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Tag: Style

  • Chai Point to open 20 more outlets by FY 2019

    Chai Point to open 20 more outlets by FY 2019

    Tea, which conquers 70 percent of the non-alcoholic beverage market in India, is unofficially the national beverage of the country. Tea lovers never shy away from enjoying a hot cuppa, be it any season or any time of the day. Even the social and emotional lives of Indians are linked with tea. In an effort to brew never-ending excitement around tea, Amuleek Singh Bijral took a plunge into the tea business around eight years ago and since then there has been no looking back.

    Talking about the retail mapping of the brand, Bijral says, “We are into an Omnichannel business and have close to 106 stores. Apart from this, we also have about 2,000 plus milk-based dispensers – boxC – installed at corporate houses and our own line of packaged
    products.”

    “Going forward, we want to build a globally relevant tea platform and we are doing this with the help of our cloud-based platform – SHARK, which allows us to manage all our channels in a comprehensive fashion, connects to a common supply chain and allows us to serve customers their various demands and ensures to offer similar customer experience across all the channels,” he states.

    Initial Challenges

    According to Bijral, the initial challenges were to find the prime real estate locations as builders and landlords were not convinced about why such a concept would succeed when tea is available in every nook and corner of the city.

    “However, this notion has now changed over a period of time and the credit goes to customers who have become hygiene conscious and no longer enjoy having their tea on the roadside.”

    Marketing Strategy

    The beverage-centric brand, which gets 25-30 percent contribution towards its revenue from food, has never felt the need to do aggressive ATL spends as stores are their core brand platform.

    According to Bijral, all the brand’s spends are BTL-centric and that is the strategy Chai Point will continue to evolve and adopt.

    “Apart from this, we are very aggressive on digital awareness as our audience is digitally-savvy. We are centred around white-collared corporates and that is an area where our spends can be categorised as ATL and are likely to get more sophisticated and aggressive over time,” he explains.

    Technology Rules

    Bijral, who hails from a technology background, believes technology is an important part of the business. The tea lover has amalgamated technology with tea to provide a frictionless experience to customers.

    Explaining this further, Bijral states, “When customers enter the store, they do not want to stand in the queue, they do not want to punch in numbers to give their loyalty code, they do not want to carry loyalty cards in their wallet, but they want to be served at the earliest possible, so how will the brand solve all these problems? The answer to this problem is facial recognition.”

    “We have successfully piloted facial recognition across five stores and now we are at a stage where we are confident enough of rolling it out across other stores,”says Bijral.

    Even the loyalty program of the brand – PrioriTea – bets big on technology by combining facial recognition with Artificial Intelligence to offer enhanced experience to customers.

    Future Plans

    Singh explains, “ There is an immense opportunity in the tea business. Iced Tea which is a huge market abroad has not even opened up in India.”

    The brand is planning to open 20 more outlets in the next three to four months. As of now, all the outlets are company-owned and company-operated and going further, Chai Point will continue with the same operating model.

    “The brand is still at a relatively nascent stage and we believe that we need to have our own store to cement the system, processes and more importantly aggressively redefine and improve customer experience,” asserts Bijral.

    “Stores remain core to our brand. Delivery and boxC are faster-growing segments, which support the store format,” he adds.

    At present, stores and delivery from stores contribute 56 percent to the total revenue, 4 percent comes from packaged food business and the remaining 40 percent from BoxC business.

    “We have been operating profitable for last six years. We are aiming to be EBITDA level 100 percent profitable by this fiscal-end, covering all the expenses that we have taken towards our Omnichannel growth,” reveals Bijral.

    On a run rate basis, the brand is targeting Rs 200 crore by the end of fiscal.

  • FILA India collaborates with Streetwear Label Norblack Norwhite

    FILA India collaborates with Streetwear Label Norblack Norwhite

    The Italian sports-fashion brand Fila has announced its first ever Heritage collaboration with indie streetwear brand Norblack Norwhite which are now available in its stores. FILA India’s partnership with Norblack Norwhite pays homage to a heritage of textiles from Italy and to the age-old traditions of Indian textile makers, debuting with this India-only exclusive collaboration.

    Fila India’s Creative Director, Abdon Lepcha worked closely with NBNW for almost a year to design a limited edition collection that fuses iconic FILA silhouettes with their signature prints and patterns. The collaboration is a fusion of Indian streetwear with sports fashion. The collection was created applying the NBNW love for pattern and color, keeping it breathable within the sporty space. The styles focus on comfort, playing off some of Norblack Norwhite’s textile styles applied in a new way to work with Fila fabrics.

    Speaking on the collection, Mriga Kapadiya & Amrit Kumar said, “NBNW celebrates textiles and colors and patterns so creating within the FILA form and brand has taken us out of our comfort zone and pushed the boundaries on our design capacity. Fila is a brand we grew up on and we were super excited when Fila India approached us to collaborate on this capsule collection. We’ve never got to design athletic wear and it’s been super fun and also challenging to apply our style and aesthetic in this form! It’s important for our process to stay true to things we feel comfortable and empowered in while balancing the visual story of our favorite elements of India combined with our guiding feelings of classic streetwear.”

    Rohan Batra, the MD of Cravatex Brands, the Licensee for Fila in India, says, “This collaboration is one that is very special for us. It is the first time a global brand has collaborated on an entire collection with an Indian streetwear label. The limited India-only drop for the collaboration is part of our commitment to building and nurturing the streetwear fashion culture in India.”

    The collection comprises of baseball jerseys, tracksuits, fanny packs, tees and a special edition Disruptor. The price points for apparel, footwear and accessories start from Rs 1,999 and go up to Rs 8,999.

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  • Zara confirms it is taking part in Black Friday, with huge discount

    Zara confirms it is taking part in Black Friday, with huge discount

    High street giant Zara has finally confirmed it will be taking part in this year’s Black Friday event. The retailer has remained very tight-lipped about its plans for the shopping event which officially takes place tomorrow, and has even opted against advertising its plans in its windows.

    Speculation has been high as to whether the retailer would be taking part this year- following last year, which marked the first time Zara has been involved in the discount event.

    But it has finally released details of the money its customers could save tomorrow.

    Zara will be offering shopper 20% off selected departments for Black Friday.

    Last year, there was a variety of products which the discount could be used on, including coats, shoes, tops and more.

    Fans have been eagerly waiting for Zara’s Black Friday announcement. On Twitter @amarjhot said: “Still waiting on Zara to drop a Black Friday sale? … no? Ok.”

    @CharlyOConnor said: “I need to place a Zara order but I’m holding out for the Black Friday sale – this is going to end up being a disaster I bet.”

    And, @_JAEopardizes said: “Zara need to hurry up and put their Black Friday sale up.”

  • Crocs opens its 100th store in India at VR Mall Chennai

    Crocs opens its 100th store in India at VR Mall Chennai

    The new store, which spreads across 625 sq. ft., is Crocs’ third store in the city and 5th in the state of Tamil Nadu. Boasting a premium location at VR Mall, the hub for luxury and international brands in Chennai, the store promises to strengthen the reach of the iconic brand in the state capital.

    Since the opening of its first store in India in 2008, Crocs has successfully carved a distinct positioning for the brand amongst the Indian consumers akin to its global positioning and is growing at a robust pace with presence across 50 cities in India.

    Crocs, which is known globally for its iconic Clogs, is turning towards India to fuel its next phase of growth. India is currently the 6th biggest market for Crocs globally with a high double-digit growth year on year.

    Metro Shoes, the national franchise partner of Crocs India, will be operating this 100th store located in Chennai. The partnership with Metro Shoes began in 2014 which has helped the iconic footwear brand in expanding its reach to over 50 cities through its EBO operations.

    Speaking on occasion, Deepak Chhabra, CEO & MD, Crocs India, said, “We are excited on reaching the century mark in India. India is one of the rare markets where even after opening 100 stores we still feel under-penetrated. Our absolute focus for the next phase of geographical expansion will continue to be on top 6 metro cities across the country along with state capitals. Exclusive brand stores are a very significant part of our growth strategy. In addition to aggressively growing our EBOs, we will be strengthening our presence in Tier-II cities via MBOs and Kiosks. Further, e-commerce will remain an integral part of our distribution strategy and help us reach out to consumers where our brick and mortar presence is limited. Region-wise South India, due to its demographics and very high brand recall, contributes the highest amongst all regions in the country and will remain an integral part of our India growth strategy.”

    Commenting on the occasion, Rafique Abdul Malik, Chairman & MD, Metro Shoes, said, “We would like to congratulate Crocs India on the launch of their 100th store and are confident that this is just one of many more milestones to follow. Metro Shoes is glad to partner with a brand which despite being just 16 years old has an iconic status with probably the highest brand-recall across the globe. India as a nation has a high affinity for open shoes and sandals owing to the climatic conditions, making Crocs highly relevant in this market.”

    With its unique brand awareness and break-through product innovations, Crocs is progressing towards becoming India’s top non-athletic casual footwear brand. Other than its EBOs, Crocs asserts its strong presence in MBO channels through which its overall offline reach extends to more than 150 cities via 1,500 + points-of-sale. Additionally, it caters to 20,000+ pin codes translating to 400 cities via its e-commerce presence.

    Over the past 16 years, Crocs has sold more than 350 million pairs of shoes worldwide. Crocs as a brand will continue to focus on clogs and sandals, along with new product innovations and extensions of the current product line. This year, Crocs India launched LiteRide™, Drew Barrymore ♥ Crocs Collection, Crocband™ Platform Collection, and Luxe Lined Collection. Last year internationally, the brand has associated with designers like Balenciaga and Christopher Kane bringing in some exciting trends to the runway which further elevated the appeal of the iconic clog in fashion space.

  • J.Crew’s CEO Jim Brett is leaving the firm

    J.Crew’s CEO Jim Brett is leaving the firm

    J.Crew chief executive Jim Brett is exiting the company, the retailer said, and a committee of four executives will step in to manage operations until a replacement is found. The statement said the decision had been mutual between Brett and the board of directors.

    “Returning J.Crew to its iconic status required reinventing the brand to reflect the America of today with a more expansive, more inclusive fashion concept,” said Brett. “However, despite the recent brand relaunch already showing positive results, the board and I were unable to bridge our beliefs on how to continue to evolve all aspects of the company.”

    Brett will be replaced by four executives: chief operating officer Michael Nicholson, chief experience officer Adam Brotman, chief administrative officer Lynda Markoe and Libby Wadle, president of the Madewell brand.

    Brett joined the specialty retailer in July 2017, at a time when the company was struggling with looming debt payments and declining consumer sentiment toward the brand. Over the next year and a half, he overhauled the executive team, bringing in former colleagues from West Elm — where he was CEO — and URBN — where he worked at both Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters — to revamp the brand identity and restructure the business. In 2017, the company was able to bide a bit more time to implement a turnaround, negotiating with creditors to push back the maturity of $566.5 million in debt from 2019 to 2021.

    He lowered prices, launched new brands and tried to reposition J.Crew as an inclusivity-driven, one-for-all label not so tied down by its preppy heritage, especially as it had most recently been interpreted by agenda-setting designer Jenna Lyons.

    In a sharply worded email sent to senior staffers in July 2018, he dismissed Lyons’ work, which turned polarising near the end of her tenure, while laying out his own priorities.

    “PRETTY always sells. A glen plaid jacket with a graphic tee and camouflage pants is anything BUT pretty,” he said. “The new feminist fashion movement is enjoying the POWER of femininity (see latest Dior shows) vs. the last feminist movement which was about women finding power in dressing like men. Femininity is critical — pretty is critical — femininity is powerful. These things are in starch [sic] contrast to Jenna’s masculine, sexual and overtly aggressive J. Crew.”

    While Lyons’ vision had stopped resonating with consumers, Brett’s fix was viewed by some analysts as a watering down of the product. There were too many changes at once — from the introduction of a bare-bones loyalty programme to changes in fabric suppliers to the implementation of a marketplace — all with varying impact. He also continued to discount heavily, something many of J.Crew’s competitors are trying to move away from. Talk of a decline in morale also permeated Brett’s run, with multiple corporate-level employees leaving, including one of Brett’s own hires, chief marketing officer Vanessa Holden, who recently announced her departure.

    In the second quarter of 2018, the group — which also includes Madewell — reported that same-store sales rose 1 percent from a year earlier after 15 straight quarters of decline. Star performer Madewell, which drives about a fifth of sales, saw comps jump 28 percent. Total sales at the company were $588 million, up 3 percent from the same quarter in 2017. The company still experienced a net loss of $6 million, compared to a $19 million loss during the same period last year.

    Whether the company has managed to keep up the momentum will be revealed imminently, as third-quarter earnings are expected to be released this month. The period was marked by J.Crew’s official September relaunch, including the rollout of its #meetmycrew marketing campaign. Just this past week, J. Crew launched another brand, Nevereven, which is also being sold at multi-brand retailers such as Fred Segal in Los Angeles.

    But talk of the company giving up more of its corporate office space to Facebook and Instagram — which occupies the same building — and news of a “for rent” sign in the window its popular men’s concept shop, the Liquor Store, indicates that the J.Crew is still in cost-cutting mode.

  • Hugo Boss growth relies on Asia sales

    Hugo Boss growth relies on Asia sales

    German fashion retailer Hugo Boss sees Asia as a cornerstone of its growth strategy, saying while it already enjoys above-average growth in the region, there is potential for more. In a briefing to investors in London, the company’s managing board said it expects Asia will account for 20 per cent of its global sales by 2022, up one third from the current 15 per cent.

    “The board is convinced the group still has considerable growth potential particularly in Asia. Sales in the region are expected to increase on average at a double-digit percentage rate per year by 2022, with China playing a key role,” the company said in a statement.

    “In addition to the optimisation and expansion of the local retail network, the online business, also in cooperation with various multi-brand platforms, should contribute to above-average sales growth in particular.”

    Globally, Hugo Boss will focus on personalisation and speed to boost brand desirability between now and 2022. The company plans to increase currency-adjusted sales by between 5 per cent and 7 per cent annually for the next four years and grow its operating margin to 15 per cent. Operating profit will grow “significantly faster than sales,” the company said.

    “We have set ourselves high targets for the coming years”, said CEO Mark Langer.

    “We want to grow faster than the market, and expect our operating profit to develop significantly better than our sales. The successful realignment of our brands Boss and Hugo has laid the foundation for this. We will further increase the personalisation of our offerings in the future and speed up central processes in the course of further developing our strategy. Our overall aim is clear: We want to be the most desirable premium fashion and lifestyle brand globally.”

    Personalisation will be developed by adopting a more individualised customer approach, a personalised product range, “a unique shopping experience” and by building on its extensive experience in made-to-measure clothing.
    On the speed front, Hugo Boss plans to make its business processes “considerably more agile”.

    “This will enable the company to react to customer needs and to new market trends even more quickly and flexibly in the future. The existing skills of Hugo Boss in product design and development, our modern logistics and IT infrastructure and the use of digital showrooms will be the key levers,” the company said.

    It also plans to quadruple its own online sales by 2022.

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  • Olympic athlete Ayumu Hirano named as new Uniqlo brand ambassador

    Olympic athlete Ayumu Hirano named as new Uniqlo brand ambassador

    Japanese global apparel retailer Uniqlo has announced a new partnership with professional snowboarder Ayumu Hirano as its newest Global Brand Ambassador. Hirano was a two-time gold medalist in the men’s superpipe competition at the Winter X Games and winner of consecutive silver medals in the half-pipe competition at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics.

    Chairman, president and CEO of Fast Retailing Tadashi Yanai said: “We are greatly inspired by [Mr. Hirano’s] achievements, his creativity and his style – not just on a snowboard, but also in his sense of fashion. His flair and imagination when competing go well beyond expectations, so we will look past conventional wisdom together to achieve something truly unique through this partnership.

    “We look forward to supporting him with special LifeWear items featuring advanced technologies, helping him to reach even greater heights in future,” he said.

    Hirano’s primary role as global brand ambassador is to promote the Uniqlo and LifeWear brands. The partnership will provide opportunities for Hirano to engage in the development of custom products and materials for his performance wear, while also assisting in the design process for LifeWear.

  • Charles & Keith is expanding in Hong Kong

    Charles & Keith is expanding in Hong Kong

    Charles & Keith is the go-to label for accessible designs that are on the cutting edge of fashion. This October, Charles & Keith has expanded its retail reach by opening two new stores in Hong Kong. These stores would be the first to open in the city.

    The new stores are located at Parker House, Central and New Town Plaza, Sha Tin respectively.

    Parker House opened two days ago and it occupies a coveted spot in the prime CBD district while New Town Plaza is a trendy flagship shopping centre that offers an exceptional array of shopping, dining and lifestyle facilities.

    The aesthetics of the new Charles & Keith stores is inspired by the brand’s refined design philosophy and aim at reflecting a sophisticated simplicity.

    To provide customers with a curated experience, each section of the store communicates the different stories of the season.

  • Korean Fashion Struts Authentic Style to Thailand’s Online Shoppers

    Korean Fashion Struts Authentic Style to Thailand’s Online Shoppers

    WearYouWant, Thailand’s leading online fashion and beauty marketplace, is launching a premium, Korean fashion range in Thailand, designed and made in Korea, to satisfy the ever-growing love of Korean brands in the Kingdom. Developing a close relationship with online fashion house, Atria International Style, WearYouWant is sourcing authentic Korean brands, importing these for the Thai market from up-and-coming local Korean designers.

    Just as Korean pop music as captured a huge fan base in Thailand, there is high demand for Korean fashion too. The new Korean range of cool and stylish women’s apparel, accessories, bags and shoes, is to be showcased on WearYouWant. The launch, planned for December 2016, is big news for Thailand’s online shoppers. It is also a sign of growing focus from Korea on Thailand’s rapidly developing e-commerce market; the fastest growing in Southeast Asia.

    The WearYouWant collection is unique in Thailand and has been specially curated by fashion experts to assure quality and to appeal to the country’s online fashion-buying market who are actively seeking out Korean brands. Martin Toft Sorensen, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of WearYouWant confirms that this latest fashion collection launch is part of an ongoing strategy to understand and meet their customers’ needs and a response to the market in Korea too.

    “Our decision to move forward with Korean brands is in part due to a general push for designers to expand beyond the saturated markets in Korea. WearYouWant is an ideal platform for this expansion as there is a great amount of passionate interest from our online shoppers for Korean fashions. We pride our success in being ahead of the curve with consumer trends and this is what makes our platform so vibrant, relevant and exciting.”

    This launch follows the Last Mile Fulfilment (LMF) Korea 2016 conference in September 2016, which Martin Toft Sorensen attended. The event focused on the attraction of Thailand’s solid e-commerce market and higher purchasing power for Korean brands looking to grow within Southeast Asia and succeed outside Korea’s competitive markets. Also clearly highlighted was the importance of fashion distributors in assisting Korean brands to spread out within the region and the value that this can bring to outside markets. The WearYouWant launch aims to add value to Thailand’s blossoming ecommerce market where demand is strong and expectations high.

    ATRIA STYLE (www.atriastyle.com), a powerful South Korean platform that sells contemporary fashion and beauty brands all over the world has been working closely with WearYouWant to fuel cross-border fashion and beauty relations in Thailand to build strong commerce presence between these two key retail luxury markets.

    Founder and CEO, Cindy Yun is optimistic about the future success of Korean fashion and beauty brands through the WearYouWant platform.  “Korean designer fashion is forward thinking, high quality and, in terms of production, there is a good lead time in creating output. This means that brands are stylish and affordable which greatly appeals to savvy Thai consumers. For designers looking to expand their collections outside of Korea, WearYouWant is a vital online lifeline and the e-commerce opportunity this launch entails will enable them to realize their true potential.”

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  • Olivia Wilde is the face of H&M’s Conscious Exclusive campaign

    Olivia Wilde is the face of H&M’s Conscious Exclusive campaign

    Known for her commitment to sustainability and her engagement for environmental causes, actress Olivia Wilde, will be the face of H&M’s Conscious Exclusive campaign, set to be unveiled in around 200 H&M stores worldwide and online on 16 April.

    “Sustainability is one of my biggest passions. I’m proud to be the face of H&M Conscious Exclusive, a collection which shows the stylishness of sustainability,” she said in a statement posted in the H&M website.

    H&M said this year’s Conscious Exclusive collection draws inspiration from African, Asian and Indian cultures in both cut and detail. Dresses are a focus, along with hand-drawn prints created especially for the collection.

    “The pieces are full of character with the most beautiful prints, all made from more sustainable materials,” said Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M’s head of design for new development.

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