Lingerie is an integral part of a woman's attire. If worn appropriately, it makes her look good and providing the oomph factor to her gracious figure and creating confidence in her. Lingerie today has become brand. Apart from being an essential, lingerie has quietly slipped into the extravagance bracket.

The lingerie market in India can be classified in super-premium, premium, mid-market and economy & mass market segment. The major share of lingerie market is held by the mid-market and economy segment. The premium and the super premium markets are growing at double the rate in comparison to the middle segment. With the retail environment getting more sophisticated and offering the best buying experience to the consumers, the premium and super premium segments will get support for further growth.

The Indian lingerie market is making a remarkable growth and the retailers are realizing that lingerie market have a higher profit margin as compared with other regular apparels. The average selling price (ASP) of lingerie varies from INR 37 per piece to INR 1,029 per piece. The Indian lingerie industry in India was worth INR 79bn in CY 2009 and is expected to be worth INR 183bn in 2014. It constitutes 5.1 per cent of the total Indian apparel market and 15.8 % of the overall women apparel market. During 2006-09, the lingerie market has grown at a CAGR of 15.8 per cent. Currently the lingerie market is growing at 24%. But this industry is characterized by high degree of fragmentation with almost two-thirds of the business controlled by the unbranded and unorganized regional players and rest one-third by a few big organized branded players. The unorganized sector is worth INR 20bn. It may not be an exaggeration to say that Indian lingerie might become the next fashion vogue in India.

The Indian lingerie market has been unleashed like never before, it has undergone a transformational change over the past few years. There has been much innovation in the making of lingerie and technology has also influenced this. Growing number of working women, changing fashion trends, the increased awareness about better fits, brands, colours, quality, styling, increasing per capita disposable income, rising level of media exposure and entry of large number of international brands have given the industry a new facet. Indian women have become choosy and give importance to lingerie and have moved beyond the over sensitivity to pricing.

With the rapidly spreading mall culture, the Indian lingerie market will get strong impetus for further growth. With the popularity of lingerie boutiques in shopping malls the stigma of buying and wearing lingerie is now a thing of the past. The times are changing and young women are looking for to spice up their wardrobes with lots of colours. The days of strictly blacks and whites are left far behind. A lot of overtly feminine tones have taken over the market these days. Companies are constantly bringing out innovative lingerie collections that give woman a chance to look exotic. Intricate detailing can be seen and decorative seams to bring out her sensuality. Fabrics like Italian silks, satins, chiffons, French and Italian laces are extremely popular these days.

The author of the article is MD, Brandis India.