Made-to-wear apparel segment growing fast in India

19 Jan '12

4 min read

Call it made-to-measure, made-to-wear, customized clothing or personalized clothing – this apparel segment is growing fast in India, thanks to the increasing number of rich people who are ready to spend more and even wait up to two months to get a cut-to-fit suit, or a T-shirt with their name engraved on it.

Niche brands such as Brioni and Paul & Shark have grown in this segment during 2011.

Explaining the phenomenon, Mr. Berry Singh, Business Head, Paul & Shark at Reliance Brands, told fibre2fashion, “The clothing in India actually started from customized services and then we moved to readymade garments. Initially, about 20-30 years back, every shirt and trouser used to be stitched. But, then it was a part of necessity because readymade brands were not available in India. Of course, a rich person would go to a high profile designer whereas a middle class person would go to an ordinary tailor.”

“Today, readymade garments offer convenience, but the rich obviously have to differentiate themselves. So, the readymade brands themselves have started offering customized solutions to them. An ordinary tailor cannot invest in the kind of machinery or equipment that is needed to design a fantastic suit whereas a brand has,” he adds.

Talking about the prevalence and growth of the made-to-wear concept in India, Mr. Amit Gugnani, Senior Vice President – Fashion, Textiles & Apparel at Technopak, says, “The concept is very much applicable in India, and it targets the large base of customers who can afford to dole out more money for the same. This business has already started making in-roads into the rich category of people in the country, and this trend is here to stay. Customization as a trend in luxury apparels is expected to increase in India.”

According to Technopak analysis, customized services currently account for 15 percent of the US$ 250 million (about Rs. 13 billion) luxury apparel and accessories market in the country.

Briefing about customized services offered at Paul & Shark, Mr. Berry Singh, says, “We offer this kind of services in suits, shirts and trousers segment. We are also doing it for T-shirts. At Reliance brands we provide these services through two of our luxury brands – Paul & Shark and Zegna. In Paul & Shark, we offer customers an option to make customized T-shirts for them. In addition, we also do monogramy i.e. if one wants his name embossed on the T-shirts that is also possible. We give flexibility for styling one's own clothes too. However, since all our products are made in Milan, the merchandise is delivered to customer within 60 days. The retail prices would be about 15-20 percent higher than the RMG prices.”

Mr. Joseph Jacob, Brand Manager - Brioni India at The Badasaab Group, says, “At Brioni, we have 2 lines – ready-to-wear and made-to-measure – in men's fashion. In made-to-measure clothing, the measurements are taken by our in-house experts and sent to Italy where our master tailors prepare the garment for our customers. It is all done in Italy and all the material used is the best in the world.”

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