Lux Industries will be extending its woman’s legging brand Lyra into lingerie and pitting itself against domestic players like Lovable in the mid-market segment.

Senior vice-president, Lux Industries, Udit Todi said, “Margins in lingerie are going to be more than the leggings category with almost an extra 400 bps. But it is going to be a challenging category since it is fragmented with a lot of unorganised players.”

“We entered the woman’s legging category when there was no branded player in the segment and Lyra already has a turnover of Rs. 160 crore. But margins in the lingerie segment are expected to be better in the Rs. 8,000 crore woman’s lingerie segment which is growing at about 20 per cent,’’ he added.

The Kolkata-based Rs. 940 crore hosiery major already has brands like Onn and Lux Cozi in its portfolio and has been trying to build them with high-profile ambassadors like actor Shah Rukh Khan and former Australian cricketer Brett Lee in the inner wear and casual wear category.

“We are trying to move away from being a hosiery to a lifestyle player and want to have a premium image in the casual wear segment. In fact this was the reason we got Brett Lee on board to take our brand like Onn to Australia a year ago,’’ Todi said.

After entering Australia, Lux Industries is now planning to enter new markets in Western Europe with its hosiery and casual wear brands like Onn and Lux Cozi. “Exports are at about Rs. 120 crore and we want to take our brands to developed countries since we want to build a portfolio of premium products,’’ he added.

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