The French Entrepreneurs Producing Lingerie For Indians

After living in India for five years, two French entrepreneurs couldn’t find lingerie that met their standards. So, when the opportunity to start an enterprise of their own presented itself, they leaped at the lingerie segment, hoping to tackle a portion of India’s growing upwardly mobile population.

Their story is unusual; two French women with no traditional Indian background setting up production and sales of that most intimate of attire – lacy lingerie, in a country that is still getting to grips with appreciating, and spending money on good quality undergarments. So unusual, that French TV channel TF1 decided to follow them for a year, filming the joys and heartache of creating a business in India, for a documentary named ‘Reportages’, due to be televised later this year.

“We initially thought we’d get into bags and dresses,” says Agathe de La Chapelle, one of the co-founders and design-talent of their India-registered business, Agaline, http://agaline.com/  “but instead we found we had the opportunity to do something different, something that was not the creation of a need, but an actual need.”

With co-founder Caroline Joire, the business brain behind Agaline, named using an amalgamation of both their first names, the duo realized that India has one of the world’s youngest populations in terms of size and a rapidly growing upwardly mobile middle class, with spending power.

Agaline Co-founders Agathe de La Chappelle and Caroline Joire conducting a nightwear fitting.

They conducted a hefty amount of market research among Indian women, before starting sample production at the end of 2013.

“Indian ladies in the urban centers were buying from Marks and Spencer,” says de La Chapelle, “what’s on offer there is not what they were telling us they wanted.”

Fabric for the lingerie is shipped in from France and Italy, with lace purchased from traditional French lace makers. De La Chappelle says she’s had to be “pushy” with her Indian manufacturing units, who haven’t quite understood her need to be so meticulous about each product.

Explaining the sensibility that governs their delicate creations, Joire says French women like lingerie because it is a garment they buy for themselves. “We know we have beautiful lingerie on underneath our clothes, so we feel more confident – no one needs to know, it’s a whole package,” she says.

A corset hangs, part of Agaline’s collection of lingerie for India.

It’s something they hope to pass on to their Indian customers – who have so far expressed a preference for the knitwear collection over the lacy under and night garments on offer.

Indian companies such as Zivame and Pretty Secrets which aggregate and sell lingerie from several brands, have popped up as part of the recent e-commerce boom, and are among the first to pitch the previously disregarded notion of better fitting lingerie for women.

According to a PwC India report, the Indian retail sector is currently valued at around $500 billion, estimated to be worth $1.3 trillion by 2020. They anticipate modern retail, which includes the lingerie segment, to increase from $27 billion to $220 billion by 2020.

PwC also cites growth of a young, aspirational population who are declaring an increasing interest in western styles, which means the Agaline duo have a market that is potentially interested, but have to have the products explained to them.

“We found starting with home sales works well as a response to the barriers to selling lingerie in India,” says Joire, “the intimacy of the home enables us to explain our product and give better fitting and style advice.”

Agaline’s knitwear collection.

It’s a concept that works well in Europe, says Joire. However India’s shopping style is quite incomparable to that of France’s; with an e-commerce industry growing rapidly with heavy investment says Frost and Sullivan, which means Agaline has also had to jump on that bandwagon.

“French women don’t buy online, but we’re responding to that need here,” Joire says, “we’re adapting to the online selling model, which we didn’t anticipate when we started.”

Setting up the company in India was a process that took four months. “You just have to understand where you fit as foreigners and follow the rules properly,” says Joire.

Has it been worth establishing a business in India as foreigners?

“We’re still in test phase,” says Joire, “we’ll either continue small and grow step by step or consider investors and grow at a much faster pace.”

 

 

 

 

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