07 January 2023, Mumbai

Uptownie plans to take the phygital (physical and digital expansion) route for future growth in the Indian market.

The women’s wear fashion brand aims to be present in over 500 stores across the country and expand its online presence by collaborating with social media influencers to connect with its target audience. Its vision for 2023 is to continue to grow aggressively on its own website and push its physical presence to over 500 stores across the country. The brand is currently onboarding more than ten stores a week. The larger goal is to become a one-stop shop for women looking for western and indo-western wear at an affordable and accessible price point.

In the past quarter, Uptownie has successfully improved the conversion rate, average order value and session’s rate and launched a successful capsule collection with Riya Jain, who is a top tier influencer. The coming year will bring several more collaborations both in the indo-western and western segments and the brand hopes to engage Gen Z consumers through content that is constantly relevant to them.

Uptownie is currently present at over 15 retail outlets across the country and retails through its website along with e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Nykaa, among many others.

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 29 December 2022, Mumbai

Arrow has launched a store in Bangalore. The 800 sqft store reflects Arrow’s new retail identity which emphasizes the brand’s rich American heritage, contemporary style, and New York point of view. The store is elegantly decorated with state-of-the-art fixtures, the brand’s signature gold A vector logo, and a bright aesthetic that adds to the overall premium look and feel.

The store will showcase the brand’s versatile new range. In shirts, the collection includes auto press and iconic white shirts, formals with a myriad range of colors and textures, suede blazers with elbow patches and knit blazers, New York trousers, auto flex trousers, soft touch chinos, corduroy chinos and knit trousers. Also, it being the wedding season, the store will also feature a great combination of ceremonial shirts with interesting fabric mixing textures and prints paired with premium-looking blazers and elegant bundis (waistcoats).

Arrow has been instrumental in shaping menswear since 1851. It was launched in India in 1993 as one of the first premium international brands in the country. The brand currently has over 200 exclusive stores and is available in over 1,000 multi-brand outlets in 109 cities across India. The brand is strategically increasing its footprint across cities, not just with standalone stores, but also with various multi-brand outlets and department stores.

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 06 January 2023, Mumbai

Style Up has opened in Ahmedabad. Style Up from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail is a fashion brand offering affordable on-trend apparel and accessories.

This is the company’s first store in Gujarat. Style Up is currently growing all over India, especially in Tier II and Tier III cities where there is a greater need for reasonably priced, high-quality clothing. The Style Up line aims at meet the needs of fashion-conscious people of all ages by offering quality pieces at affordable prices.

Products include footwear, handbags and apparel in both western and fusion designs. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are home to the bulk of Style Up’s retail outlets (with a total of five in Uttar Pradesh and six in Bihar). The average Style Up store is between 6,000sqft and 8,000 sqft and the company operates in more than 16 locations across India. This fits in with the firm’s strategy of reaching a wider audience than just the buyers of the brands it currently represents.

In addition to Style Up, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail has a range of brands such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England along with the fast fashion store brand Pantaloons.

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 03 January 2023, Mumbai

Fashion brand FOReT has won an award from PETA for its line of wallets. FOReT received the award for its attention to cutting-edge innovation and sustainability in fashion.

The brand’s line of wallets is made from genuine cork fabric sourced from Portugal, giving customers an eco-friendly vegan alternative.People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) awards honor and celebrate cruelty-free fashion including clothing, accessories, jewellery and more.

FOReT is India’s first brand to have launched jewellery and handbags from cork, a plant-based material. Much like FOReT’s line of wallets, the brand’s other product offerings like jewellery, bags and laptop bags are also eco-conscious and made from mindful materials that are earth-friendly and cruelty-free.

Cork is the vegan-friendly brand’s primary material as it’s not only sustainable, cruelty-free and vegan, but also has great longevity and is light-weight. FOReT also uses other materials like handmade porcelain ceramic beads, stainless steel and gold plated on brass.

The brand also supports as many as more than 250 artisans, including rural women and artisans globally. Brands and retailers and apparel and footwear companies want to be seen as embracing veganism and as declaring products free from animal-derived materials or ingredients. But sourcing vegan fashion products goes further than simply bypassing wool, leather and natural silk as raw materials. Retailers must also take care to guard against the use of a number of dyes, glues and chemicals that are derived from animals.

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 27 December 2022, Mumbai

Lee Cooper has opened stores in Pune and Manipal. The brand has also just opened stores in Indore and Gwalior.

In 2021 Reliance Retail and the US-based Iconix jointly acquired the Lee Cooper brand’s rights for India. Prior to this, the manufacturing rights of the brand were held by Kishore Biyani’s Future Lifestyle Fashions. Lee Cooper apparel was being sold at various retail formats owned by the Future Group including Central, fbb, Brand Factory along with many e-commerce platforms. Lee Cooper was introduced as a footwear brand in India by M&B Footwear in 1995.

The stores offer a wide range of denim collections, footwear and accessories for children and adults. The brand caters to men, women and children. Known for its apparel and denimwear collections, denim is the main product and it contributes to nearly 90 per cent of the business in bottom wear and around 50 per cent in top wear. Lee Cooper considers the young and the youthful, who exude attitude and confidence at all times, as its core target customers. They look cool without trying too hard.

Founded in London in 1908, the brand has a presence in many countries across the globe.

Iconix is a joint venture unit of Reliance Brands.Reliance Brands will be able to manufacture and distribute Lee Cooper branded products in India.

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 05 January 2023, Mumbai

Madame opened 18 new stores in states like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Assam in 2022.

The women’s fashion brand plans to continue its retail expansion to cater to the untapped market segment by opening new stores in 2023 with a focus on Tier II and III cities across India.

Since Indians love fashion, and people living in Tier II and III cities are equally aware of global fashion trends and are looking for brands to offer them western fashion options at affordable prices, Madame wants to cater to this segment as a commitment to fulfil the fashion needs of modern Indian women across the country.

The brand’s sales grew by 25 percent during the October-December quarter and it expects a strong end to the financial year on the back of its retail expansion.

Madame was created in 1993 to meet the fashion needs of progressive and modern Indian women. In keeping with this vision, Madame’s fashion keeps up with the latest trends and is also easy on the pocket.The brand manufactures its clothing in Ludhiana and currently has over 150 exclusive brand outlets across the country as well as a presence in over 700 multi-brand stores and e-commerce platforms.

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 30 December 2022, Mumbai

Tryb, known for its sports-specific innerwear is a direct to consumer Indian brand. It has the highest spandex content compared to other brands in the country. The products have unique fabric blends, nylon spandex, kooltex spandex, 36TX stretch, allowing the wearer to stretch to their maximum capacity without any hindrance.

The Drytek feature is a quick-drying fabric quality allowing the wearer to stay dry even during their most intense workout. TRYB combines fashion and functionality and is out to disrupt the market by introducing garments made with the highest quality standards, ideal fabric blends, and superior packaging.

Currently, consumers can choose from Activ Briefs, Activ Squarecut, Activ H-Trunk, Pro Short boxer, Pro Squarecut, and Pro Compression. The plan is to expand the product portfolio in 2023 with the addition of three more products in a wide assortment of colors. As a safe and sustainable brand, Tryb doesn’t use any plastic in its packaging, and its packaging is reusable. Currently, Tryb is trying to reach its target audience through social media and micro-influencer marketing. Additionally, the brand is available across all the major marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Tata Cliq, and Jiomart.

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 26 December 2022, Mumbai

Being Human is offering a flat 50 per cent discount. The occasion is founder Salman Khan’s birthday.

Founded to further the objective of Being Human – The Salman Khan Foundation, a charitable trust devoted to education and healthcare initiatives for the underserved Indian population, Being Human clothing has always stood for loving, caring and sharing. Royalties from the clothing line help support education and healthcare initiatives of the foundation.

The brand has also always been about inclusivity and integrity. Keeping these principles in mind, the label will be offering a transparent flat 50 per cent discount on not just selected pieces but the entire clothing and accessory range.

What brings out the DNA in the clothing range is the detailed visual evoking the charitable aspect of the brand. The results are collection that are stylish yet reach out to the people to help spread these values. Every garment helps shape a life through education or helps save a life through healthcare initiatives. Being Human clothing majorly targets youth across all markets and demographics who would like to look good and do good at the same time.

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 04 January 2023, Mumbai

Spykar aims to be the second largest denim brand in India.

This homegrown denim wear brand has carved out a special place for itself in the country and is giving a tough competition to international brands. Spykar has a very unique place in India. It is probably the only brand that offers denim as fashion while other brands project themselves as classic denim.

In 2023 Spykar will focus on content marketing and creating on-ground IPs to attract audiences. Spykar is one of the largest offline denim players with a significant presence as far as retail stores are concerned. The brand speaks to audiences who are younger through digital and to the existing audience who have experienced Spykar first-hand through retail outlets. The brand will be doing a lot of affiliate marketing besides social media and will go a little stronger and more bullish on creating on-ground properties and IPs for the brand. The 360-degree campaign will be built around certain properties the brand can associate with. There will be a lot of on-ground events happening and digital and social media will also be important.

Spykar also has an intimate wear brand Underjeans.

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 26 December 2022, Mumbai

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail is in advanced talks to acquire a 51 per cent stake in TCNS Clothing.

The deal will be a mix of stock and cash, and is likely to be signed and announced soon. The transaction will provide Aditya Birla Fashion access to a strong portfolio of women’s wear brands with a strong distribution network. TCNS Clothing is the owner of the popular women’s wear brands W and Aurelia.

TCNS Clothing reported a 46 per cent growth in revenue in the September quarter from a year ago. Operating profit grew by six per cent while net profit declined 31 per cent.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail sells clothes and accessories from Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England, among others. Aditya Birla’s strategy is to build a portfolio of new-age, digital brands across categories in fashion, beauty and lifestyle segments. Aditya Birla plans to enable multiple founders to operate within a synergistic platform that will have shared capabilities and make eight to ten investments in early-stage digital first brands by the end of this financial year with the initial focus being on broad categories of fashion.

Traditional companies have the wherewithal to acquire new D2C brands to compensate for their late entry in the online space, a channel that now accounts for 30 per cent to 50 per cent for several brands.

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