Theme events have become phenomena worldwide with the US at the epicentre of not only theme parties but theme weddings, hundreds of comic cons and wonder cons, and parades held every year as well as the celebration of iconic festivals like Halloween where children and adults wear costumes to look like their favourite icon. The growing popularity of such events has been facilitated by the popularity of movies and TV shows based on comic characters, movies made on vintage themes and also the need of people to hold on to tradition. This unique but fun-filled trend has paved the way for a thriving market for replica and costume clothing.
Amongst all the celebrations, Halloween rules with total spending of US $ 8 billion this year out of which US $ 1.39 billion were spend on children’s costumes and US $ 2.21 billion on adults’ costumes. Thanks to creative costumes and decor for consumers of all ages, Halloween has become one of the most anticipated holidays of the year for many people. As a non-gift holiday, even people on the strictest budget enjoy themselves on Halloween. Experts believe that the increase in Holloween spending from last year could be because post-recession shoppers are looking for value, and Halloween is much less expensive – and sometimes more fun – than other holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The business of costume clothes however doesn’t end with Halloween, it continues right into Christmas, then there are the Mardi Gras (Carnivals), leading to Purim, the Jewish Holiday which is a big holiday for the business. This is followed by Easter, which involves passion plays. So there are many more occasional spikes for the business. Various comic cons and parades around the world are estimated to generate business for costumes to the tune of around US $ 3.5 billion. Other events where such clothing is used are historical enactments and educational activity in which participants attempt to recreate some aspects of historical event or period. Of course the sales, all around the year, are not at par with the Halloween but there’s always a demand. The main buyers for the products are movie production houses, museums and wholesalers around the world.
Though a lucrative market, there are few players in India and the biggest name catering to this exclusive market is RS Windlass and Sons, Noida, and ISO-9001 certified Windlass Steelcrafts of Dehradun with its subsidiaries Atlanta Cutlery Corp., and Museum Replicas Limited in the US. The company has a 250 machine unit in Hosiery Complex Noida where it is working both as an exporter in regular day-to-day garments for brands such as GAP and Macy’s, as well as “period garments”. “Though we are struggling for orders in exports from other buyers, business from “period garments”, which is 70% of our turnover, is keeping us afloat,” says Rajiv Goil, MD, RS Windlass and Sons.
The company has been in the re-enactment product business since 1940 and making garments for cult figures since 1997. They are the officially licensed suppliers to United States Marine Corps, British Ministry of Defence, governments of Colombia, Greece, Australia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Canada, to name a few.
With an in-house CAD, embroidery, washing and dry-cleaning setup, the company is technically equipped with the best of the technologies for the business. The company at present has divided its capacity to produce 800 pieces of fashion wear for exports, and is producing around 3000 pieces a month for “period garments”. “We allocate every piece to 2- 3 operators and depending on the complexity of the garment, sometimes the garment is stitched in 25 minutes and sometimes it may even take one whole day to stitch one garment,” says Rajiv. The company in general works with the lead time of 60-90 days, Halloween and Christmas being the two most intensive seasons.
The unit is not doing any in-house design development. The designs, along with an exhaustive tech pack are sent by Atlanta Cutlery Corp. and Museum Replicas from USA, which is the body behind buying the licenses from production houses. “We only get the license from the production house. They do not give us any samples or fabric swatches or trims. A team of our designers is allowed to visit the premises and check out the original sample under supervision. Based on their observations and the measurements, they prepare a tech pack and send it to us,” informs Rajiv.
For garment exporters the product is not too difficult to understand as sizing is the same as in the case of normal export clothing as per the European or US standards, unless the garment is a free size garment like a “monk’s robe”. In regards to “period” clothing, the company makes only one sample in size small for Ladies’ wear and in medium for Men’s wear. The sample generally gets passed with 2-3 alterations.
The company is doing most of its sourcing from within India. Sometimes the kind of fabrics that are required for making “period” garments are rather peculiar but Rajiv says that they are seldom something that the normal fabric vendors could not handle. “For a particular Monk’s robe we needed a heavier fabric, so we used the fabric they use for making curtains in home furnishing,” recalls Rajiv.
As for the time being, the sale of these garments is limited to US and Europe. In US they are being retailed through Windlass’s subsidiaries Atlanta Corp.’s and Museum replicas. The customer can go through the catalogue and place the orders from home. The company is in talks for establishing a subsidiary in Germany as well to cater to the European market where presently the retail is being handled by wholesalers. The company is also planning to start an E-Commerce portal for the retail of its products.
Being one of its kind business, players believe that the future is promising more so as, being a niche product, the profit margins are higher. The “period garments” can have the FOB ranging from US $ 12 to up to US $ 120 and it is generally retailed at 4 times the price. However, for those that buy licences, there can be a risk element. “There are times that we have bought license for a movie that has not yet released and then unexpectedly the movie bombs at the box office. This culminates in heavy loss as for the sales of such garments,” says Rajiv. However he is positive of growth and is now looking for opportunities in the Indian market also. “The concepts like comic cons have started to sweep into the Indian society as well, that has opened new doors of opportunities for us in the domestic market. We are planning to start an EBO in India as well,” he concludes.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
