Need for Indian apparel manufacturers to create global brand as global fashion labels line up

Indian textile and apparel industry is known across the globe as it happens to be among the biggest cotton producer in the world, is one of the largest textile manufacturer with companies like Arvind, Vardhman, Raymonds, Bombay Rayon producing and supplying world class fabrics to most major global brands such as Diesel, H&M, Zara, M&S among others. It also has some of the biggest garment manufacturers such as Shahi, Eastman, Pratibha supplying to top global brands. But despite this, garment manufacturers fail to create a global brand.

Indian apparel manufacturers need to create global brands as global fashion labels queuing up to open stores and are doing exceptionally well in India. Global labels present in India like Zara, Tommy Hilfiger, Marks & Spencer and Benetton are chalking out aggressive strategies to attract consumers with their collections, catering to the sensibilities of a global audience. International brands focus on one main idea which is globally aspirational.

But, Indian apparel manufacturers fail because their collections are mostly created thinking about Indian consumer preferences. Diverse Indian cultures and traditions simultaneously forces them to end up manufacturing lines that appeal more to domestic tastes instead of global audiences.

Moreover, only 8 per cent of India’s apparel retail is organized and the larger part of the business is unorganized. In fact, private labels do much more business by reaching out to the smallest of retail markets across the country. Many of these labels focus on a specific lifestyle categories, like jeans, pants, shirts, dresses, salwar kameez , kids’ wear and so on and are wholesaled from small manufacturing hubs like Delhi’s Tank Road and Gandhi Nagar; Mumbai’s Ulhasnagar, Bellary, Kolkata and Tirupur. These places are creating products inspired by films and styles picked up from somewhere without having a definite statement.

The demand for private labels developed by large fashion formats such as Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Max, Westside, Megamart and some regional MBOs as well as e-commerce giants such as Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong, Fashion & You, Snapdeal, Yebhi are leading the pace for private label manufacturing.

In India, there is a focus on selling and not building a brand as per demand. However, now big players like Arvind and Madura with a list of established brands in their portfolio are trying to bridge the gap.