Interview with Rina Nathani
Rina Nathani
Head-Global Retail
Suminter India Organics
Head-Global Retail
Suminter India Organics
We'll launch our menswear line next year
Satva India is an organic athleisure clothing brand. Satva's parent company Suminter India Organics is one of the largest exporters of organic raw materials globally. The brand currently offers organic tops, leggings, bralettes and jackets for women made from certified non-transgenic cotton and natural dyes in India and the United States. Satva plans to launch men's athleisurewear in 2020. On International Yoga Day, Fibre2Fashion spoke to Rina Nathani, head, global retail, Suminter India Organics, about the key growth drivers of the activewear market in India.
How would you describe the activewear market in India? At what rate is it growing?
India has, in recent times, rapidly caught up with the wider global fitness trend over the past few years. Driven by the country's growing wealth, changing lifestyles and rising urbanisation, an increasing amount of Indian consumers are becoming more health conscious and are adding new health and wellness routines to their hectic lifestyles.
From 2015 to 2016, the Indian activewear market grew by 22 per cent, outpacing the segment's global increase of 7 per cent, according to Euromonitor. By 2020, it is expected to grow at an additional compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12 per cent with sales expected to reach $8 billion.
What factors are responsible for the growth of the activewear category in India?
The average, modern Indian consumer's lifestyle is undergoing a massive metamorphosis. Rising incomes and discretionary expenditure in urban India have allowed people to focus increasingly on health and wellness, as well as rising awareness of lifestyle diseases. The proliferation of international brands represented by sports and Hindi film stars have kept activewear in the public eye fuelling this drive as well.
Contemporary trends like taking long vacations, going on bike rides, hiking, travelling and indulging in recreational activities has been instrumental in driving the growth of outdoor, sports-inspired apparel. Most of the reputed brands in the activewear domain have a wide range of outdoor apparel that makes a significant contribution to the total brand revenue.
How is activewear different from sportswear?
Sportswear is designed for high-impact exercise, and is therefore, made from high-performance materials that are sweat-wicking, quick-drying, and usually made with built-in stretch. Activewear is designed for low-impact workouts like yoga, pilates and barre, and can also be worn as athleisure - a category of clothing that is comfortable and designed to help the wearer transition from being active to lounging. Satva's clothing works well as athleisure as the items are almost entirely made of organic cotton, which cannot be worn for intense sporting activity.
Why did you get into activewear? What was the idea behind starting Satva?
Satva is a brand that is designed in the United States and made in India. We have been exporting it to stores like Wholefoods and Paragon sports over the last five years. As the athleisurewear category is now rapidly growing in India, we decided that it was a good time to introduce it in the Indian market.
Satva was launched as an effort to offer stylish, yet socially-conscious clothing at affordable prices to a fashionable audience that is beginning to make more environment-friendly lifestyle choices. Made from the purest certified organic cotton and complemented with modern prints and designs, Satva offers organic tops, leggings, bralettes and jackets.
Satva's parent company Suminter India Organics (SIO) is one of the world's largest exporters of organic raw materials globally (including cotton) and a highly regarded, environmentally- and socially-conscious company. SIO has set out on a mission with Satva to create a symbiotic balance between people, planet, production, profits and social stewardship. It considers its impact at every step towards building a holistic, ethical and harmonious eco-system that satisfies customers, supports the economic development of impoverished farming communities and improves the global environment.
Who is your target audience?
Satva is a vibrant and sustainable athleisurewear brand for women who take up life's adventures. It is for a woman living joyfully and fully, with an authentic and bold sense of beauty. By favouring the purest organic materials and using environment-friendly products, she is aware of the impact her choices and actions will have on herself as well as on the earth. Our target audience is typically aged between 21 and 50. Our customers opt for Satva for its comfortable fabric and modern prints and cuts in vibrant colours and styles. While it is more difficult to get this right in organic clothes, it is not impossible and that is a selling proposition for us.
What are the latest activewear trends?
Athleisure is the latest activewear trend. The lines between traditional sportswear, activewear and fashion apparel are increasingly blurring. Activewear designed for workouts and other athletic activities is now worn in other settings, such as at the workplace, at school, or at other casual or social occasions.
What innovative fabrics do you use?
We use 95 per cent organic cotton. That in itself is indeed innovative, as being able to make athleisure that looks good and more importantly, fits well, from almost entirely cotton is a process in itself. It was very important to us to offer an organic clothing brand that is as stylish as it is socially responsible.
Where do you source fabrics and accessories from? Do you have your own manufacturing unit?
Satva's parent company Suminter India Organics is one of the world's largest exporters of certified organic raw material and cotton globally. It is this cotton that goes into our clothes.
How does a homegrown brand like you counter competition from international giants like Adidas and Puma?
We don't really see brands like Adidas and Puma as competition, as we are offering two very different products. To begin with, brands like the ones you have mentioned are mostly focused on sportswear, wherein they use cutting-edge technology to create products that support even the highest-intensity workouts. Satva's clothing is not designed for high-impact exercise, and is therefore much more geared towards an audience looking for options to engage in low-intensity exercises and lounging in. We are also targeting a market that understands, or is keen to understand, what organic clothing can do for them and for the planet, which is a very niche audience. Giants like Adidas and Puma have dominated the market and have reach everywhere; Satva looks at a very small consumer segment that will hopefully grow with time.
What is the reach of activewear in tier II and III cities of India?
The flourishing online retail market has been successful in increasing the growth of the activewear market in India. E-commerce has especially been instrumental in aiding brands reach smaller cities and towns where they are not physically present. The younger generation is also very tech-savvy and spends a lot of time on social media where they not only get to know about fashion trends, but also take buying decisions. The rising aspirations in these cities have emerged as key points of importance for the activewear industry as well.
What is your retail presence? Do you plan to go offline soon?
We currently retail online through our website, in.satvaliving.com, as well as fashion websites like Nykaa Fashion, Myntra, Jabong and Amazon.
We are also present in exclusive fitness centres and stores, such as Yoga House, Sayoga, Organic World, and plan to increase this reach to large format stores as well.
What is in the pipeline at Satva?
As any fashion brand, we have four seasons for our women's athleisurewear: spring, summer, fall and winter. We are planning to introduce our core line that runs across seasons. In addition, we will launch our menswear line next year. (HO)
Published on: 20/06/2019
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.