20th September 2021, Mumbai:

Leading footwear and performance apparel brand Woodland plans to add new stores in its sales network as it expects customers to return to physical stores as the vaccination paces up. The brand also expects to return to its pre-pandemic sales turnover in the current fiscal.

As per its sales strategy, the company will continue to focus on both offline and online channels.In the wake of pandemic and subsequent restrictions on people's movement, Woodland's sales from e-commerce channels have spiked, and the segment now contributes almost 40 per cent to its total sales.

Though, Woodland expects this trend to continue but e-commerce contribution in the overall sales of the company are expected to come down as there would be some rationalization as offline stores will bounce back as the threat of the pandemic recedes.

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17th September 2021, Mumbai:

Sport performance brand, Asics has announced its commitment to nurture young talent in the field of wrestling in India. The Japanese sports major will work towards strengthening its focus on wrestling by uplifting the minds of young athletes.

Along with access to cutting-edge apparel and footwear, ASICS will inspire youth to defy convention and choose a sound mind for a sound body first, for better performance.

ASICS has been working with many young athletes and investing in grassroot initiatives to empower young boys and girls to take to sports. Some of the brand’s grassroot investments include the ASICS Running Club, Tata Mumbai Marathon, TCS World 10k and Rohan Bopanna Tennis Academy. Indian athletes including Manika Batra, Bajrang Punia, Ravindra Jadeja, Sakshi Malik, Karman Kaur Thandi, Rohan Bopanna, T.Gopi along with international athletes like Novak Djokovic etc.

Asics produces sports equipment designed for a wide range of sports. The name is an acronym for the Latin phrase anima sana in corpore sano, which translates as ‘Sound mind in a sound body.’ In recent years their running shoes have often been ranked among the top performance footwear in the market.

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14th September 2021, Mumbai:

Bollywood actress Kriti Sanon has been named as the new brand ambassador of watches and lifestyle accessories specialist Fossil Group.

As per a Fashion Network report, Sanon will promote the brand’s watch and accessory categories ranging from traditional watches, smartwatches, leather products, and jewellery for women. She will start her association with Fossil in a brand campaign alongside actor Varun Dhawan.

Johnson Verghese, Managing Director, Fossil Group India, says, the brand has always endeavored to design watches, jewellery, and leather goods that preserve a unique modern-vintage spirit and exemplify creativity and optimism. The brand brings distinctive, world-class designs to the table. Embracing the spirit of innovation and individuality, itl advocates authenticity that strongly resonates with my personal outlook towards style, adds Sanon.

The US-based brand Fossil has over 20 exclusive-brand outlets across India. It also sells through multi-brand retail outlets and leading e-commerce platforms.

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• Akaaro to present first bridal wear collection at 'IOTA21'
• 'Coutloot' to expand B2B supply chain; accelerate hiring across verticals
• Flipkart to grow 60 per cent this year

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20th September 2021, Mumbai:

Garment Mantra Lifestyle Ltd has expanded its retail footprint by opening a new store in Tamil Nadu's southern city of Coimbatore.

Over the next several months, the firm aims to aggressively expand its retail network across India, with up to 15 additional locations planned.

“We at Garment Mantra are happy to tell our stakeholders about this strategic plan for our retailing arm - Twenty Twenty Trading LLP,” said Prem Aggarwal, chairman and managing director of Garment Mantra, in a statement.

We've already launched 11 stores, and our goal is to become a pan-India player by establishing 13-15 more in the near future to increase our market reach and meet each Indian's brand aspiration.”

“By introducing additional goods like fashion accessories to our product basket, we've already expanded our reach and penetration into a customer's pocketbook. Apart from that, we are executing various models such as exhibition cum sales across India, where people will be able to purchase branded items at extremely low prices,” he added.

Under its own Hylex, Monk, and Helicon brands, Garment Mantra Lifestyle manufactures the most up-to-date trendy nightwear.

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16th September 2021, Mumbai:

Nykaa Fashion’s launches plus size apparels in ‘Curve Collection’. This is part of its private label ‘Twenty Dresses’ and features garments designed specifically for larger sizing. The collection features garments in sizes 2XL and goes up to 4XL with cuts designed to flatter the wearer.

Some of notable items in the new collection include: paisley print ‘Tropical Escape’ strappy dress and ‘This Night is Ours’ floor length maroon gown.

Priced similar to its straight size clothing, the range was launched with a promotional discount of 15 per cent. The collection empowers and celebrates the little idiosyncrasies of the consumers. Nykaa Fashion retails a wide range of Indian and international brands on its e-commerce store. It also has a small menswear segment.

The business is the fashion arm of Falguni Nayar’s beauty giant Nykaa which has a network of multi-brand stores across India.

TOP 5:

• Inditex's net profit for the first half of the year has increased as sales have nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels
• Pratibha Syntex (India) has completed the ZDHC fundamental level
• Tirupur, India's largest garment manufacturing hub, employs illegal foreign labor!
• Joshna Chinappa, a squash player, has been named as Asics' latest brand athlete
• In India, Adidas opens its first flagship shop

13th September 2021, Mumbai:

Mumbai-based social e-commerce start-up Coutloot plans to expand its B2B supply chain and step up hiring across verticals including tech, marketing and leadership roles. The company has raised $8 million (Rs 58 crore) in pre-series funding round led by venture capital firm Ameba Capital for this expansion.

The funding round was attended by investors including SOSV, 9Unicorns, Astarc Ventures and Venture Catalysts.

Kevin Wang, Managing Partner, Ameba Capital says, Coutloot has best addressed the needs from the rising consumption of 500 million-plus Tier II, III Indian population, by converging online and offline retail. Jasmeet Thind, Co-founder and CEO adds the company gives sellers and buyers the power to decide prices after a bargain on the chat. Founded by Jasmeet Thind and Mahima Kaul, Coutloot provides business opportunities to over 500,000 offline retailers, mom-and-pop stores, home sellers, and street hawkers.

TOP 5:

• Vedant Fashions (Manyavar), an Indian ethnic wear company, has filed draught documents for an initial public offering (IPO)
• Aditya Birla Fashions aims for a revenue of Rs 25,000 crore by 2026
• States will compete for a place in the MITRA textiles initiative
• Coutloot receives $8 million in investment from Ameba Capital and other investors
• Akaaro, founded by Gaurav Jai Gupta, has launched a wedding collection

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17th September 2021, Mumbai:

An Italian brand famous for its handy yet glamorous products, Carpisa has opened new stores at Phoenix Palassio Mall, Lucknow.

As per an Indian Retailer report, the store reflects a clean and modern design, reflective of the brand stores across the world. The structure and the furniture perfectly convey the style and the brand identity. The products from the two different core lines, handbags, and luggage, are in perfect synergy: a modern integration, versatile and simple between architecture and product.

The newly launched Carpisa outlet will showcase some of Carpisa’s latest collections ranging from the summer collection, featuring beach bags in sustainable materials like woven straw and jute in colorful and graphic designs; for all those planning to get back to work and school, there are stylish laptop bags and backpacks as well as thermal lunch box holders in bright colors which will keep your food hot and fresh all day.

Established in 2001, Carpisa boasts a network of over 600 stores (present in 40+ countries) worldwide. Carpisa forayed into India, with its first store at DLF Mall of India, Noida last year, and will soon be expanding its retail footprint across the country.

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16th September 2021, Mumbai:

Asics has announced Joshna Chinappa, an Indian squash player, as its new brand athlete. Asics thinks that by partnering with this organization, it will be able to inspire the next generation of Indian athletes while also strengthening its consumer base in the nation.

“We at Asics India are immensely pleased with this fantastic collaboration with one of India's top squash players Joshna Chinappa,” said Rajat Khurana, managing director of Asics India, in a statement. Joshna and many more Indian women have become torchbearers in recent years due to their remarkable performances.

Asics is committed to assisting India's youngsters in developing a greater athletic spirit and desire. “I am incredibly delighted to join the Asics family and be a part of such a wonderful group of global athletes,” Joshna Chinappa remarked. Our shared goal is to increase Indian youth engagement in sports and empower women, and I am certain that Asics will help us achieve this.”

Asics first entered the Indian market in 2015, and the company now has over 55 locations and sells on major e-commerce platforms. Manika Batra, Bajrang Punia, Ravindra Jadeja, Sakshi Malik, Karman Kaur Thandi, Rohan Bopanna, and T.Gopi are among the Indian athletes with whom the brand has partnered.

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17th September 2021, Mumbai:

Indya, a brand owned by High Street Essentials (HSE), has hired Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor as its first brand ambassador. In a range of advertisements across media channels, the actor will be seen endorsing the brand. Kapoor will kick off her collaboration with Indya with the premiere of the brand's debut campaign and digital video,

"That's My Indya." “Shraddha personifies the millennial Indian woman that our brand is based around — autonomous, knowledgeable, and rooted in her being yet modern in her outlook,” Tanvi Malik and Shivani Poddar, co-founders of Indya, said in a joint statement.

She epitomizes the free-spirited Indya woman's confidence and determination.

Our collaboration with her is a step toward deepening our relationship with our customers and reaching out to millions of new women who will identify with our brand on an emotional and stylistic level.” “Indya has re-invented Indian fashion by brilliantly capturing the essence of what the modern Indian lady is searching for today,” Shraddha Kapoor remarked. My own style preferences perfectly connect with the brand's experimental and fuss-free spirit, since I'm always on the search for beautiful garments that I can easily slip into and go.

I am an Indian lady who is delighted to be connected with them.” HSE, which was founded in 2012 by Shivani Poddar and Tanvi Malik, also owns the fashion label Faballey. It recently extended its product line by branching out into the skincare market.

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15th September 2021, Mumbai:

The 9th edition of business-to-customer shopping event Dastkaarii will provide Lucknow’s shoppers with a multi-brand selection of handicraft items from numerous parts of the country. It will also give businesses a launchpad to reach new customers through media and publicity campaigns.

To be held in Lucknow from October 16-17, 2021, the shopping fair will feature around 55 exhibitors in product categories including traditional and occasion wear, fusion wear, handloom saris, jewellery, accessories, homeware, furniture, trousseau services, makeup artists, and lifestyle items among others. Dastkaarii expects around 2,000 visitors over the course of the two-day event, reports Fashion Network. Majority of participating businesses will be in the bridge-to-luxury segment of the market. The event will also follow strict health and safety and social distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

TOP 5:

• Cotton production in India may drop by 1%, according to Fitch Ratings
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• FabIndia re-opens its first store In New Delhi
• Nykaa debuts a plus-size range for Twenty Dresses, a private label
• Textiles may provide 7.5 lakh direct job opportunities under the government's PLI plan

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8th September 2021, Mumbai:

Resort wear brand Verandah has launched a new store at Sani Resort in Greece. As per Fashion Network, the store will sell the brand’s array of floaty dresses and cover-ups. Anjali Patel Metha, Founder says, the popularity of resort wear as a transition between loungewear and occasion wear has grown.

The category has become popular with Indian shoppers as well who are embracing it as everyday dressing, says Patel Mehta. Overseas, resort is linked to seasonal weather changes. In India, it was mostly linked to the holiday season. But that is changing as the world paradigm shifts, she adds.

Patel Mehta does not see the resort wear trend ending any time soon and predicts that the upcoming festive season will see resort wear replace more structured occasion wear for intimate events. The trend will not be isolated to India but will spread across Europe, she adds.

TOP 5:

• The Botanical Survey of India has digitized its entire textile collection
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• Big Day! Cabinet approves ₹10,683 crore PLI scheme for textile sector
• PLI for (MMF) Manmade fibre, Technical Textile:Awaiting Cabinet approval today

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