20th September 2021, Mumbai:

Sandeep Jain, Executive Director, Monte Carlo Fashions says, his company is expected to grow by around 15-20 per cent in FY22 compared to last year and surpass pre-COVID sales level. The company will also sustain its pre-COVID profit-margins of 18-19 per cent this year. Last year, Monte Carlo had to close all showrooms and shops due to lockdown. This impacted sales in the current year too. However, as COVID cases started decreasing and vaccination sped up, the brand’s sales accelerated in July and August to reach pre-COVID levels. Its online sales also accelerated and are poised to reach 50 per cent of overall sales this year, adds Jain.

The brand expects kid’s wear segment to grow 25-30 per cent this year, while its home furnishing segment is also expected to grow well. Monte Carlo also expects a good growth in its woolen segment while demand for cotton products, like shirts, trousers, denim and tracksuit will continue to rise.

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17th September 2021, Mumbai:

Allen Solly, Peter England have leased out space at the Bhumika Group-owned Urban Square Mall in Udaipur.

As per an Indian Retailer report, the brands have taken up 4,500 sq ft in the mall – Allen Solly 2,000 sq ft and Peter England 2,500 sq ft. Last month, Pantaloons and Thick Shake Factory leased out over 18,000 sq ft space here, with Pantaloon taking 17,000 sq ft and Thick Shake Factory 1,100 sq ft.

These three brands will add value to people’s lifestyles in the region. “The regular interest shown by big brands in the mall proves the utility of the mall. We have always been talking about positioning, and this mall will give desired results to the brands. It is a win-win situation for the brands and us. The objective is to provide the best lifestyle to the city's people and cater to the international tastes of the tourists visiting the city. The possession at the project will start soon, as we are working according to the RERA commitment,” says Uddhav Poddar, Managing Director, Bhumika Group.

Urban Square is iconic hospitality-focused mixed-use destination development with a balanced mix of commercial, retail, hospitality, and entertainment. Spread over an area of 1.8 million square feet, Urban Square has leading global brands such as Adidas, Puma, Asics, Shoppers Stop, Inox, Marks & Spencers, Tata Westside, Tata Zudio, Reliance Trends, Adidas, Puma, Asics, F-Bar, Holiday Inn, etc.

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Ethnic and lifestyle brand Fabindia has launched a revamped store in New Delhi after being shut in 2019 due to building regulations. 

The store launched with the brand’s latest collection FabNu, a line of women’s lounge and casual wear. The new sub-brand reimagines FabIndia’s signature Indian printed textiles as relaxed western and fusion wear designed to fit work-from-home and two-mile trends. The store also houses an alteration station and café.

Fabindia was founded by John Bissell in 1960. The brand specializes in Indian outfits. Their garments are made from hand printed and hand woven fabrics. In 2000, the non-textile range of Fabindia was launched. The brand then introduced personal care products in 2006 and handcrafted jewellery in 2008.

Fabindia uses traditional crafts and knowledge for creating their products. The brand works with talented artisans from rural India. Its motto is to provide beautiful lifestyle products to its urban customers besides creating livelihoods in the rural parts of the country.

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18th September 2021, Mumbai:

VERO MODA, owned by Danish retailer Bestseller and known for its contemporary fashion and designs, comes here with some of the newest international trends for Indian ladies. That's what we call EASY! Yes, the fashion-forward label has released EASE, its first loungewear and comfort collection, which focuses on relaxation, recuperation, and comfort. When it comes to staying in, the EASE collection has two primary categories: Loungewear and Sleepwear, which cater to diverse customer interests and preferences. The new line seeks to provide consumers with excellent attire that easily transitions from home to outwear - all while maintaining style and comfort. In a variety of vivid designs and fresh pastel colors, the Sleepwear collection includes printed night robes, comfortable stylish pajamas, T-shirts, and shorts.

The Comfortwear collection, on the other hand, features solid-colored co-ord sets of sweatshirts and T-shirts combined with joggers and track pant designs that can be worn to sleep as well as for exercises. In addition, the new collection is ultra-soft, light, and breathable. And there could not have been a better moment for the debut than now when the majority of consumers are at home and seeking for comfortable yet flexible clothing to wear. The collection will be accessible on www.veromoda.in as well as partner retail sites as Captive, Myntra, Nykaa, and Ajio. Bestseller, founded in Denmark, introduced VERO MODA in 1987 as a high-end clothing brand featuring the newest trends at an affordable price. Currently, VERO MODA India has 67 outlets and 285 shop-in-shops around the country.

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17th September 2021, Mumbai:

Flatheads, a direct-to-customer (D2C) online casual footwear business, announced on Thursday that it has secured USD 1 million (about Rs 7.3 crore) in a fundraising round headed by We Founder Circle and Dexter Angels.

Flatheads said in a statement that additional investors in the pre-series A investment round included Gaurav Kapur (TV presenter and founder, Oaktree Sports), Sahil Barua (co-founder, Delhivery), and Radhika Ghai (Co-founder, ShopClues). Flatheads have raised a total of USD 1.5 million since its start, including the present round.

"With an emphasis on e-commerce, the pandemic has expedited the adoption of online D2C companies, and we are seeing supercharged growth." Flatheads co-founder and CEO Utkarsh Biradar stated,

"With the current fundraising, we want to develop Flatheads as a lifestyle brand manufactured in India for the globe - by establishing the brand identity, increasing our footprint globally, and investing in product uniqueness." The company intends to use the cash to expand internationally and differentiate its products in the market.

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16th September 2021, Mumbai:

Women’s ethnic wear and lifestyle brand Biba has launched ‘Spelle’ a new range of fragrances’ online and in stores. The range includes three scenes: Dea’, ‘Intoxique’ and ‘Spoil Me’. As per Fashion Network, these fragrances are available in 100ml and 30 ml fragrance bottles as well as gift sets featuring mini and full-sized versions of all three perfumes. The fragrances currently only ship to Indian addresses, according to the brand’s e-commerce store.

Each fragrance in the Spelle collection evokes a different facet of the consumers’ mystical power; moods, dreams, adventures, experiences lived and magic made. All Spelle fragrances carry deeply authentic accords. Created using the finest quality ingredients from around the world, Spelle fragrances are conjured by a master perfumer in the UK. Perfumer to the Royalty and exclusive names, he has been creating bespoke fragrances for the Royal families world over and Sheikhs.

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17th September 2021, Mumbai:

Bollywood actor Shraddha Kapoor has been signed as the first brand ambassador High Street Essentials (HSE)-owned brand Indya. The omnichannel fast fashion brand, was born out of a thought to re-look ethnic fashion and design by considering the lifestyle and changing needs and choices of the modern Indian woman who wants to update her traditional ethnic wear with elements that are current and in line with what’s happening from a global fashion point of view.

As per a Fashion Network report, Kapoor will promote the brand in a variety of campaigns across media platforms. She will begin her association with the launch of Indya’s first campaign and digital film ‘That’s My Indya.’

Kapoor says, Indya has re-invented Indian fashion by beautifully capturing the essence of what the modern Indian woman is looking for today. Started in 2012 by Shivani Poddar and Tanvi Malik, HSE also owns fashion brand Faballey. It recently entered expanded its product portfolio by entering the skincare segment.

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17th September 2021, Mumbai:

Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail says the company is poised to achieve Rs 25,000 crore revenue in five years. In FY21, ABFRL recorded net revenues of Rs 5,249 crore and an EBITDA of Rs 628 crore.

It expects markets to return to normalcy towards the latter half of FY22. The plan is to focus on ethnic wear segment that has strong resilience to apparel cycle fluctuations and is least impacted by competition from global brands.

Over the last two years, ABFRL has carefully crafted a portfolio that gives it a sizable presence across key price points and sub-segments. The company has one of the strongest and most comprehensive portfolios of brands in the Indian ethnic space, Birla adds. In January 2021, ABFRL acquired 51 per cent stake in designer brand Sabyasachi and entered a strategic partnership with Tarun Tahiliani in February. It also raised Rs 1,500 crore by issuing a 7.8 per cent stake on a preferential basis to Walmart-owned Flipkart Group in FY21.

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16th September 2021, Mumbai:

Inditex, the parent company of Zara, reported a 1.27 billion euro ($1.50 billion) first-half profit on Wednesday, citing increasing worldwide demand for designer goods as a reason for the increase.

Inditex reported a net profit of 195 million between February and July, compared to a loss of 195 million in the same time in 2020, although it was still 17.5 percent lower than the first-half profit in 2019.

As most businesses reopened and consumers yearned to refresh their wardrobes following the pandemic's shutdown, the Spanish retailer's sales were near to pre-pandemic levels.

Inditex's real sales increased by 49% year over year and decreased by 7% year over year in the first quarter of 2019.

According to the firm, sales revenues increased by 7% between May and July compared to the same period last year, as customers resumed purchasing clothing for summer social gatherings following immunization programs that increased mobility.

Watch YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnQ6v9wBHyOlRPSDgJMsJaA

17th September 2021, Mumbai:

Walmart-owned Flipkart is on track to have over 4.2 lakh sellers and MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) by the end of this year. The e-commerce seller has onboarded around 75,000 sellers on its platform in the past few months, Currently, it supports digital commerce for 3.75 lakh sellers and is steadily working towards taking this number to 4.2 lakh sellers on its platform by the year-end.

Since the pandemic, the Flipkart marketplace has seen an encouraging response from MSMEs who want to take their business online with e-commerce.

The new sellers and MSME base predominantly come from Tier-II and -III markets such as Agra, Indore, Jaipur, Panipat, Rajkot, Surat, and many others. The Flipkart marketplace platform has also witnessed the rise in categories such as general merchandise, home and kitchen, and personal care

Flipkart's continuously strives to ensure that every small business, MSME, women-entrepreneur, artisan, weaver or handicraft marker is an active participant in the upcoming festive season, says Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer.

Its partnership with Kiranans is also growing rapidly as part of the company's last-mile delivery program, he adds.

To support the business continuity and growth of these sellers during the festive season, Flipkart has enabled a next-day payment programthat allows sellers to receive their order payments within a day. It also offers sellers customised offerings from lenders based on projected growth.

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16th September 2021, Mumbai:

Leading children's clothing brand Popees plans to add 100 new stores across the country to expand its retail presence.

The company plans to expand in South India through own and franchisee model outlets. It also plans to foray into the international market later this year by opening stores in London and Manchester.

Currently, Popees has 32 exclusive outlets in South India in addition to thousands of multi-brand outlets stocking its products. Of these 32 outlets, it opened 25 since the COVID outbreak and despite the lingering pandemic performance and prospects of these outlets was promising which made the brand take up a retail expansion spree.

Popees also plans to increase the number of exclusive outlets past 100 this year and in five years it plans to expand store network to 500 and increase revenues to over Rs 1,000 crore.

Popees has three manufacturing plants that produces over 5 lakh garments every month across categories. The brand also sells on leading e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and Ajio.

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