The Hindu Business Line : Bagging the tag

From outside, it looks just like a vanity bag. With big floral motifs in lavender, it's quite trendy but a closer examination reveals deeper secrets. It's functional too! Zip open the bag and you discover many sections that can hold a whole lot of things — right from your handkerchief to mobile phones, laptops and shoes, even! Sling it over your shoulder, strap it tightly around you or even carry it in your hand. Well, Kipling has arrived in India.

The Belgium-based women's bags brand has opened three stores, one each in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, in partnership with VF Arvind Brands. For the uninitiated, Kipling is a casual women's bag brand that draws inspiration from the famous writer Rudyard Kipling and his popular work Jungle Book. The brand hopes to bring to life one of Jungle Book's characters - the monkey - and the spirit of adventure through its attractive array of bags.

Richard Macey, Vice-President and General Manager, Kipling, takes us through Kipling's journey from the late '80s from Belgium to now in India. Macey was in Bangalore to launch the Kipling store at Galleria Leela at the Leela Palace hotel and he spoke at length to Brandline on what Kipling hopes to bag in the country.

So, India it is finally? Macey grins: "We tend to launch in one or two major countries every year. India is the last major country where we hadn't launched Kipling. The reason for that was not for want of trying but more about finding the right partner to work with. Finally, we found the Arvind group at the end of 2005 and have been working with them since then to develop a plan for India."

Initially, Kipling plans to go it alone, starting with a limited number of standalone stores in malls, high streets and places with huge footfalls. Says Macey: "The brand's aspiration is to be the best casual women's handbag brand in the world. And the best way to do that is through standalone stores. We are constantly hunting for good space with the right size and at the right location. As and when there is a new shopping mall that is right for a Kipling store, we are going to be there. So it's going to be a lot of stores in the country."

Globally, Kipling is present in 55 countries in 140 standalone exclusive stores, apart from shops-in-shops and key corners in department stores and a few multi-brand stores in Europe. Although Kipling wants to go exclusive in India to start with, it is not averse to the idea of shops-in-shops, which will still give the brand some exclusivity as opposed to multi-brand stores. VF Arvind Brands plans to have six exclusive Kipling stores and 12 shop-in-shops by the middle of next year in India.

Made from crinkled nylon, Kipling bags come in six ranges - Basic, If, Deva, Vintage, Mini and Working Life. They are made at the company's manufacturing facility in China. Every bag comes with a monkey clip, which is named after somebody who works for Kipling or one of its partner companies.

Kipling bags are positioned as affordable and accessible luxury priced Rs 2,000-7,000. "We want to be a democratic brand. Of course, we are a premium product but we want to be more accessible. This brand started its journey in Belgium in 1987. Belgium is a very tiny country with 10 million people. I always make this joke that after 18 years of working with Kipling, there are more Kipling bags in Belgium than there are people. Because this is a brand people love. It's functional and good value for money that people come back to it time and again. We keep saying we are a women's casual bag but we are very happy if men buy our products as well, because they're so functional," explains Macey.

Kipling, which is experiencing double-digit growth, hopes to bag sales of $100 million this year.

So does he expect the brand to experience roaring sales here in India as well? India, Macey says, holds lot of promise. Today, there are five key centres of gravity in the world — Europe, Asia, South America, the US and India. About 60 per cent of Kipling's business is in Europe, 15 per cent in Asia (across Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong), 15 per cent in North America and 10 per cent in South America. While currently Kipling has virtually no share in India, we look at the country as "a vibrant market in the next five years. It is a strategic area of growth. We aspire for it to contribute 15 per cent of our sales in the next decade."

And going by current indications, Kipling could well have found a match in India. In just a month, Kipling has managed to grab quite a few eyeballs with its casual approach. "I went to the shop in Mumbai and everything was buzzing. And people were saying, `Hey, at last Kipling is here in India.' That is really nice to see. It is just a month since we opened the shop and the sales are exactly in line with our expectations."

Kipling products seem to appeal to Asian consumers, says Macey. "Its casualness, lightness and colourfulness are very important to them. The increasing casualisation of businesses and of women in business is driving the development of casual brands. Our core target is women between ages 20 and 35, who are relatively affluent, probably working, and has a very involved life. She wants a variety of casual products to suit every facet of that life. She wants bags to take her children to school, go to the health club, go out in the evening and go to work with. She wants bags that work for every part of her day. And that is what Kipling is trying to do. While every fashion company is doing bags, we are a bag brand that makes functional fashion bags."

Who does Kipling consider as competition? Definitely not the leather bag brands, emphasises Macey. "There aren't that many casual women's bag brands. It's a very fragmented segment. While there are many best reference points for formal leather brands, our main competition is the fashion brands that are offering bags. But we are probably the biggest because there is nobody else in the sector we focus on - i.e. women's casual bags - which is doing as many as we are doing. We sell 16 Kipling bags every minute," he points out with pride. And obviously there is no dearth of options as well, with as many as 1,500 different options rolling out every season!

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