Festive fashion finds a new heartland, Tier-II consumers drive 60% shipments
27 November 2025, Mumbai
This festive season, India’s fashion-and-apparel landscape saw a major shift. According to operational data from logistics-provider Emiza, overall order volumes rose 13 per cent year-on-year, while D2C shipments went up 30 per cent. Even more striking: nearly 60 per cent of total festive shipments came from Tier II cities. This isn’t just a sales bump, it signals a deepening of D2C adoption beyond metros, and homegrown fashion brands are at the heart of it.
Why small cities are driving the D2C fashion wave
Untapped demand, growing infrastructure: As Emiza’s founder Ajay Rao notes, "shoppers in smaller cities now demand the same speed and reliability as those in metros."
Logistics recalibrated: To meet that demand, Emiza increased capacity pre-festive, adding 140,000 cubic feet in warehouse space and handling up to 0.8 million shipments daily during peak.
Fashion still wins: Among categories, fashion (apparel, footwear, accessories) saw a 15 per cent seasonal growth, a healthy uptick in a maturing market. Fashion and beauty products together accounted for nearly 50 per cent of total festive e-commerce revenues, with fashion alone capturing approximately 27.73 per cent of sales, as per data from e-commerce enabler GoKwik. This signals that the rising middle class in smaller cities is prioritizing aspirational, brand-driven purchases, especially in apparel.
Local D2C brands rise up
Smaller, homegrown brands are capitalizing on this shift. One illustrative case is Kisah Apparels, a Kolkata-based men’s ethnicwear label. Founded in 2018, Kisah began as a marketplace-first business. In mid-2025, it raised Rs 13 crore (led by Wow! Momo’s Sagar Daryani) to double down on D2C and offline growth. Its strategy: use rich customer data from its e-commerce channels to design, market, and manage inventory targeting Gen Z and millennial consumers who want stylish, modern ethnic wear.
What underpins this growth is Kisah’s shift into a data-led design and distribution model. The company tracks style preferences emerging out of smaller cities shorter kurtas in the East, pastel palettes in the South, elaborate embroideries in the North and feeds those insights straight back into product development. This loop allows it to refresh collections at aggressive intervals, staying aligned with a customer base that is no longer passive but taste-making.
Financially, Kisah claims a revenue run rate of Rs 90-100 crore, up from Rs 40–45 crore, with positive operating cash flow and PAT. Using the fresh capital, Kisah plans three more stores (adding to its two existing ones) marking its move toward a true omnichannel model.
Another example is that of Brune & Bareskin's, a D2C brand specializing in handcrafted leather and bespoke accessories, recorded a strong rise in festive orders from non-metro regions. Founder Tabby Bhatia noted, "Consumers in these markets are increasingly seeking premium, personalized products and are willing to invest in quality. The growth from these markets isn't just incremental, it's signaling a long-term change in India's luxury and lifestyle consumption pattern." This case exemplifies the rising aspiration for premium fashion goods beyond the metros.
A new market, but not without friction
The festive boom confirmed the scale of opportunity, but it also highlighted the complexities D2C brands must now navigate. Delivering to Tier-II and Tier-III towns carries higher logistics costs, deeper return cycles, and more unpredictable inventory movement. For apparel, where size variations and styling change of mind returns run high unit economics remain fragile.
Brands must also contend with the challenge of building durable loyalty in a market flooded with discounts and aggressive festive pricing. With marketplaces holding enormous sway, most emerging labels still depend on algorithm visibility and platform-led promotions to drive volume. The long-term question remains whether these customers will migrate to brand-owned channels, where margins improve and lifetime value compounds.
And as more brands move toward offline expansion, capital intensity grows: store rentals, staffing, supply chain synchronization, and working capital all demand structured planning a hurdle that smaller D2C labels often underestimate.
Logistical hurdles and the path ahead
While the demand story is bright, it also has several operational challenges. The massive influx of orders from Tier II cities puts a stress test on logistics infrastructure.
Emiza's Founder, Ajay Rao, pointed out that "Shoppers in smaller cities now demand the same speed and reliability as those in metros." This shift necessitates logistics providers to redesign networks and place fulfillment capacity closer to consumption clusters. For instance, Emiza ramped up its festive-season hiring by 30 per cent and added significant warehouse capacity to manage peak daily shipments of up to 0.8 million.
Moreover, the digital advertising space is becoming increasingly competitive. Experts report a 15-30 per cent rise in Cost Per Mille (CPM) across regional OTT platforms and vernacular YouTube channels as D2C brands vie for the attention of the Tier II consumer. This growing customer acquisition cost is a major pressure point for the financial outlook of D2C firms, pushing them toward a more balanced, offline-integrated approach.
The growth narrative for fashion D2C brands is now inextricably linked to the evolving aspirations and increasing digital adoption in Tier II India. The challenge lies in efficiently scaling the logistics and physical retail footprint to sustain this exponential demand while maintaining profitability in a high-competition digital landscape.
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