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IN CONVERSATION
NOVEMBER '06
Ms.
Bina Mirchandani
Head Category Management, Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited.
Today’s Indian woman
Wearing attitude on her sleeves !
With a vibrant economy, a
young population with high levels of disposable income and
fashion consciousness, the Western Women’s Wear segment never
looked more upbeat. In an exclusive conversation with Apparel,
Ms. Bina Mirchandani, Head-Category Management, Pantaloons spoke
about the trends in this vivacious segment.
Going by the current trend, western wear is set to witness
exponential growth. According to you which factors are
attributing the growth of this segment?
In recent times the
western wear segment in is certainly scaling up exponentially.
There are many reasons contributing to this growth.
Firstly, 54% of
India's population is below 25 yrs. Their inclination is more
towards western wear. These youngsters wear jeans/tees in
college and party, as well as club wear, which is also growing
especially in urban areas. There are also other very strong
factors such as rise in the percentage of working women. More
and more women are opting for careers in various fields and in
the corporates/banking/financial institutions, western wear is
preferred, as well as the BPO Industry, which is on a rise.
Nowadays there is also a rise in number of nuclear families.
Hence in comparison to traditional homes, women in nuclear homes
women opt more for western wear. The other influences are
increasing number of Indians traveling abroad, globalization and
increased media penetration and trends from abroad, creating
more aspiration for western brands and increase in the mall
culture frequented by these customers.
India predominantly being a ‘Salwar Kameez Dupatta’ wearing
country, how difficult it was for you to establish yourself in
the segment?
In the initial
years, it was slightly difficult, taken the traditional set-up
of our country, but over the years, the evolution has definitely
happened for the customer. The transition in the mind sets for
the traditional centers, has happened with a combination of the
factors like change in the mind-set of women, change in the
society, exposure to global conditions, media etc. and it is
certainly accelerating over the years
How big is the women western wear market vis-ŕ-vis ethnic wear?
Percentage wise and figure wise?
Speaking for
Pantaloons, I can say that the figures are almost double,
ethnic wear is contributing 11% (projected Rs. 60 crores) to the
overall sales, whereas Western wear is expected to do 20% (
projected business aprox Rs. 100 crores), this year. This data
includes the new stores by Pantaloons.
Do
you think market is further segmented in bottom wear and top
wear?
In the current
market, bottom wear is more evolved than top wear. Presently the
tops is to bottoms ratio is 2:1, and we generate more sales
from top wear. But we see a big potential in bottom wear too,
Hence the focus this year, is to push core merchandise and give
the best fits in the market, as fits is what makes the bottom
wear sell.
Organized retailing has played a big role in the success of this
segment; we mean mall culture, MBOs etc. What are your views on
the same?
Organized retailing
has definitely played a big part in the success of this segment.
As described earlier, the malls are frequented by youngsters,
BPO employees, working women, Double Income No Kids segment (DINK)etc.,
which have spurred the growth of western wear.
As
this segment is completely fashion driven, how do you catch up
with the styles? Do you take tips from global fashions, craft
your own designs, or follow fads?
We are a design
driven organization. We do study trends globally, however we
customize it to suit the Indian skin and culture. We have
segmented the customers based on our learning’s, and do study
trends, and change in behavior, to incorporate the same in our
private brands.
Even though college goers and working women prefer western wear,
still it suffers from lack of brands? Why is this segment low on
branding?
This segment is high on styling but low on promotion. What are
the reasons?
What sells more – simple subtle styles or heavily embellished
tops?
It
is felt that lack of sufficient sizes has affected the growth of
this segment as segment seems to largely targeting Pretty Young
Things (PYTs) and not Plus size women?
- Bienu
Vaghela
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