just limited to clothing but is also emerging in footwear (Red Tape, Ashley), home (Magppie, Maspar, Welspun), jewellery (Tanishq, Carbon,), watches (new ranges from Titan and Timex) etc.

Some of these examples have little to do with the classical definition of haute couture (high fashion). However, at the 'entry' level, the young adopters of fashion need differentiated and basic plus products at relatively affordable purchase prices.

As these young adults mature, their sense of fashion and their appreciation of global and local lifestyle trends will evolve and become more 'refined'.

This would time well with an increase in their purchasing power and available discretionary disposable income so that they not only have the appreciation of finer things in life but also have the money to spend on indulging themselves.

It must be clarified that given the size and composition of the Indian economy, the 'fashion' end of the market segment is minuscule compared to the opportunity at the 'middle' end of the segment.

However, most Indian manufacturers of soft goods such as clothing and footwear, operating at the national, organised level have generally focused on the upper and upper middle end of the market segment.

With an increasing clutter of not-well differentiated products, and this slow but steady evolution in the fashion awareness of consumers in that segment, manufacturers will do well by taking advantage of this emerging opportunity.

India is well served by good availability of raw design talent. NIFT has indeed produced some very good designers for apparel and fashion accessories. NID consistently has nurtured outstanding designers not only in industrial design but also for consumer hard goods.

FDCI (Fashion Design Council of India) has also shown signs of maturing from an organisation focused merely on frivolous fashion shows to one that is serious about taking up the promotion business of fashion.

The next five to seven years will see the Indian fashion market rapidly evolving into a significant size, and thereafter, we can confidently say that India has a vibrant and thriving fashion industry!

arvind@ksa-technopak.com