Lingerie market gets a makeover as Indian women experiment with colours …
July 6, 2015 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
AHMEDABAD: Challenging the traditional beiges, blacks and whites, neons have barged into the lingerie closets of Indian women. So has Superman print. The trend shows how the Indian woman is getting down to experiment with her intimate wear, encouraging homegrown brands such as Soie, Clovia, Calibra, Pretty Secrets and Sonari to launch products with vivid styles and patterns, and creating their own niche in the Rs 11,000 crore market.
“Out of every 10 lingerie units sold online, about four would be home-grown brands that have found a foothold in the mid-premium segment with their spunky colours, designs and cuts,” said Arun Sirdeshmukh, co-founder and chief executive of online fashion retailer Fashionara. com.
They are buying more, too. An Indian woman now keeps about eight brassiere compared with 5-6 pieces in the past, a report by consultancy firm Wazir Advisors said. The number of panties in her wardrobe has almost doubled to 10, it said.
While outerwear evolved significantly over the past decade, innerwear stayed stagnant. However, with daily wear fluctuating from ethnic to Indowestern or strictly western outfits, and choice of evening wear getting as vivid as body-hugging tights to the free-flowing drapes, lingerie styles on offer have increased from T-shirt and padded bras to balconette and underwired bras and low waist briefs to G-strings.
While the market of intimate wear posted a compounded annual growth rate of 17% during 2009-13, the Rs 650-crore super premium category grew 26% and theRs 1,800-crore premium segment by 22%, consultancy firm Wazir Advisors said. The Rs 4,700 crore medium category, retailing at an average Rs 250 a piece, grew at a much slower pace of 17%, it said.
While the MS, Amante, Triumph and Enamor loyalists are difficult to be swayed away from these premium brands retailing upwards of Rs 1,000, the 24-35 year-olds are holding no bars to try out the homegrown brands, spending Rs 799-999 to take a set home.
“Most Indian brands are largely in the mid to economy segment, catering to masses. There are just one or two brands in the premium segment. Looking at the opportunity, now Sonari is launching its premium range, Dazzle, and going forward we will see many more domestic brands following the route,” said Wazir Advisors management consultant Prashant Agarwal.
Having chalked out long-term strategies, the brands promise they are not flyby-night operators. Soie signed an exclusive licence agreement with Warner Bros recently and is now ready with its Superman and Wonder-woman collection. The four-year-old brand by Ginza Industries has brought in two technical experts from the quality lingerie manufacturing hub of Sri Lanka to aid product development for the Indian market and go for the kill.
