van heusen is quite a familiar name for fashionistas! although, the name sounds foreign, the brand is aCtually indian. the brand has beCome quite popular among the brand ConsCiousaVnd is one of the top fashion brands in the Country today
ne of the top fashion brands in the Country today
an Heusen is an initiative of style, attitude, luxury and comfort Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, in readymade, Madura Fashion & a division of Aditya Birla Lifestyle is an uncrowned king. Fashion and Retail Limited Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail
(ABFRL). It is India’s fastest growing Ltd. (ABFRL) emerged after the
branded apparel companies and a premium lifestyle player in the retail sector. You will surprised to learn that most of the prominent brands like Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England originate from Madura Fashion
& Lifestyle. Each brand portfolio includes product lines that range from affordable and mass-market to luxurious, high-end style and cater
to every age group, from children and youth to men and women. When it comes to brands that personify
consolidation of the branded apparel businesses of Aditya Birla Group comprising ABNL’S Madura Fashion division and ABNL’s subsidiaries
You will surprised to learn that most of the prominent brands like Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England originate from Madura Fashion & Lifestyle
Pantaloons Fashion and Retail (PFRL) and Madura Fashion & Lifestyle (MFL) in May 2015. Post the consolidation, PFRL was renamed Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. It also includes India’s first fast-fashion youth brand, ‘People’; India’s largest fully integrated fashion multi-brand outlet chain, ‘Planet Fashion’; India’s largest premium international brand retailer, The Collective and the British fashion icon, Hackett London’s mono-brand retail in India. It has acquired exclusive online and offline rights to market the global brand – ‘Forever 21’ and its existing store network, in the fast-fashion segment in India. To expand its international portfolio, ABFRL entered into
exclusive partnerships with two of UK’s most successful fashion brands, ‘Simon Carter’ and ‘Ted Baker’. As of last year, Madura Fashion
& Lifestyle reaches its discerning customers through an exclusive network comprising approximately 2,000+ stores covering 3.05 million sq ft of retail space, and is present in more than 3,800 premium multi-brand stores and 490+ departmental stores. The brand follows
a localised distribution model which has been well received by the business partners across South India. The Aditya Birla Group is a US $41 billion (Rs.2,50,000 crore) corporation anchored by over 120,000 employees, belonging to 42 nationalities. Over 50 per cent of its revenues flow from its overseas operations spanning 36 countries.
Although Aditya Birla Group’s fashion e-commerce platform Abof.com (Aditya Birla Online Fashion) will be shutting shop by the end of this year, the in-house brands still dominate the readyware section. However separate e-commerce platform for in-house brands will continue. The decision comes in a state when even the major players in the e-commerce space in India are struggling to thrive. Under Van Heusen men category the offerings are shirts, t-shirts, suits & blazers, jackets, sweatshirts, sweaters, briefs, trunks, trousers, jeans, shorts, gym vest, track pants along with accessories
like wallets, pocket square and cufflink. For women shirts & blouses, tops & tees, dresses, sweaters & cardigans, suits & blazers, jacket & overcoats, trousers & leggings, jeans & jeggings, skirts along with accessories like clutches & bags, wallets and shrugs. Van Heusen has also got a sub brand for men under the name V Dot specialising in club wear.
Van Heusen Innerwear & Athleisure
Van Heusen Innerwear & Athleisure business entered the Indian market in September 2016. The brand is doing well since then and has consolidated its presence in the South India.
It is all set to expand its foot print across the country from the present presence in more than 1700 outlets. Apart from this, the brand rides on its elite distribution network which is present in the form of 200 Van Heusen outlets, 300 Planet Fashion outlets and more than 150 Pantaloons outlets. With its foray into Mumbai, Van Heusen introduces the all new range of Innerwear and
To compete with Jockey, Van Heusen plans to open 30 exclusive innerwear stores across the country
Athleisure, offering sophisticated styling with new and innovative product features for the best in class comfort and fit. Van Heusen’s Innerwear range comprises four collections including Classic, Platinum, Signature and Active. Each collection has been designed
to offer a differentiated range to the various consumer segments.
Apart from these, Athleisure is brand’s offering as the multi-purpose wear created for the gym, the brunch or the street. Crafted with elevated fashion and new age fabric, it also comes with smart-tech feature that offers benefits like quick dry, stain release and anti- stat, making this a true cross over between fitness and fashion. It also introduced the Metropolis Athleisure collection that elevates the customer with garments that have quick dry,
easy stretch and media pockets while on the move. The range starts Rs.269 onwards. Industry experts believe that the brand is growing at a significant
The company is looking out at all possibilities
of building the brand through investment in all possible avenues including promotions, expansion and distribution
pace. The Athleisure contributed around 30-35% of the business during the first six to seven months of 2017. The market for this segment is growing significantly. In 2016, the men’s inner wear industry was valued at Rs.7000 crore while it is estimated to touch Rs.10,000 crore this year, growing at the pace of 13-14 per cent per year.
The mid premium and premium segment is growing significantly in addition to the economy segment.
In the current situation, the economy segment has 50 per cent market share while mid premium and premium has
40 per cent market share and super premium accounts for 10 per cent. The mid premium and premium segment
is growing faster and the economy segment is growing at eight to nine per cent every year. Earlier, Jockey had been the only player which had forayed into the mid premium and premium segment in the country.
The rest of the players like Rupa,
Amul and others concentrated on the economy segment. To compete with Jockey, Van Heusen plans to open
30 exclusive innerwear stores across the country. The target is to emerge
as the significant number two player after market leader Jockey in 2-3 years. Seventy percent of the stores will be
in metros and the rest will be tier I&II cities. Currently there are 150 stores of Planet Fashion in tier II&III cities. 70 % of the upcoming stores will be franchise led and the remaining will be company owned and company operated.
Online shopping accounts for
10-15 % of their total sales and the estimation is that there will be a
growth of 20-25% in the coming three years. The company is looking out at all possibilities of building the brand through investment in all possible avenues including promotions, expansion and distribution. Van Heusen is also eyeing to focus on the casual wears segment. At present, formal wear accounts for 63% of the menswear market of around $20 billion. This segment is expected to grow at 10% annually slower than the 20% annual growth envisaged for casual wear. Van Heusen has also got a strong presence in formal wear especially in the suit category. The total suit industry in India is approximately valued at Rs.6000 crores and is growing at
a CAGR of 4-5 percent. Around 50 percent of the total suits share is of formal suits. The formal wear market has seen a lot of experimentation in terms of fabric design, performance- specific finishes like crease resistance, wrinkle-free fabric, stain release,
etc. and Van Heusen has always in forefront of it. Earlier Van Heusen
had introduced ‘Move Suit’, which
was made of wool elastane fabric
for improved stretch and fit and had internal stretch panels for superior shoulder and arm movement. Its MYFIT concept, which offers customisation on styles across 50 types of suits is also one of its kind concept in this industry and has seen a huge success in its last two year of existence.