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Rina Chandran

"Currently, neither the designer nor the retailer is really building the brand, so retailers don't know how to display or sell the designers, and the designer is not gaining a great deal either."

Mumbai , July 28

IT may be 10-15 years before we have our equivalent of a Versace or an Armani, according to a recent KPMG study commissioned by the Fashion Design Council of India, but investments in designer brands must be made now, as more consumers seek fashion labels and designers tap new distribution and product lines.

"Fashion is perhaps the one industry in the world where the brand is influenced by one individual," said Mr Anurag Mehra, Associate Director, KPMG Consulting. "And while there is a need to professionalise the marketing and the way potential customers are targeted, there is also an urgent need to build — and maintain — brand imagery."

This is important, not just at the high-end couture level, but also in the mass prêt (ready-to-wear) segment that more designers are tapping. While a Rohit Bal creation at Be: (a division of Raymond Ltd) or an Anita Dongre outfit at a Pantaloon store has widened the scope of designers, the typical department store customer's knowledge of designers is limited to Page 3 and some lifestyle magazines, Mr Mehra said. "Currently, neither the designer nor the retailer is really building the brand, so retailers don't know how to display or sell the designers, and the designer is not gaining a great deal either."

Even at Be:, a multi-brand outlet, apparel was first displayed designer-wise, but is now displayed category-wise, because few customers are designer-oriented, said Mr Aniruddha Deshmukh, Executive Director, Be:. And what it will take to grow the designer-orientation is image building at all levels, said Mr Raghavendra Rathore, who retails his `Rathore' couture line and `Inde Prêt' line through multiple outlets.

"If the designer or the brand is not seen as a luxury item, you can't sell it," Mr Rathore said. "So it's important to create the desired aura and the imagery — from the media coverage to the stores to the catwalk."

What it boils down to is a `core' — a set of values or qualities that the brand stands for and which underlies everything the brand does, said Mr Kiran Khalap of brand consulting firm Chlorophyll. "Consumers buy designer brands to make a statement and, in extreme cases, to give meaning to their lives," he said. "So if the definition of the brand is not clear, the consumer will be confused."

Strong branding also enables the designer to do more: Rathore and Bal, for example, are creating lifestyle brands. For Rohit Bal — who sells his couture `Rohit Bal' line and the `Balance by Rohit Bal' prêt line through multiple outlets — the positioning is of "world-class affordable designer wear", and the imagery goes "beyond the label", said Mr Joseph Sam, CEO, Rohit Bal Designs Pvt. Ltd. As the company diversifies into a complete fashion and lifestyle brand, which includes watches, jewellery, shoes, bags and fragrances, the focus is on detaching the label from the designer to make it truly global and an entity by itself, Mr Sam added.

In the case of Satya Paul, the company retains close control over its franchisees, specifying the interiors, training the staff and appointing the managers, because the experience of the label needs to be maintained at all levels, said Mr Sanjay Kapoor, Managing Director, Genesis Colors Pvt. Ltd, the holding company.

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