22 January 2023, Mumbai

Anil Somani has joined Bata as chief financial officer. He will lead the financial vertical of the company and be responsible for the future growth of the company.

He is a chartered accountant with over 25 years of experience in finance, strategy, compliance, information management and business development functions.

He comes from Reliance Retail where he is currently serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer for the digital business. He has worked with Croma, Walmart, Metro Cash & Carry and more.

Bata is the largest footwear retailer in India with company-owned stores, shop-in-shops and franchisee stores. Bata is targeting at bringing down the average age of customers from the current 39 years to about 25 years. This will be done by engaging young actors for advertising, introducing products for that age group and changing the layout of stores. The company has launched a concept called the sneaker studio, which brings all of Bata’s seven brands of sneakers in India into one place.

Bata had to raise product prices due to inflation. The company has introduced new products in the price brackets which were getting vacated because of the price increase. Bata has had its highest ever quarterly sales.

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 19 January 2023, Mumbai

Nykd by Nykaa has opened a second store in Hyderabad. Focused on immersive, engaging, and tech-led shopping experiences, the store features cutting-edge products spread across a 550 sqft area. Offering today’s globalized, informed, and evolved consumers second-skin comfort, the store provides a 360-degree intimate wear experience.

Nykd by Nykaa is a lingerie, athleisure, and sleepwear brand from Nykaa. Nykd by Nykaa delivers on functional and comfortable products steeped in the latest innovations in fabric and fit as well as a user experience that will simplify the buying process. This deep understanding of consumer concerns and tech-led capability reflects in every garment of Nykd by Nykaa.

The aim is to provide women solutions to issues they face during bra purchases — ranging from wrong size, wrong style, bra hickies, and bulky bras that are visible under T-shirts. Traditionally, lingerie as a category was predominantly perceived for the male gaze or to make a bold statement.

The challenge was to steer away from this narrative and move towards intimate wear being functional and comfortable. The brand wants women to buy lingerie for themselves, and their individual needs, keeping their comfort at the forefront. Tools such as the bra advisor help women figure out their right size and fit derived from an AI-based algorithm.

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 17 January 2023, Mumbai

House of Chikankari has grown fivefold in two years. The craft driven clothing brand serves over 15,000 customers. The brand’s aim is to promote and add to the organisation of India’s chikankari industry while offering shoppers handicraft products through its dedicated e-commerce store and it foresees continued high levels of growth in both revenue and profit.

The vision is to make chikankari relevant for the modern audience while maintaining the authenticity of the craft. Much of the chikankari industry is unorganised which does not allow customers to get quality assurance and authenticity of handworks, which the brand aims at correcting.

House of Chikankari was launched in 2020 the business plans to generate employment in India’s handicrafts sector. To date, the brand has provided over 5,000 women with employment.

The word chikan is probably derived from the Persian word chikin or chikeen, which means a kind of embroidered fabric. This art has its own royal significance covering the Mughal period to the era of the Oudh nawabs, later growing as a fashion-centric form of needlecraft recognised the world over.

There are eleven processes before the embroidered cloth finally reaches customers, including cutting, sewing, printing, embroidery, washing, charak etc and more than six workers are employed at each step.

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21 January 2023, Mumbai

Nykd by Nykaa , the brand will be showcasing its products at INTIMASIA 5.0, a leading platform for the intimate apparel industry in South Asia, in February 2023. INTIMASIA 2023 is scheduled to be held from 20th to 22nd February 2023 at Bombay Exhibition Center, Mumbai.

Nykaa, a leading online and physical retail marketplace for health and beauty products, has announced the launch of its new intimatewear line, Nykd All Day.

The brand, which was founded by Falguni Nayar in 2012, has expanded to include a range of bras, panties, sleepwear, shapewear, and accessories that provide both comfort and fashion.

"At Nykd, a brand by the House of Nykaa, we've made every effort to simplify your lingerie experience with products that provide comfort round the clock and seamlessly fuse fashion with function for an elevated everyday look. Our lingerie is easy to love and live in and feels like your second skin," said Nykd by Nykaa.

In addition to its clothing line, Nykd by Nykaa has also created a Bra Advisor, a digital solution that helps customers better understand their bodies and choose the products that are most suited to them.

"As an inclusive, body positive brand built on the pillars of convenience, comfort, and tech, I am certain that this expansion will allow more consumers to see, touch and experience our wide range," said Preeti Gupta, Business Head of Nykd by Nykaa, Gloot & Kica. "Nykd has been well received across the consumer spectrum and the new in-store experience makes it accessible to even more people.

Over and above, as a brand, we will use our voice to support real women and celebrate real experiences (the good and bad!) which so often get glossily overlooked in today's world of social media."

INTIMASIA 5.0 would be featuring 200+ Prominent Brands on Innerwear, Thermals, Shapewear, Sleepwear, Loungewear, Swimwear, Activewear, Sportswear and Socks. INTIMASIA also has a dedicated sourcing section which would feature another 100+ Raw Material Suppliers presenting Fibers, Fabrics, Laces, Elastics, Trims, Accessories, Labels, Packaging and Machinery.

The show is expected to gather a footfall of over 15000 Retailers and Distributors from India and neighboring countries. This would be the largest trade event that India would witness for a particular segment of the Textile and Apparel Industry.

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17 January 2023, Mumbai

Language presents exclusive and trendy footwear for women. Language Shoes is a footwear and accessories brand offering a full range of leather products. It has men’s and women’s shoes, bags, and accessories.

Language ensures that only the best goes into the making of any of its products by producing most of the raw materials in-house. It is possible to maintain an impeccable sense of style with the large selection of exclusive and trendy footwear. They strike a perfect balance between comfort and luxury that emphasizes the look for all occasions.

Language presents a range of sandals and ballerinas, which is a modern expression of Language’s exquisite craftsmanship. For a more casual look, the sandals meld subtle elegance, style and comfort. They are ideal for a busy workday or a day in the sun. Easy to wear and made from premium leather, these sandals are a must-have for every modern woman. Versatile and stylish ballerinas are a timeless addition to the wardrobe. They can be worn whether going for a meeting or stepping out for a dinner date. These premium leather footwear for women from Language are handmade and available in an assortment of exciting colour options.

The brand has exclusive outlets at Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kochi.

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17 January 2023, Mumbai

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail has opened three flagship stores in Mumbai. These are Van Heusen (men), Van Heusen (women) and Allen Solly (men).

The Van Heusen men’swear outlet is offering formal apparel, sports apparel, footwear, and masks, among other accessories. The Van Heusen women’swear outlet is offering formal shirts and blouses, dresses, skirts, suits and accessories. Allen Solly is offering formal shirts and trousers, T-shirts, winterwear and footwear for men.

All these three outlets are chic and have colour coordinated inventory. They have an expansive facade and beautiful in-store ambience coupled with superior consumer experience.

Some weeks ago, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail launched seven stores in Indore. These include Van Heusen, Van Heusen women’swear, Allen Solly, Allen Solly Junior, American Eagle, Simon Carter and Peter England.

Founded in 1997, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail is an Indian fashion retail company based in Mumbai with a network of more than 3031 stores with a presence across 25,000 multi-brand outlets.Over the years, the group has brought many global brands to India including The Collective, Ralph Lauren, Hackett London, Simon Carter, Ted Baker, Fred Perry, Forever 21, American Eagle and Reebok.

As on March 31, 2022, Aditya Birla had a retail space of 9.2 million sq. ft. while generating a revenue of Rs 8,136 crores.

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 21 January 2023, Mumbai

Cantabil has opened ten new exclusive outlets. These are in several states including Nagaland, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab.

These stores have been launched across key states in order to ensure the availability of fashion apparel to customers. With these additions, the apparel manufacturer and retailer now stands at a 439-store mark across the country.Today the brand has a very strong presence across the length and breadth of the country and aim at aggressively expanding its retail presence further and achieving a Rs 1,000 crore revenue over the next few years.

Cantabil has also grown in west India besides having a strong presence in north India. With a robust growth in demand across fashion apparel, central India has become a key market for Cantabil over time. At present, the brand has 27 locations overall, distributed among 22 cities within central India.

Cantabil was established in 1989, entered the women’s wear segment in 2007 and the men’s wear segment in 2013. Recently, the company launched its new winter and wedding collections, thereby further expanding its product portfolio with the aim of becoming a one-stop shop for apparel needs. The winter and wedding collection covers men’s, women’s, and children’s wear.

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17 January 2023, Mumbai

Taneira has opened a store in Chennai. This is the brand’s third store in Chennai.

Spread across 3,100 sqft, the new store offers handcrafted saris, blouses, kurta sets made with natural, pure and authentic fabrics. The highlight is the design-differentiated range of handcrafted saris from over 100 clusters across India.

Taneira, launched by the Tata Group, is into premium saris and women’s ethnic wear. The plan is to add 50 Taneira stores across the country over the next five years. Taneira has tied up with about 200 supply sources across twenty different clusters to source the products from different parts of the country. It is working with weaving communities, weaving societies, weavers, intermediaries, master weavers and designers.The target group is the new age rooted yet progressive woman.

The 7500 sqft store in New Delhi houses a wide collection of saris that include Mugas from Assam, Ikats from Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, Jamdhanis from Bengal, Chanderis and Maheshwaris from Madhya Pradesh.

Indian wear, initially largely restricted to the older age segment, now finds acceptance among younger consumers. That's because most companies now sell fusion clothing — a mix of modern and traditional wear — instead of just ethnic, which are reserved for special occasions.

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16 January 2023, Mumbai

Mall activity has picked up in Hyderabad. The city is witnessing a strong demand for commercial real estate. Developers are planning to offer a new mall supply of 5.5 million sqft in locations such as Miyapur, Jeedimetla, Moulali, Nallagandla and LB Nagar.

The strong growth in consumer demand driven by thriving commercial and residential developments is also expected to boost retail activity in these locations in the coming quarters. During the last quarter, Hyderabad recorded around 4,00,000 sqft of leasing across malls and main streets, registering a staggering growth of 81 per cent over the previous quarter. Leasing in the city was primarily driven by Ashoka Golden Mall commencing operations at Kukatpally and a few standalone projects starting their operations at prime high streets across residential locations such as Chandanagar, Manikonda, Khajaguda and LB Nagar.

Malls such as Sarath City, L&T Malls, DSL, GSM and Ashoka Golden Mall witnessed good traction, together accounting for 31 per cent of total leasing activity during the quarter.Both pan-India and domestic brands as well as international brands were active in mall leasing.

Apparel and clothing segment remained the leading demand driver, followed by sports goods and jewellery brands in malls and main streets.

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Small export-oriented garment factories in Saidpur, a town in Uttar Pradesh are struggling to recover from setbacks faced during the Covid pandemic when orders from abroad took a steep dive owing to lower demand amid economic uncertainty.

Besides, the lack of work has forced many skilled employees to leave the profession in search of an income. Small and medium enterprises have little access to formal credit as banks worry about being able to recover loans from businesses such as theirs.

Garments made in Saidpur come with a story of their own as the industry took its first steps just a few years ago, when innovative producers started making fashionable but cheap attire, such as jackets, jeans and shorts. Other than being crafted on traditional sewing machines, the speciality of these garments is that they are made using discarded scraps of cloth collected from large-scale garment factories.

The garments quickly gained popularity among the region's poor and middle-income households and then spread to the surrounding areas before eventually making it to the export market. This came as a blessing for low-income people in Saidpur as they could set up their own production unit at home with just two to three sewing machines.

17 January 2023, Mumbai

Rahul Row, who was head of marketing at Go Colors, has resigned. He was with the women’s bottom wear brand for eight years.

Go Colors offers churidar, ankle length leggings, shimmer leggings, available in a blend of fabrics ranging from cotton, elastane, nylon, polyester and rayon. These are available in slim fit and in sizes starting from S to 4XL in a spectrum of colors, tones and hues. Palazzos come in knit palazzos, linen palazzos, basic palazzos, wide palazzos, shiny palazzos and denim palazzos available in light breathable fabrics like viscose, elastane, linen, cotton, tencel and polyester available in sizes up to 2Xl in a wide color palette that works for all occasions from workwear, indo-western and festive looks.

Printed pants are super comfortable and available in cotton fabric with a tapered fit and an elastic waistband and a drawstring closure in an exclusive range of prints and colors of ikat and stripe prints available in sizes from S to 2XL. In terms of athleisure there are joggers made with a blend of cotton, polyester and elastane in jogger fit that are cuffed at the ankles and have an elastic waist band and come in a range of fun colors and sizes.

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16 January 2023, Mumbai

Karnataka will establish 25 mini-textile parks in the state, which have a larger concentration of weavers’ population. The mini textile parks will help weavers process cotton and manufacture readymade garments. The state has already launched a direct benefit transfer for handloom and powerloom weavers and workers under the Nekar Sanman scheme.

Weavers will be helped to focus on the quality of their products. They will be given export assistance. Steps are being taken to reach an agreement with Amazon, Flipkart and other online platforms. Karnataka aims at upgrading the weaver community. The state is making efforts to get international branding for weavers’ products as it will help in increasing productivity and improving the economy.

Karnataka is the biggest exporter of textiles in the country and the Ilkat saree is famous across the country. The state has increased the subsidy given to professional weavers from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. An occupancy certificate will be issued to those residing in Weavers’ Colony. Considering weaving at home a cottage industry, concession will be given from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. Weaving products will be brought under the education department’s Vidya Vikas scheme. From the next academic year, the education department will place orders for supplying the cloth required to stitch uniforms for school children.

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