The Hindu Business Line : Munch Design fashions outsourcing business

Mumbai May 23 After knowledge process outsourcing and business process outsourcing, the fashion industry is the latest to jump on the outsourcing wagon.

The Bangalore-based Munch Design Workshop Pvt Ltd provides design solutions to the fashion industry.

Created in 2004, the company caters to the apparel, accessories, textile and related industries both in India and abroad. Right from in-depth market analyses to sampling, Munch makes the entire design backend available to the client.

Mr Karunesh Vohra, Chief Executive Officer and principal designer of the company, told Business Line, "India has what is needed to become a design provider in terms of talent and expertise as well as the added language advantage."

Design solutions

Munch currently caters to fashion design solutions that are individually apt or exclusive such as trend forecasting, apparel design, textile design, graphic design, accessory design and packaging design. Indian clients include Westside, John Players, Taj Hotels, ITC, Dockers, SF, Central and Levi's Workers.

The international brand that the company is currently working with is youth fashion brand, Orsay, from Germany. "We are looking at expanding our business in the European market directly or through tie-ups with export houses," said Mr Vohra. "We are looking at mid-size brands as these would be easier for us to handle," he added.

Munch has a staff of around 50 people, of which 30 are designers.

Business expansion

"We will be expanding in a systematic manner. Everyone realises that design is the key but the effort and cost is not readily acceptable in the market," said Mr Vohra.

Munch ties up with retailers for a period between 1 and 3 years. In addition, it also works on projects that range between 2 and 8 months.

"Our work with Taj Hotels has been on a project basis for designing uniforms," said Mr Vohra.

prêt clothing

In addition, Munch Design also has its own high-end brand of prêt clothing called `Moh' which retails at select stores in Bangalore and Mumbai. The price range of the brand is between Rs 1,400-3,000.

"Moh does not target any demographic as such. It is an outlet we use to hone our skills. Through it, we create prêt at an available price," said Mr Vohra.

Munch Design is a part of the Prateek Apparels Group.