The Hindu Business Line : Advantage Arvind

Darshan Mehta, President, Arvind Brands (right), and actor John Abraham, Wrangler brand ambassador, at the launch of a denim collection in Mumbai earlier this year

According to Technopak's COO, Harminder Sahni, the joint venture augurs well for Arvind Brands in many ways. For example, Arvind does not have to pay any minimum licence fee even if for a given year the brands do not do well, apart from the fact that there will be that much more commitment from VF Corporation in the venture. But critics say that it is time for Arvind and its partner to launch newer brands as the existing brands like Lee and Wrangler are no longer seen as hot brands.

"The venture has to offer newer products as Lee and Wrangler are increasingly being seen as dated," says an industry analyst. The analyst says that Arvind and VF are seen as primarily denim players and the size of the denim market is 10 per cent of the total garment industry. "Hence the joint venture should lead to the launch of bigger brands from the VF stable," says the analyst. The analyst said that with the denim business growing 2-3 per cent globally, VF had no other choice but to turn to India as the denim business in the country was growing at 30 per cent. Wiseman himself admits that India is among the fastest growing markets in the world for denims.

But Arvind is unfazed by the criticism. It recently opened its largest Wrangler store in Bangalore which is also the largest in the world at 3,000 sq. ft. and has even roped in a popular Hindi movie star as the brand ambassador. "Wrangler has come a long way since its re-launch in India in 2000. We have made tremendous changes in the brand: the focus has shifted towards being fashion-oriented and more youthful," says Mehta. There are also plans to increase the number of shops from 14 to 55 during this fiscal. Lee will also add 11 more stores to take the total number of stores to 74 during the same period.

The joint venture is not merely looking at launching more brands from the VF stable but is also keen on acquiring domestic brands. VF itself has grown through acquisitions and has so far acquired 11 international brands. The next year could see more action on the domestic front as there are several other international players who are already fine-tuning their strategies for the domestic market.

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