Van Heusen to increase number of innerwear outlets to 400 in 2-3 years

Van Heusen, an apparel brand from the stable of Rs 8,788-crore Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL), is planning to expand the Van Heusen Innerwear Exclusive Brand Outlet (EBO) network to around 400 stores over the next 2-3 years, from the current 45.

Puneet Kumar Malik, chief executive officer of Van Heusen Innerwear and Athleisure, said the innerwear and athleisure business segment was one of the few businesses running ahead of last year's levels and had grown in the second quarter.

Growing salience and increasing consumer acceptance was resulting in rising market share also, he said.

On the company's expansion plans, Malik said that it was looking to increase Van Heusen Innerwear EBO network by adding 100 stores in the next 9-10 months across tier-1 and 2 cities and was looking at 400 stores over the next 2-3 years.

Malik did not comment on the proposed investment for the expansion. However, he said that the new stores would be both company and franchisee-owned.

The company has 45 Van Heusen Innerwear Exclusive stores, more than 350 Van Heusen mainline exclusive stores and Planet Fashion - 260 stores.

He added, currently the segment is present across 19,000 plus multi-brand outlets spread over 450 towns.

Van Heusen Innerwear was launched in September 2016 and it contributes to about 55 per cent of the innerwear & athleisure business. Athleisure has seen a 8-9 per cent rise in contribution over the last year.

Innerwear market size according to FY19 estimates is about Rs 32,000 crore. Men’s market which is worth about Rs 11,000 crore has been growing at about 10% and is expected to grow at 8-9%. Women’s market is estimated at about Rs 22,000 crore and has been growing at about 17%. It is expected to grow at 13-14%. A large part of the women's market worth around Rs 17,000 crore is unorganised. The category is evolving as the market upgrades from economy to mid-premium/premium segments.

Consumers have become more health conscious and hence the relevance of anti-bacterial products has increased. Growing salience and increasing consumer acceptance leading to a rise in market share and women’s category of innerwear is growing rapidly, he said.

Meanwhile, Van Heusen, has entered into a collaborative agreement with Color Threads to launch inStem’s ‘G-Fab’ Technology in India. InStem is an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology and developed by Color Threads Inc. The technology has been developed at Dr Praveen Kumar Vemula's lab at inStem, the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine.

inStem’s germicidal fabric technology reduces >90%, >95% and 99.99% of SARS-CoV-2 virus infectivity in 5, 10, and 15 minutes, respectively, said Malik.