BENGALURU: Allen Solly Women reported about 70% surge in its average sales a month ago when the women’s clothing brand introduced 70-80 styles meant for four different Indian body types, from slender to generously built women.

“There was a need to move beyond the standard one-size-fitsall and…complement Indian body types,” said Vishak Kumar, CEO at Madura Fashion & Lifestyle that owns apparel brands such as Allen Solly, Louis Philippe, Van Heusen and Peter England. “Majority of the Indian body types fall into the category of apple, pear and hourglass shapes; we moved to create dresses which are all about silhouettes that embrace different body shapes and not just standard sizes.”

Madura Fashion is now trying to decode body blocks regionally to customise store assortment.

It is not the only one. Top fashion retailers such as Aditya BirlaNSE 5.04 % Fashion, Levi Strauss & Co, Arvind Fashions and Myntra have already begun adopting ‘India Size’. Till now most apparel brands in the country have been following size charts meant for global countries, especially the US and UK, with a slight tweak. For instance, larger sizes are more popular in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh than the rest of the Indian markets, industry insiders said. Now, top brands are investing aggressively in sizing divisions and hiring data scientists to decode tailoring, and, in turn, reduce wastage and returns due to poor garment fit.

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Denim maker Levi Strauss has introduced a laser technology that allows jeans to be finished at distribution centres instead of centralised manufacturing facilities, a move that can help initiate custom orders. “Our CEO Chip Bergh has commented that ‘sizes will go out of the window 10 years from now’,” said Sanjeev Mohanty, managing director – South Asia, Middle East and North Africa at Levi Strauss & Co. “So we are thinking about sizing as the next breakthrough for apparel business.”

Earlier this year, the government launched an initiative to measure a group of people and prepare a comprehensive ‘India Size’ chart, which can be adopted by the country’s apparel industry. The ‘Size India’ project undertaken by Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) jointly with textiles ministry and National Institute of Fashion Technology seeks to develop a standardised India size chart, officials said.

“The India size chart should be ready by the end of 2020 or mid-2021,” said Rahul Mehta, chief mentor at CMAI.

Online fashion retailer Myntra recently roped in local tailors to deliver clothes and alter products at customer’s doorstep.

Published On : 28-12-2019

Source : Economic Times