Women’s apparel category that is set to grow at a faster rate, will equal men’s wear segment this year, according to Debashish Mukherjee, head, consumer and retail, A.T. Kearney India.
“The fashion and lifestyle segment is witnessing a paradigm shift with women’s apparel expected to match men’s apparel at par in terms of 37 per cent market share each in 2016. Keeping this trend in mind, the organised retailers need to pay more attention to women consumers as India is one of the few or possibly the only country where the share of men’s apparel is higher than that of women’s and that is changing,” Mukherjee said at the inaugural session of the India Fashion Forum 2016 in Mumbai.
Overall, India’s fashion and lifestyle market is currently estimated to be around Rs 221,000 crore and is poised to grow at 12 per cent CAGR to Rs 394,000 crore over the next five years, he said.
Apparel that constitutes 57.2 per cent pie in the overall market now will grow to 59.9 per cent by 2020 while footwear will see a decline from 34 per cent to 26.1 per cent in the same period. Accessories market share that include apparel accessories, bags, wallets, belts, fashion jewellery, time wear and eyewear would grow from 8.8 per cent to 14 per cent during the forthcoming five year period, he said.
Capturing the disruption, leading lifestyle players are able to identify the “white” spaces or create new play areas in the market to carve out space for themselves. Segments like Kidswear, Ethnic, once “white” spaces, are now well penetrated by players like Gini & Jony, FabIndia, Biba, Mukherjee added.
