Lakme Fashion Week’s (LFW) second edition of its Virtual Showroom has been launched on its website for registered buyers across the world. As per Fashion Network, this season, the showcase features brands including PallaviPoddar, Dharang, Sirisha Reddy, and Oushk Ensemble among others.

Women’s traditional wear brand PallaviPoddar has launched its latest collection ‘Nazm’ at the online showroom. The occasion wear collection features a selection of handloom textiles mixed with raw silk and georgette as well as traditional embroidery techniques on voluminous lehengas.

PriyadarshiniSahay’s brand Dharang has launched ‘Breathe’, a collection of loose fit layers made from Kala cotton in neutral hues. The collection features subtle stripes and checks with pops of colour from marigold yellow pieces.

Another notable collection at the showcase is UssamaShabbir’s brand Oushk Ensemble’s collection ‘For The Love Of Wild’ which is designed with the concept of species which have gone extinct due to human activity. Paying homage to the plight of wildlife, the collection’s nature inspired prints and floaty layers are designed to be both thought provoking and beautiful.

The Fashion Design Council of India also ran its ‘Designer Stockroom’ during the joint fashion week, enabling people to shop a wide range of brands, including brands which showcased collections on the phygital runway, on its website.

Miniso, a Japan-based fast-fashion designer brand has opened its first store at the Wave Mall, Jammu.

For the store launch in Wave Mall, Miniso organized a very attractive opening which saw a large turnout of excited shoppers. Arun Gupta, President – Chamber of Commerce & industries, Jammu inaugurated the store.

The attending dignitaries also included other CCI Jammu members – Anil Gupta, Senior Vice President; Rajeev Gupta, Junior Vice President; Gourab Gupta. Secretary General; Rajesh Gupta , Treasurer; Bharat Bhandari. President, Anti Terrorist Front as well as AbhimanyuBhandari, President, Wave Mall Business Association and MM Rana – General Manager, Wave Mall.

Li Lin, General Manager, Miniso India, said, Miniso believes in the potential of the Indian market, and is committed to establishing itself in this dynamic country. The brand seeks to communicate even more directly with its customers by organizing more online and offline activities.

As per data from Forrester Research, India’s retail market is expected to grow to $1.3 trillion by 2024. The market was worth an estimated $883 billion last year.

Most of India's grocery retail happens at kiranas - small- and mid-sized mom-and-pop outlets which account for 75-78 per cent of the consumer goods market, Ambit Capital estimates.

Store owners typically have a strong and regular customer base in their neighborhood, with home delivery and taking orders on phone a common phenomenon.

Hundreds of household items are crammed inside wall-to-wall glass or wooden shelves, or in the open, at such stores. Many outlets are so small and cramped that customers don't set foot inside - products are handed over by store staff who stand behind a counter.

Many of these shops also offer staples - such as pulses, rice and flour - in loose or unbranded form. They typically operate from early morning till late evening.

Supermarkets are a growing trend in India, with companies like Reliance Industries, led by India's richest man MukeshAmbani, Future Retail, led by Kishore Biyani, and Avenue Supermarts' DMart all competing for customers.This segment accounts for about 12-15% of consumer goods sales, according to Ambit.

Shoppers in India are increasingly turning to e-commerce to shop for everything from electronics to groceries, boosted by online discounts and the development of rapid delivery services across the country. Boston Consulting Group says e-commerce currently accounts for about 5-6 per cent of Indian retail. It is set to expand by an annual 30% to $200 billion by 2026, Invest India estimates.

As Amazon India fears an investigation into its business practices could harm its reputation, the Competition Commission of India attempts to push the Competition Law investigation forward.

The CCI had ordered a probe into foreign-owned e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart for allegedly violating Competition Law. Both businesses moved the Karnataka High Court in an attempt to quash the probe by filing petitions, Indo-Asian News Service reported.

Madhavi Divan, Additional Soliticor, CCI also criticised Amazon’s preference for certain sellers on its platform and promoting them at the expense of others.

Amazon has faced numerous criticisms of its business practices in India, notably from the Confederation of All India Traders, which has gone to great lengths to make a stand against what it sees as unfair business practices, even organising nationwide strikes.

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Womenswear brand Vedika M has launched new collection ‘Loungewear 2021’ featuring kaftans and pyjama sets in bright prints and relaxed silhouettes.

As per Fashion Network, the collection features a selection of work-from-home outfits with more casual options and pyjamas. The garments are designed to be styled together for a classic loungewear feel or mixed with jeans and other casual wear staples to be suitable for outside events.

For the collection, the brand has used butter cotton and cotton, which is soft and comfortable. It has also included soft satin for a more luxe feel. And, the colour palette is a mix of shades including yellow, orange, peach, lavender, sea green, blue and pink.

Vedika M Sonthalia launched Vedika M in autumn, 2016 and began with resort wear collections. The brand then expanded into festive and evening wear. The brand retails from its store in Kolkata and e-commerce store as well as from multi-brand online and offline boutiques including Aza Fashions.

Actress KiaraAdvani and actor KartikAaryanattended the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) 2021 on March 20 as showstoppers for celebrity fashion designer Manish Malhotra. While Kiara was dressed in a dazzling silver lehenga set, Kartik looked dapper in a black sherwani.

Advani made her Bollywood debut in 2014 Fugly. The movie however did not perform well at the box office. She first gained recognition for her role in M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story. Her popularity further soared when she appeared in the Netflix film Lust Stories. Actor Kartik Aryan made his debut in 2011 PyaarKaPunchnama

Lakmé Fashion Week is a bi-annual fashion event that takes place in Mumbai.

Its Summer-Resort show takes place in April while the Winter-Festive show takes place in August.

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Online sales of women’s wear brand Madame jumped from 2 per cent to 10 per cent in 2020. As per reports, most of this growth was contributed by Tier II and III cities. Recently, Madame launched its Wonder Woman inspired collection in collaboration with Warner Bros coinciding with the launch of the movie featuring Gal Gadot in lead role. It also revamped its online platform and expects online sales to grow three-fold by 2025. The brand has reinforced the need to strengthen the supply chain management with faster product delivery for international clients. In the future, a major share of the company’s overall revenues will be attributed to online sales only.

Shalvi Govil, Head-ecommerce, Madame said, the online platforms which contribute to Madame’s online sales are Myntra, Amazon and Ajio. The brand is also available in 500+ retail outlets across India. Sumedha Jain, Director-Marketing & Communications said, with a no-compromise policy, the brand’s website is designed to provide quality content that showcases the latest trends. The brand is also intensifying its market penetration through offline stores as well to have an integrated multi-platform approach combining online and offline sales points.

Raja M Shanmugham, President, Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA), has urged buyers to hike prices of knitwear products for Tirupur's exports to sustain in the challenging business environment prevailing for the past four months.

The textile town in Tamil Nadu exports products worth about Rs 27,000 crore. After the central government increased the minimum support price for cotton (kappas) procured from farmers, lint (ginned cotton) prices have risen from Rs 36,016/candy (355.54 kgs) in August 2020 to Rs 46,720/candy in March 2021 and the association has asked the Ministry of Textiles to intervene in the matter.

Shanmugham said that the increase in cotton yarn prices, coupled with an increase in prices of accessories and dyeing charges have made the manufacturing of garments costlier. He pointed out that the fabric cost for manufacturing garments was Rs 384.16/kg in the month of August 2020 has now gone up to Rs 464.8/kg, an increase of 21 per cent.

Shanmugham said in the case of cotton and Spandex yarn, due to the increase in prices of Spandex yarn, the cost for manufacturing garments was Rs 432.32/kg in August 2020 and had now (March 2021) gone up to Rs 546.56/kg, an increase of 26 per cent.

The association has appealed to buyers to consider the overall increase in the prices of fabricand requested them to revise the prices of garments to achieve a win-win situation.

The Indian Ethnic Co plans to expand its offerings and become a lifestyle brand that offers everything a consumer needs. As per Business Insider, the company also plans to launch a new range of products for men and kids. Starting in 2016, the company sold products through the social media for two years before launching its online brand in 2018. The brand uses dance to convey the attributes of its products. It sells 100 per cent handcrafted saris made from Mai, Kota, Doria and Cotton.

Today, the Indian Ethnic Co. has three offices and one studio. It is about to hit Rs 10 crore revenue mark because of dance marketing and its unique ethnic products. It started with an investment of Rs 50,000 and is close to touching a turnover of Rs 10 crore. It is also seeing close to 200-300 times growth year-on-year since it started the website in 2018.

According to Technopak, the total Indian ethnic wear market is valued at Rs 70,000 crore and out of this, women's ethnic wear has an 85 per cent (Rs 59,500 crore) share in the market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10 per cent till 2022.