Designer Brands Allure Fashionist Indian Shoppers, Indian Shoppers Prefer Designer Brands, Fibre2fashion

Loveof shopping conquers all, even the global downturn, and high value designerwear market sprints ahead...

It appears that the love ofshopping for designer products does conquer all, even the economic slump.Despite the deepening recession, and soaring unemployment, market for luxurydesigner brands is cruising. Fashion in India is a growing industry with international events and annual shows by renowned designers beingheld at the major cities in India. The consecutive victory of Indian beautiesin international beauty contests, has initiated the desire in the minds ofIndian shoppers to favor the purchase of luxury brands. They tend to shop fordesigner brands to advertise their status.

IndianShoppers Prefer Designer Brands:

There was a time, when thedesigner brands boasted of 'quality' as a point of difference in their productsand used it as their USP. Now, with the increasing number of private labelproducts entering into the market everyday, and competition getting tougher,the focus has shifted to 'Brand and its Values', the image a particular brandname has created in the minds of the consumer. Despite, a vast majority ofconsumers consider that branded items are generally overpriced than what theyreally are; still a fragment of people believe that designer brands offer abetter quality than standard brands. India stands eighth in the rank; globally,for considering designer brands as quality items.

A study by Nielsen on the GlobalLuxury Brands has revealed that almost 35 percent of the Indians whoparticipated in the survey confirmed that they prefer to buy luxury brands. India stands third in the global luxury shoppers list next to Greece leading by 46 percent and Hong Kong with 38 percent. The study further reveals that Indian shoppers prefer brandslike Louis Vuitton and Gucci which have an international; high profile. (Source:Nielsen Report, April 2008)

ProminentDesigner Brands:

The top brands dominating theIndian market are Calvin Klein with 34%, Gucci with 25%, Diesel with 24%,Christian Dior with 16% and DKNY with 10%. Indian customers prove to be thethird largest purchaser of Gucci products, sixth for Calvin Klein and ninth forDiesel and tenth for Fendi products.

Brands manufactured in India are Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Dolce Gabana, Roberto Cavalli, Calvin Klien, Hugo Boss,Galeries Lafayette, British India, Hoss Intropia, and Roberta Freymann. Indiandesigner brand exporters witnessed an average growth of 40% during 2008 with aprojected growth rate of 15-20%.

DesignerApparel Market:

The Indian apparel market isestimated to be around Rs. 20,000 crore of which branded apparel market is ofabout Rs. 5,000 crore. Designer wear, it turn comprises only about 0.2% of thebranded apparel market. 66% of the shoppers for designer wear are men and 57%are women. Western designer wear occupies 5% of the Indian designer wearmarket. Profit margin for these apparels and very tempting and vary anywherefrom 30 to 50% depending on the work. Hand painting, patchwork, embellishments,embroidery are a few works that make the brand exclusive. Since they arehandmade, the lead time is longer around 90 to 120 days.

Dark clouds of recession hover the economic horizon, yet the segment of luxury products have shown a considerable growth. India has many advantages with a huge market; mostly untapped, availability of cheap and skilled labor, and plenty of design skills, which offers a potential market for designer wears. Indian designer wear market has a lot of scope and potential to expand. As more international brands enter into the business arena, Indian market is likely to become more professional in its outlook.

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