The apparel industry is experiencing a resurgence in demand, propelled by early festive buying tendencies, following months of weak sales. Sales have increased significantly across all platforms, online and offline, especially for athleisure, athletics, and festival and occasion apparel.
Due to lacklustre demand during the previous two quarters, industry players had approached the season warily. However, they are now more hopeful and anticipate a double-digit sales increase during the festival season.
Founder and CEO of Libas, Sidhant Keshwani, reported that the company had a spike in demand beginning in late September, primarily through online channels, and that this was followed by a significant increase in foot traffic in physical stores.
“The level of demand has surpassed our anticipations. We now expect growth of 30–40 per cent compared to last year, although our initial goal was 20–25 per cent,” Keshwani stated.
Similar thoughts were expressed by Ajay Kapoor, President-Retail at Fabindia, who said that the early festive season has seen “significant growth” and that multifold sales increases are anticipated. A “steep rise in demand” has been attributed to the popularity of Fabindia’s holiday collection, “Svarnim.”
Demand was also higher at Myntra’s just-ended Big Fashion Festival, particularly for men’s occasion and casual wear, sports footwear, and women’s ethnic clothing. Lacoste India’s MD and CEO, Rajesh Jain, emphasised the robust demand trend for luxury categories.
The MD of Woodland & Woods’ parent company, Aero Club, Harkirat Singh, verified a 6–7 per cent rise in sales in physical locations and attributed it to upbeat customer sentiment. He is still “cautiously optimistic” about the remainder of the season, though.
Deepak Bansal, Director of Cantabil Retail India Ltd., has also noted the increase in demand and called the consumer enthusiasm positive following a difficult time for the apparel industry.
An 8–10 per cent sales growth is anticipated for the organised retail apparel sector this fiscal year, according to a recent CRISIL Ratings assessment.
A regular monsoon, decreasing inflation, and increased spending throughout the holiday and wedding seasons all contribute to the growth. Festival season is approaching, and industry participants are hoping for continued growth.
