The buying season for Spring/Summer 2022 has been good for most retailers and brands across the world. While ‘comfort’ is still a dominate requirement, fashion is making a comeback with a return to bold going-out clothes in bright colours, sparkly sequins, dramatic trains and edging fringes. Another key trend being followed is clothes inspired by the late ’90s and early 2000s – it’s back to the ‘good old days’ in fashion. Talking to buying teams of both international business and domestic retail, it is obvious that the gap in trends is narrowing by the day and buying professionals are eyeing similar looks with brand-specific twists!
The first category to make its presence felt, post the heavy dose of athleisure wear is denim. And this is true for both international and Indian retail. “Denim has made a tremendous comeback. Earlier everyone had literally moved onto athleisure to get business and the entire trade was assuming that the survival of Denim is going to be very difficult…. But surprise surprise…. The numbers of denims sold has crossed all boundaries so much so that we are trying to make some urgent denims to get on the shelf really fast,” shares Anshul Grover, Head Sourcing, Jack& Jones (Bestseller). The same is true for buyers working in the international market and exporters working in the category share that they are overbooked.
Being restricted to home for almost two years, a lot of social gatherings including weddings are now happening and orders for the same are also visible. Confirming the increased demand for such categories, Rakesh Saigal, CEO, Orange Sourcing working with clients in both the US and Europe says, “There has been a significant uptake in occasionwear and bridalwear, besides workwear from all our clients.” Significantly, the import of dressing gown – a high-fashion product – by USA valued US $ 284.93 million in the first half of 2021, which is 7.30 per cent more than what it had valued in H1 ’19.
Talking about the techniques that are in good demand for fashion wear, Sanjay Thakur, CEO Ethical Sourcing shares, “For the holiday season and passing on to S/S ’22, we have seen a lot of quilting /padding, new structured fabrics and techniques of embroidery or hand beading in the demands coming in from our international buyers.” Silhouettes range from short shirts and low waist to baggy and oversized styles. The colours are bold and inspirations are from the pop culture of the late ’90s and early ’2000s.
The womenswear segment in particular has seen a huge surge in demand. “All categories in womenswear and cut-n-sew knits have seen growth, not to mention the surge in home related categories,” avers Jyoti Saikia, Partner and Co-CEO of Triburg -Indian Inc JV. She is quick to add that business will grow if performance matches expectations. “A 10 per cent move out from China becomes big numbers here. Bangladesh still takes away a lion’s share due to price competitiveness and good quality especially on bottoms; India’s strength lies in fashion for womenswear and this is from where the demand is steaming,” reasons Jyoti.
Though a lot of focus is now shifting to man-made fabrics, the demand for cotton products has continued to grow. “We source cotton-based products from India across knits and woven categories. As against last two years when core products were in demand, now we see a shift towards the fashion products. Hope the demand patterns reach the same pre-Covid levels soon,” says Wicrant Gambhir, Head of Sourcing, Quality and Vendor Management, Landmark Group, Dubai. He adds that back-to-school would be a good product portfolio which every retailer is banking on. “I expect that retailers would soon be back to some new product/category launches too,” predicts Wicrant.
Another category that has seen upsurge in demand is the sustainable product, which has become a must have in every buyer’s order basket. “Sustainability is a major trend across all product categories and everyone needs organic, FSC and genuine sustainable products. Today, brands are very aware of green washing and the requirements clearly state that there will be no compromise in that area,” says Sanjay Thakur, whose company specialises in sourcing sustainable products.
Capacity shortage the biggest challenge going forward
Even as sourcing teams are positive, there are major concerns also. The rising price of raw material was the top choice for the biggest challenge in an AR survey held recently with 86 per cent feeling that competitiveness is a major constraint in working with India today. The second biggest concern is logistics. “Higher shipping costs are putting more pressure on product costings. Container shortage continues with small improvements creating pressure on delivery lead time being shortened to compensate for loss of time in shipping,” shares Jyoti. Adds Sanjay Thakur, “Current deliveries are delayed by an average 2-3 weeks and no one is in a situation of airing as they are already killed due to the material prices and are squeezed between the two very badly.”
Buyers who have been working with the industry for a long time are worried about the lopsided distribution of business today. “Business growth is going to larger players, while medium-sized companies are still struggling. Funding is an issue as payment terms from customers remains 60 to 90 days credit in general. Going forward as business flows in, capacity constraints may be an issue,” argues Jyoti Saikia. Challenges also include energy shortage, traceability requirements becoming stringent, performance of manufacturers being sketchy due to the current on-ground difficulties and shortage of capacities.
All buyers agree that business will be in abundance in 2022 and the biggest challenge moving forward will be shortage of capacity and manpower. “We have proof that buyers have moved out of China and are flooding Bangladesh and India with orders and for many sourcing teams, capacity is a real time challenge and could become the biggest problem if the industry does not scale up soon,” concludes Anshul Grover.
