Madura Fashion & Lifestyle’s international business division says despite the rupee fall, it will hold onto prices for now. It will take a call on hiking prices by the end of the year (November/December) if the currency continues to depreciate.

The Aditya Birla group company runs The Collective, a premium chain of stores retailing imported apparel and accessories from brands such as Hackett, Armani, Hugo Boss, Versace, Ted Baker and Paul & Shark.

“We have so far tried to maintain Indian pricing on par with global pricing, plus or minus 8 per cent. But it is a challenge, given the high import duty and now the rupee,” said R. Satyajit, COO, International Brands and New Businesses, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle.

While the current rupee depreciation has not yet impacted prices at The Collective, “we may selectively increase retail prices at the top end” if the rupee behaviour persists, he said. Other Collective stores are in Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Mumbai, while Hyderabad and Kolkata are next on the radar.

Denims at The Collective are priced from Rs 8,000 to Rs 35,000 and designer shirts from Rs 6,000 to Rs 28,000. The average price of suits is Rs 70,000.

Apart from The Collective, Madura also operates three exclusive Hackett (a London-based men’s clothing brand) stores in Delhi, Chandigarh and Bangalore. Hackett and The Collective constitute Madura’s international business currently. Madura is in talks with more international brands to set up standalone stores.

Madura’s agreement with Esprit was called off last year, owing to the brand’s underperformance.

Though the slowdown has put pressure on some stores, international business has been growing at 30 per cent for the last three years, said Satyajit. Revenue is in low triple digits, he said.

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