Designing Expansion

The designer wear is one of the fastest changing industries in the world today. Designer wear has gained more acceptance in the Indian market in the recent years. Earlier its scope was limited to the rich and famous only but with the changing times, designer wear has found its acceptability in the escalating middle class also. Our society relies on fashion as a form of expression, which is why designer clothing is gaining so much of recognition nowadays.

Franchising in designer wear

The designer wear industry is expanding by leaps and bounds. Opening up of company owned stores all over the country and abroad is not possible as it requires massive investment and management.  So keeping this in mind, designers are taking up franchising to expand their business. Franchising in designer wear business is proving fruitful as it is serving to increase the brand visibility along with the sales. Franchising offers designers with a cost effective and market friendly method to enter fresh territories. It also allows a company to expand the brand presence while retaining control over the business. As franchising opportunity helps to overcome the difficulties posed by the chain of company owned outlets thus, it is becoming more popular in geographically and culturally diverse locations like India. Likewise in the designer industry, franchising holds great opportunities and acceptance. Once a brand is built, the best way to reach out to the market is via franchising.

Changing trends

There has been an increasing awareness of designer wear among the middle class as they have become more brand conscious and are setting preferences for branded clothing. For this reason, fashion designers have realised that they not only have to cater to the elite clientele, but also to the masses belonging to the middle and upper middle class to be successful in India. For this they opted for clothing franchise option.

Developmental factors:

Here are some factors responsible for the growth of designer wear industry: 

• Brand conscious consumers: With the rise of designer labels, courtesy mass media and aggressive marketing campaigns initiated by many designer brands consumers are getting enthralled by the sheer spirit of such fashion houses.
• Fashionable youth: Youth of today has become more fashion conscious and aware of the changing fashion trends. Additionally, there is a higher disposable income allowing the youth to drift from local market garments towards high street and designer brands.
• Wearable fashion: Moreover, now the Indian consumers have realised that fashion is not limited only to fashion weeks and ramp shows, but it is something that can be incorporated into one’s wardrobe.
• Increase in designers: Till few years back designer wear was just for the elite class. The arrival of many designers with everyday wearable designs have made easier for the middle class to enjoy the designer wears also. Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri, Rohit Bal, Rina Dhaka, Muzaffar Ali, Satya Paul, Abraham and Thakore, Tarun Tahiliani, JJ Valaya and Manish Malhotra are few of the well known fashion designers in India.
• India’s rich heritage: The strength of the Indian fashion industry rests on strong raw material availability. India is the third largest producer of cotton, the second largest producer of silk and the fifth largest producer of man-made fibres in the world. India also possesses large number of skilled human resources and has among the lowest labour costs in the world. All these factors have contributed to the development of the fashion industry.

To conclude, it can be aptly said that the designer wear industry in India is booming due to the rise of fashion conscious public. Thus, designer wear will constantly grow at this pace and soon will create a niche in clothing franchise and retail segment.