Highstreet Essentials, which operates women’s clothing brands Faballey and Indya, will set up 7-8 wedding stores this year as part of its premium label Indya Luxe, which offers wedding wear in the range of ₹2,500–25,000. The company aims to increase Luxe’s contribution to Indya’s business from 7-8 per cent to 35-40 per cent in 12 months, CEO and founder Shivani Poddar told businessline. 

Half of the stores will be company-owned and the other half franchisee-owned in Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai, among other places, Poddar said.

On the expansion into wedding wear, Poddar said millions of women today are unable to afford branded designer wear, so her products will offer affordability and compete with players such as Mohey.

India has an estimated $3–4 billion organised market for ethnic and occasion wear.

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The company, which started in 2012, registered gross sales of ₹250 crore in FY23. Indya accounts for 60 per cent of the business and Faballey the rest.

Although the business was not profitable in FY23, it aims to be about 5 per cent at EBITDA positive with gross sales growth of 30-40 per cent in FY24. ”In fact, even in April, we were EBITDA positive, so we are already on that trajectory,” added Poddar.

Half of the company’s business is generated online.

International expansion

Currently, Highstreet Essentials generates about 20 per cent of its sales from international markets and plans to double it over the next 12 months.

As part of Indya’s expansion, it will open 10 new stores in existing international markets, including the UAE, UK, Malaysia, and Nepal. “So far, we have opened four stores, with another six in the pipeline,” Poddar said. It has exclusive partnerships with local franchisee partners.

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With the ongoing expansion, the company is looking to raise another round of funds this year. To date, it has raised $25 million, including debt and equity. “For the last three years, we’ve done about $4-5 million in rounds each year, and we will be looking at a similar round this year as well.”

Manufacturing

The company produces 1.5 lakh pieces every month through contract manufacturing, with a network of more than 1,500 tailors based in NCR. With the Luxe collection, the company is looking to increase its manufacturing capacity.

“For Luxe, we have set up our in-house unit with 30–40 tailors, which will allow us to manufacture 500–800 pieces a month. Additionally, we will definitely be working with more contract management,” Poddar said.

The company has 26 exclusive stores, of which 22 are company owned; it is present across 500 points of sale, which it aims to increase to 750 by March 2024.

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