15 February 2023, Mumbai

Aza has opened a store in Hyderabad.

So Hyderabad now has a new one-stop shopping destination for designer clothing, jewelry and accessories for women and men. The Aza store spans 12,000 sqft across four floors and houses an eclectic mix of designers. With all prominent brands and their exclusive collections under one roof, plus a personized shopping experience, Aza makes finding the perfect outfit easy and seamless for customers.

The store is a destination for luxury shoppers in Hyderabad and is aimed at making luxury fashion more accessible. Founded in 2005, Aza which curates the finest in Indian fashion has stores in Mumbai and Delhi. The aim is to deliver an extraordinary shopping experience with an unparalleled focus on personalized service and customer satisfaction.

Aza is committed to curating the best in fashion and providing customers with unprecedented access to the most beautiful creations for every occasion, handcrafted by talented designers from across the country. The leading fashion authority has a presence both offline and online.

Aza’s luxury e-commerce store was launched in 2015 as a global web platform to offer clients the convenience of shopping the best of Indian fashion from anywhere in the world. This premier multi-designer online portal retails a curated selection of luxury apparel and accessories by over 1000 of India's most recognized and talented designers.

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31 January 2023, Mumbai

India plans to make Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) standards mandatory for footwear from July 2023. The only exemption will be for handmade footwear and those made by units with less than a Rs 50 lakh turnover.

But the Confederation of Indian Footwear Industries says there is a set of standards that is currently mandatory only for certain varieties of shoes and the plan to make the standards mandatory for footwear in general will make it difficult for the industry to forecast designs and dimensions. The association says the standards may affect the creativity of the industry and that in any case the industry continues to interact with the BIS to give its inputs regarding standards.

India has a two per cent share in the international footwear market and the plan is to increase it to ten per cent by 2030. The footwear industry is focusing on quality and reducing import dependence so as to capture a larger share of the international market. With western buyers looking at India as a potential supplier, Indian manufacturers are looking at increasing capacities. Sports shoes have the highest potential for higher exports. India has immense potential in the footwear sector and ethical and responsible practices like zero-waste discharge, salt-free tanning, and occupational health and safety interventions can increase production and export ten times in the near future.

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 03 February 2023, Mumbai

WK Life has opened a store in Raipur.

The new store retails a wide range of accessories such as handbags, makeup bags, fashion accessories, and makeup accessories, among others. The store also houses a large selection of electronic goods, perfumes, and personal care products as well as gift items.

The aim is to give the people of Raipura very unique and delightful shopping experience. Based in the UK, lifestyle and accessories business WK Life retails over 3,000 products and targets younger customers.

The business entered the Indian market in 2018. Globally, WK Life has a presence in over 1,000 stores in 60 countries. The brand offers a complete range of uniquely designed lifestyle electronic gadgets and accessories with multiple attributes. WK Life, with its highly sought-after and innovatively designed products, has caters to the needs of young and emerging generations. The focus is more on designing high-quality products that are catering to the lifestyle of millennials adding value to personality. It provides a variety of unique designs in different categories including smart life products like bluetooth speakers, laptop accessories, travel luggage and gear, household electronic articles, and car accessories with a 12-month replacement warranty on all product categories.

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For the current fiscal year, Nona Lifestyle aims at growing six fold.

The business-to-business textiles, corporate merchandise, and soft furnishings business also aims at expanding its export operations.

The plan is to create a structured market around the globe and be able to export to 35 to 40 countries in the near future.The business has raised Rs 3.5 crores in seed funding in 2020 and has put the funds towards developing its technology to provide accurate data and automate its supply chain. The business went on to raise a further Rs 11 crores in a Pre Series A funding round.

Within two years of launch, Nona Lifestyle has expanded operations to Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, and Siliguri to meet the demand across India and has added well-known brands such to its portfolio. Eventually, in 2019, the company expanded its presence in the UAE and registered a mainland company in Dubai.

Nona Lifestyle simplifies the buying and selling process of ready-to-sell fashion and lifestyle products.Nona Lifestyle is an all-in-one marketplace that simplifies (Design toDelivery) sourcing, production and all supply chain processes while leveraging the potential of textile, accessories, and apparel manufacturing technology. To ensure high quality, the company performs multi-level quality checks and work closely with its vendors at every step of the buying journey- from raw material selection to designingand prompt deliveries.

23 January 2023, Mumbai

Skechers has opened a store in Fatehabad, Haryana.

The footwear brand was launched in 2010 with its first standalone store in Mumbai. In 2017, Skechers India launched its own e-commerce store as part of its omnichannel approach in the country to reach out to more customers, particularly in non-metro areas.

In 2018, the brand reached the milestone of operating 200 stores across India by opening a concept store in Mumbai. Currently, the American footwear major has close to 400 stores in the country.

Skechers is an American multinational footwear brand, founded in 1992. The company designs, develops, and markets a range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel, and accessories for adults and children. Skechers’ own brands include Skechers Sport, Uno, D’Lites, the charity line Bobs, Our Planet Matters, Mark Nason, Skechers Work, Go Walk, Go Run, and Go Golf. Skechers USA’s revenue for the twelve months ending September 2022 increased by 20 per cent.

Skechers has a goal of being one of the largest sportswear brands in India. The company is changing its marketing strategy as per the latest consumer trends. The American footwear major is currently expanding into more markets, penetrating Tier II and III markets while adding categories. The brand predominantly sells lifestyle and performance footwear in India but plans to ramp up its presence in accessories and apparel.

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House of Pataudi has opened a store in Telangana. This store is House of Pataudi’s sixth outlet in India. Other stores are in Bangalore, Goa, Lucknow, Chennai and Mumbai.

House of Pataudi launched by actor Saif Ali Khan is a lifestyle brand for men and women. The brand’s collections are inspired by Saif Ali Khan’s personal style statement considering his Pataudi lineage and contemporary fashion preferences.

House of Pataudi offers apparel, footwear, and home from its Rozana, Jashn, and Riwayat collections, along with native crafts from artisans. Working with the finest craftsmen, the brand enables shoppers to access crafts like, kantha, kashidakari, mirror work, gotapatti and traditional Indian fabrics like kota and banarasi brocades, to choose from. Over the years, the brand has established itself as one of the leading players in the men’s ethnic wear space.

Consumers have turned to ethnic wear in a big way. They are upgrading their wardrobes for the festivities and the wedding season. The brand is on Myntra. Other than House of Pataudi, Myntra currently houses more than 10 celebrity brands such as HRX (HrithikRoshan), Wrogn (ViratKohli), All About You (DeepikaPadukone), Being Human (Salman Khan), and Saaki (Samantha Ruth) among others.

Anita Dongre has launched a line of plant-based vegan luxury handbags.

Handbags in the new vegan accessories line include a Swan Mini Grab Bag, a Birds Of A Feather Crossbody Bag, a Nocturnal Glass Beaded Bag, and a Champagne Gold Glass Beaded Bag.

The line also includes two belts, the Birds of a Feather Belt and the Haathi Belt. Accessories in the collection are made from Mirum which is a 100 per cent natural, zero per cent plastic, and cruelty free plant-based material which is manufactured to look and feel like leather. A number of bags are also made from recycled glass beads.

This line is created for women who wear their values on their sleeve, a philosophy of fashion that includes conscious, ethical, and timelessly elegant pieces. The collection is designed to be worn with traditional, fusion, or western style dress.

To highlight her commitment to animal welfare, Dongre will donate five per cent of the proceeds from the line of accessories to the India Animal Fund which works towards a future where animals are treated with care and love.

Anita Dongre is known for brands like And and Global Desi. A showcase of exquisite Indian aesthetics and craftsmanship in a contemporary language is prevalent in all of Anita Dongre’s designs.

The garment sector of Indore expects a 40 per cent jump in business in the wedding season. So this is also true of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra.

There has been a rise in bulk orders to Indore from outstation markets and an increase in sales at retail counters. Orders from south India, the traditional market for Indore origin products, have risen as against the previous years in the same period. Apart from traditional markets that purchase garments from Indore, many new centers have placed orders.

Indore is a hub for readymade garment manufacturers and suppliers. There are around 1200 readymade garment manufacturers in Indore and it also boasts of a readymade complex in Pardeshipura, a hub for garment manufacturers housing around 125 units.

The festival and wedding season starts from January and extends until March. This is the peak sales period for garments for which orders are booked at least six months in advance and dispatches start from November or December. The Covid scare had engulfed the market but things are back to normal and this is now witnessed in the sales trend. Demand has risen despite a spike in raw cotton prices, chemical and fuel cost that has made clothes and readymade garments expensive.

 01 February 2023, Mumbai

CK Jaipuriawill set up retail stores of Adidas across India.

CK Jaipuria is PepsiCo’s franchise bottler in Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.The plan is to set up 100 Adidas footwear and sportswear stores by the end of 2024. This will be Adidas’ biggest franchise partnership in the country. The stores will come up in Tier II and III markets. The development comes at a time when brands are looking to rapidly expand their offline presence amid forecasts of healthy revival of consumer demand. Retail industry sales in December 2022 showed a healthy demand for footwear and sports goods. Overall retail sales grew 16 percent in December 2022 compared to the pre-pandemic December 2019, with footwear and sports goods growing by 29 per cent and 25 per cent. Howeverthe entire category suffered during the pandemic when people stayed indoors and gyms and offices stayed shut, Adidas India’s revenue declined by 23 per cent in fiscal year 2021 compared to fiscal year 2020. Demand for athleisure and sporting apparel has picked up with the easing of Covid restrictions. Even before the onset of the pandemic, athleisure sneakers, sweatshirts, fitness clothing and high-performance sportswear had become trendy, with consumers opting for these even for casual wear dressing, and lines blurring between causal and sportswear.

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18 January 2023, Mumbai

D2C brand Mona B is making an online entry into India. This will be through its website and major marketplaces like Amazon, Myntra, Ajio, Tata Cliq, and Jaypore. By 2024 the brand aims at entering offline channels through multi-brand stores like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Iconic, etc.

This is an American lifestyle brand. Mona B products are designed in the US but will be manufactured 100 percent in India, giving the brand its distinctive identity. The vision is to take the idea of zero waste living to each household globally through products that are highly utility and a part of daily lives.

Mona B offers a diverse range of products starting from women’s bags, unisex bags, laptop sleeves, duffle bags, backpacks, placement mats, drinkware, pet accessories, coasters, carpets, passport covers, travel bags, and so on.

It works on designing and manufacturing bags and lifestyle products by using recycling, upcycling, and eco-friendly practices. Mona B vegan leather bags are crafted using skin-friendly, eco-friendly, and animal-friendly dyes in the latest American designs.

As a brand, Mona B produces bags by upcycling trash. The designs are not only eco-friendly and produce less waste, but they are also super trendy.

The waste issue in the fashion industry is notoriously known to be high. Nearly three-fifths of all clothing or accessory material lands up in incinerators or landfills in less than a year of being produced.

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