The Hindu Business Line : Wills Lifestyle to focus on designer wear

Chennai March 19 Encouraged by the success of its first edition of `Fashion Week' line, the lifestyle brand Wills Lifestyle plans to expand the initiative and is set to launch more such designer wear, both for men and women, on an annual basis.

Elaborating on this initiative, Mr Atul Chand, Vice-President - Marketing and Retail, Lifestyle Retailing Business Division, ITC Ltd, told Business Line the `Fashion Week' line, created by Rahul Khanna and Monisha Jaising, was a big hit and contributed almost 15 per cent of their total sales. "Every season, we would offer designer wear from leading designers under the Fashion Week line," Mr Chand said.

For the ensuing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, the brand has signed on fashion designer Rajesh Pratap Singh to create the collection for the Grand Finale (scheduled for March 25) on the theme `Deeper Love'.

"So, by April our stores would have exclusive signature lines from Rajesh Pratap Singh and Manish Malhotra, who created the grand finale collection for Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in August-September 2006," he added. According to Mr Chand, almost 50 per cent of designer wear purchases at Wills Lifestyle stores have been by those who visit the store for the first time.

On whether there is a good demand for womenswear, he said, "In fact, womenswear contribute close to 35 per cent of our sales."

Encouraging response

The encouraging response is not just from metros, but also from tier-II cities such as Hyderabad, Pune, Ludhiana and Chandigarh, he said. "It's good for the designers too, he added. For them, partnering with Wills Lifestyle is a win-win proposition. Their creations now have access to wider audience through our stores."

Also, leveraging its association with Fashion Week, Wills Lifestyle would promote young talent in the fashion industry. According to Mr Chand, the brand recently announced an initiative — The Debut — to recognise India's promising young talent in the field through showcasing their creations.

Wills Lifestyle recently launched men's grooming products such as perfume, shaving cream and aftershave, which, according to Mr Chand, were well received. "The segment accounts for 5 to 6 per cent of sales," he said. Talking on expanding brand presence, Mr Chand said Wills Lifestyle is set to expand its retail horizon by setting up 60 more stores across the country in two years, taking to the total to 100.

At present, the brand, apart from its brand outlets, is present in select large-format stores in the shop-in-shop format. That apart, the company is planning to give a facelift to its stores and has tied up with FRCH, the US-based interior designer, to give a new look to the shops. "The new-look stores will be even more exciting and would enable the shopping experience get better," says Mr Chand. On the company's mid-market brand John Players, he said ITC is also planning to expand the brand's footprint by increasing the number of exclusive outlets to 300 from the present 200 through the franchisee route and number of multi-brand outlets to 2,000 from the present 1,500 stores across the country.

Some time ago, John Players signed on Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan as its brand ambassador and there is a plan to create a special Hrithik Roshan signature line very soon. The new collection will be at the premium-end of the brand portfolio, says Mr Chand.

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