Gitanjali's dressy extensions

Branded ethnic wear accounts for just 5 per cent of the Rs 30,000-crore market, indicating the scope to grow in the organised segment

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Gitanjali Gems, one of the major players in branded gems and jewellery, launched apparel lines under its jewellery brands such as Diya, Gili and Maya. These would cater to the mid, premium ethnic wear and bridalwear segments respectively.

"It's a conscious call taken by the management to go ahead and do a brand extension. While considering the brand extension categories, we needed to work in the adjacent categories to jewellery. Hence, apparel was the first step, followed by accessories for the second phase," says Mehul Choksi, chairman and managing director of Gitanjali Gems.

The brand Maya will see expansive lifestyle stores that offer jewellery and apparel under one roof. Diya and Gili will see just line extensions into clothes.

The jewellery brands's logos will be retained to ride on the recall. "Although results from the surveys and research suggested the response would be positive, we were apprehensive about whether our customers would accept apparels and accessories under the same name of our jewellery brands or not. But after the launch, the demand has kept growing," adds Choksi.

The three brands are established lines of jewellery for Gitanjali Gems. The apparel business, though, is less than 5 per cent of the total revenue of the gems and jewellery major at present.

But with Rs 25 crore in advertising and promotion spends, the company is looking to gain at least two per cent of market share in the next two years, expanding through a franchises. It has around 85-95 exclusive sale outlets and shop-in-shops.

The jewellery major will increase reach in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashta and Gujarat.

Choksi informs that the his team wants to gauge the apparel business before expanding to other tier I and II cities.

The ethnic apparel segment, where the three brands will operate in, remains largely dominated by the unorganised market. There are very few players in the organised category such as FabinDiya, AND, W and BIBA.

Analysts say that Gitanjali has huge potential if the market is tapped well.

"The company has the potential to increase the organised market share to 10 per cent if they wish to, as the scope for growth is immense in this category. These apparel brands have the added advantage of not facing any kind of competition from foreign brands which operate primarily in western wear," says Prashant Agarwal, joint president at Wazir Advisor.

The organised space comprises just 5 per cent of the ethnic wear category. The current market value of ethnic wear in InDiya's apparel segment is Rs 30,000 crore.

The company could benefit from the brand names being already known to its target consumer. But next up could be a new brand called Revv in apparels for young men.