Levi Strauss (Levis), a global leader in premium denim-wear, plans to gradually phase-out its ‘Signature’ brand even as it launches ‘deNiZEN’, a brand targetted at the youth and mass segment, a top company official said.
The American jeans company had in 2007 launched Signature to compete with denim retailers in the value segment, such as Lee, Trigger, NewPort and Pepe at prices starting at Rs699 upwards.
“We have launched deNiZEN targetting the age group 15-25 years. This brand will replace our Signature brand and we have already transformed all our 250 Signature stores across 120 cities into deNiZEN stores. Our aim is to tap the emerging markets like India without compromising the premium image of the Levi Strauss brand,” its managing director (India), Sanjay Purohit, told PTI here.
Much before launching Signature in India, the company had launched brands like Skyes and Dockers, which were also phased out. Signature had brand ambassadors like Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor.
The company has also roped in young Bollywood actor Imran Khan as the brand ambassador for deNiZEN, which is priced between Rs799-1,499. Its Levis brand starts from Rs1,500 onwards.
Before going in for a pan-India launch, Levis did a small pilot in Karnataka to study the brand’s acceptance.
“The idea is to grow the denim market in the affordable segment as a very small part of the business comes from here. Going forward, we want to make India one of the top three markets globally,” Purohit said.
Source : DNA
