With a significant shift in consumer preferences, from unbranded to branded innerwear, the players are going all out to establish brand recall and bring new consumers into their fold. To woo the youth (16-25 age group), companies are looking at brand extension segments like leisure wear and are also increasing focus on design and development.
Bangalore-based Page Industries, the exclusive licensee for manufacturing and distribution of US-based innerwear brand Jockey in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, has started projecting itself as a lifestyle brand.
Known traditionally for its innerwear range, the company has started promoting its leisure brand Jockey Sport to make the transition from an innerwear to a lifestyle brand to appeal to the younger generations.
“We decided that we needed a lifestyle image for our exclusive stores. We have gone from premium to aspirational to lifestyle. We look at the leisure wear range to project that lifestyle image for the brand,” said Ashok Genomal, MD of Page Industries.
Track pants, t-shirts, knit shorts, bermudas, woven boxers, muscle tees, tank tops, socks, camisoles and spaghetti tops are some of the products that constitute the leisure wear segment.
Presently, leisure wear contributes around 17 per cent of the company’s revenues while men’s and women’s innerwear form the rest with 65 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
Leisure wear is the fastest-growing segment for the company, registering a growth of 45 per cent this year. To focus on the leisure category, the company has appointed separate distributors. Nearly 20 per cent of its 380 distributors sell only Jockey Sport.
Leisure wear is a relatively new segment in India considering most of the market is unorganised. Forbes Brands, a division of Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group’s Gokak Textiles, is evaluating entering the segment.
“We are planning to enter the leisure wear segment in a year’s time. This could be the next brand extension for us,” said Nischal Puri, CEO, Forbes Brands.
The company has just launched Facit, its youth-focused innerwear brand in the mid-premium segment. The company is looking at products like pyjamas, bermudas and shorts in its leisure wear portfolio.
Similarly, Mumbai-based Maxwell Industries, which owns brands like VIP, Frenchie and Feelings, is also making plans to enter the leisure wear segment in a year’s time. “Each brand has a personality and caters to different segments. Having a portfolio of leisure wear would add value to our brands. We could look at adding a leisure wear range for brands like VIP and Frenchie X,” said Sunil Pathare, vice chairman and MD of Maxwell Industries. On an average, leisure wear products like track pants are available in the Rs 700-Rs 1,500 range.
According to data from Technopak Advisors, the total innerwear market in India is around Rs 11,900 crore of which 34 per cent is men’s and balance women’s. Highest growth has been witnessed in the super premium and premium segment. Future growth has been estimated at 11-12 per cent till 2014.
The market is a highly segmented one with different players dominating different markets. Brands like VIP, Rupa and Amul are the popular ones in the entry and economy segments whereas the mid and premium segments are led by players like Jockey, Hanes and Triumph. Price points vary from Rs 35 per brief for entry-level, Rs 50 for economy, Rs 100-120 for mid-premium segment and above for the super premium products.
While industry players are enthused with the growing opportunities in the innerwear and extended products market, most say the industry has a long way to go before it evolves to meet international standards.
“People became conscious about fashion and trends in outerwear nearly eight years ago thanks to the retail boom. However, innerwear has gained prominence only recently,” said Prashant Agarwal, senior V-P, Technopak Advisors.
“The transition from a mass product to fashion wear is just undergoing. The innerwear market has been slow on innovation. However, the entry of international brands has helped set standards,” he said.
Innerwear companies who have entered into new product ranges and functionalities make no bones about the fact that the right marketing strategy is needed to reach the end customer.
“A study by us revealed that today’s youth are willing to try out new and stylish innerwear brands, but they do not have much choice. We will be launching six ranges of innerwear collection to meet the demands of the new-age consumer,” said Puri of Forbes Brands.
