Snapdeal forays into premium designer-wear segment

Aiming to garner USD 1 billion sales from fashion category, online marketplace major Snapdeal has partnered with Fashion Design Council Of India (FDCI) to foray into premium designer-wear segment.
'The Designer Studio' will bring the finest designer labels to its customers ahead of the festive/wedding season, including names like Malini Ramani, Manish Arora, Ashish Soni, Varun Bahl and Samant Chauhan.
Having established its leadership in value-for-money Fashion, Snapdeal now aims to offer premium designer wear to its consumers through the exclusive luxury store, Snapdeal said in a statement.
The Designer Studio will include ready-to-wear and made-to-order clothing collections as well as build consumer engagement, it added.

"This is in line with the company's strategy to cross a business of Rs 6,000 crore from the fashion category by the next financial year, as announced earlier this year," it said.
The pret collections of these top designers will be available on the website at prices ranging between Rs 3,000 and Rs 35,000. The vivid bridal collections will be priced starting at Rs 2 lakh.

The fashion category is growing at 30 per cent month-on-month online.
"Snapdeal's Fashion is one of the largest fashion businesses in Indian e-commerce. We are sure that FDCI's leadership and expertise in fashion design and Snapdeal's vision for fashion business will create the largest platform for the design community in India, to sell online," Snapdeal Vice President Fashion Amit Maheshwari said.

Snapdeal aims to provide access to exclusive and premium designer creations to customers and help improve availability, especially in tier II cities, he added.
"We aim to use this platform to strengthen Indian fashion design community and help bring the best-of-the-best of Indian fashion to consumers across India. We will also work with Snapdeal closely to hand hold upcoming designers and reach out to millions," FDCI President Sunil Sethi said.
The fashion category, comprising apparels and accessories, is one of the largest segments in the USD 3 billion e-Commerce category with players like Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong apart from many smaller and niche players.

Earlier this year, Flipkart had acquired smaller rival Myntra in what is estimated to be Rs 2000 crore deal. The Bangalore-based firm had also said it will invest USD 100 million in expanding the apparel business.