Madura Garments of the AV Birla Group is withdrawing its – Mid to Premium priced – Jeans brand SF Jeans from the market.
This brand , despite a fast growing Denim market in India , clocked only about Rs 20 Crore(USD4.5 million approx.) in the domestic market even after 4-5 years of operation. On the other hand, the other brands of Madura (in shirtings mainly) like Louis Philippe, Van Huesen, Allen Solly and Peter England are likely to touch high turnovers of about Rs 200 crores(USD 45 million approx.)
I think, it needs to be assessed why the Denim Brands by Indian Corporates have not enjoyed too much success. We also have the example of Arvind Garment brands like ‘Flying Machine’ , KG denim garment brand ‘Trigger’ and some other brands who have not enjoyed the success in the market despite a Booming denim market. But many of the International brands like ‘Levi’s’, ‘Wrangler (handled by Arvind)’ seem to be doing well.On the other hand,we have seen the success of a brand like ‘Killer’ from the medium sized Keval Kiran & Co., and some lower end brands like ‘Flu’ which enjoy substantial turnovers in the Northern markets.
Is it because:
The Indian Corporates are not able to focus on establising them in the consumer psyche ?
Or is it because of incorrect price points ?
Or is it because that the flexibility required to maintain the freshness of Denim brands is difficult for Indian Corporates to achieve?
Or the consumers are more oriented towards International brands which they perceive to be better?
The actual answer may be a mix of some of these reasons. It would be interesting to note how Arvind would be relaunching its ‘Flying Machine’ brand and to what extent it goes successful…
