Swati Saraf, Director, Prive Luxury is the brain behind Les Petits and Cherubs, a first-of-its-kind venture, for luxury kidswear in India. An expert in the field of luxury clothing, Saraf created Prive Luxury in 2011 with the aim to bring quality furniture and luxury clothes for the kids in India. Realising the dearth of luxury children’s brands in the country, Saraf decided to establish Les Petits and Cherubs to fill the void. In a tête-à-tête with Images Business of Fashion, Saraf divulges more on the kidswear market in India.
Share your opinion on the Indian kidswear market and the luxury segment in particular.
The market for kidswear segment is growing. According to industry analysts, the size of kidswear market in India is approximately Rs30,000 crore, which is 25 per cent of the total Indian apparel category. At a growing rate of 20 per cent, it is expected to reach approximately Rs80,000 crore by 2016.
At the same time, the luxury kidswear segment is still at a nascent stage but in the next few years, we expect it to grow at a good pace. Today, both men and women are becoming more aware of the latest trends. As parents, they want their children to be on the same page when it comes to following fashion. Moreover, the global trend of giving kids the best of fashion has hit the Indian consciousness too.
You are a luxury retailer for kidswear. How difficult or easy it is to be in this business?
Yes, we are a retailer that houses only premium or luxury international brands. We have two retail outlets in Delhi – Les Petits, which is at DLF Emporio, and Cherubs, which is at Ambience Mall. Just like the luxury clothing segment for men and women is growing at a fast pace, similarly the luxury clothing segment for kids is also growing. Parents see their children as a reflection of themselves, so they make sure that their children look equally good. Parents are increasingly looking out for newer trends for their children just as they would for themselves.
Talking about the Indian market for kidswear, 88 per cent of kidswear is unorganised. Thus, renowned or premium brands have only been able to corner approximately 12 per cent of the market share. So our target customer is restricted to modern-day parents who love to pamper themselves as well as their kids.
Have you introduced such loyalty programmes at your stores?
We have not initiated any customer loyalty programme at this point at our stores. Tell us about the different international brands and their collections. Les Petits and Cherubs is India’s first multi-brand luxury store for kids’ apparel. Baby Dior, Young Versace, Fendi Kids, Paul Smith Jr and Miss Blumarine are some of the international brands that are retailed from our stores. One can find brands that cater to children in the age group of 0–8 years. The apparel collection includes anything from baby booties to dresses with matching accessories for girls and belts and loafers for boys. The price range of the collection starts from Rs 5,000 and upwards. Besides apparel, the globally celebrated furniture brand, Théophile and Patachou, is also retailed here.
What is the concept or theme that you followed for your store?
We are a multi-brand luxury store; therefore, we have designed both our boutiques in such a manner that each brand has a dedicated corner for itself.
The store detailing has been done to simplify the joy of shopping for the little ones. The space inside the stores encourages both the mothers and the children to spend time and decide on what they want.
The Les Petits boutique, which is spread across 1,500 sq.ft., has been designed by Italian architectural firm, PLS Design. They have given the store a ‘fairy-tale’ look by using whites, gold and touch of lilac.
It houses kids’ apparel, accessories, furniture, and footwear for both girls and boys from newborns up to 10 years. The furniture caters to all young children and gives our customers a chance to accent their children’s rooms with a colour of their choice.
Cherubs boutique is designed by Italian architects Lino Losanno and Lorenzo Prini. The store depicts the moods of a chubby angel with wings, amid sparkling twilight on ceiling giving an angelic look to the entire setting. Colours of white and powder blue have been used for the interiors, which give a very soft ambience and feel to the customer.
The store is spread over more than 1500 sq.ft. space. It houses kids’ apparel, accessories, toys and footwear for both girls and boys falling in the age group of 0–8 years. Both the stores offer the quintessential luxury shopping experience for children with a complete range of products under one roof.
What are the promotional or marketing strategies that you initiated at your stores?
In order to display the best collections from different international brands, we introduce a lot of experiential marketing. For example, last year during Christmas we organised a Christmas Carnival for children and their parents. The idea was to celebrate the spirit of the festival while displaying our stunning winter collection. Furthermore, we look forward to engage customers in similar formats in the future as well.
Lastly, what are your future plans?
As of now, plans of expansion in terms of opening more stores are in the pipeline, but nothing is concrete.
