Homegrown D2C fashion label Suta, known for its handloom sarees, is expanding into newfangled categories like kidswear, menswear and jewellery, while also reinforcing its womenswear offerings with dresses, co-ord sets and lehengas. Co-founders Sujata and Taniya Biswas announced a Rs. 50 lakh investment to double production at their Jharkhand facility, targeting to double output to 12,000 units monthly.
The expansion move comes after robust consumer response to previous capsule collections in these categories. Currently, sarees account for 50 per cent of Suta’s revenue, blouses contribute 30 per cent and the remaining 20 per cent comes from new clothing and a wide range of accessories.
Suta plans to also diversify their brick-and-mortar presence as they build from 16 to 26 stores by FY ’25 and make their first mall entry with smaller-format 600–700 sq.ft. stores to complement its existing high-street 1,000–1,200 sq.ft. stores. Of these stores, two stores are company-operated, while the remaining stores are on a FOCO (Franchise-Owned, Company-Operated) model.
The brand is vigorously searching for a site to set up a new manufacturing unit to meet increasing demand across all categories. Currently, 50 per cent of its revenue comes from Suta’s D2C website, 15 per cent from e-commerce channels and 35 per cent from offline stores, with offline sales likely to grow to 40–45 per cent by the end of the year.
Suta, which reported Rs. 75 crore (US $ 8.78 million) in revenues in FY ’24, believes it could touch Rs. 110 crore (US $ 12.88 million) in FY ’25, while also growing its EBITDA from single digits to double digits. The founders ascribe this to improved customer engagement and targeted diversification into new categories.
