Decline in formalwear sales boosts casual wear segment in Q1 FY21

An 81 per cent fall in formal wear sales during the first quarter of FY21 has led to acceleration in options for casual wear. The rise of work-from-home (WFH) trends has encouraged formal wear brands including Raymond, Van Heusen and Peter England to launch new casual wear collections. These brands are also focusing on digitizing the customer experience by going D2C. They are also incorporating 3D technologies in their manufacturing besides innovating with spandex fabrics, says Prashant Agarwal, Co-Founder and Joint Managing Director, Wazir Advisors.

Raymond has launched a virtual shopping experience through WhatsApp and Zoom video calls, with a concierge service for tailored garments from the comfort of consumers’ homes. Its readymade segment is focusing on comfort and casualisation by incorporating cotton-based fabrics.

ABFRL’s Van Heusen recently launched a sub-brand, Denim Labs, to sell more T-shirts, denim shirts, jeans, casual jackets and casual shirts. Bombay Shirt Company too, has launched two brands: Cityof, a casual wear shirt brand; and Korra, a denim brand. Launched in the second half of 2020, the company’s online sales doubled this year, says Akshay Narvekar, founder and CEO, Bombay Shirt Company.

Brands see this trend of shifting from formalwear to casual/ semi-casual as ‘temporary’ because the pandemic may not change buying behavior overnight. According to Wazir Advisors, in FY19-20, the formalwear market was pegged at Rs 1,400 crore and next year onwards, the segment is likely to grow between 8-10 per cent over the next four years.