To be a part of growing e-commerce space, plans are afoot for Ashapura Intimate Fashion Ltd (AIFL), the intimate and lounge wear manufacturing company, to launch its own e-commerce venture in April. According to unconfirmed reports, the launch will coincide with the roll-out of brick-and-mortar stores in major cities across the country. AIFL Chairman and Managing Director Harshad Thakkar was quoted as saying that the company will be selling over 5,000 intimatewear, lounge wear, kid and toddler wear products in India. This will be the first such speciality online retail store selling a variety of intimatewear in India.
The company is also reportedly setting up a 2.5 lakh square feet integrated manufacturing unit in Vapi, Gujarat, scheduled to be operational by FY 2016.
According to the IMAGES Business of Fashion Yearbook 2015, among the core apparel categories in India, innerwear appears to be a potential growth category across all segments. With rising incomes, higher discretionary spending, greater number of working women and growing fashion consciousness, the innerwear segment is expected to continue to progress. Currently, the Indian innerwear market is worth
Rs 19,950 crore (2014) and is estimated to grow at 13 per cent to reach Rs 59,540 crore by 2023. The innerwear market has traditionally been largely unorganised, although in the past few years, the organised innerwear segment has shown promising growth in both men’s and women’s categories.
By Mehak Shama
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