Over the last century, change has been a constant parameter in India; the entire nation and its people have grown from strength to strength on all frontiers. And, in Indian fashion retail, it is Raymond Group, which has best exemplified this essence.
The brand has been successful in climbing the stairs of success despite several unforeseen, high magnitude disruptions including excise levies, demonitization, and GST, over the last two years. Given that VUCA environment is only intensifying and given the company’s commitment to providing growth opportunities for internal talent, the brand has promoted Bidyut Bhanjdeo to the post of Brand Director – Ethnix, Next Look and Raymond Khadi.
Both the sub brands Ethnix and Next Look have emerged as two new, high-growth opportunities for Raymond in the past one year.
In an exclusive interview with Indiaretailing, Bidyut Bhanjdeo said, “Ethnix is all about ethnic wear, a major player in the ceremonial wear segment. Next Look on the other hand is an economy range full wardrobe solution comprising of formals, casuals, accessories and footwear.”
“We have tied up with the KVIC board to sell khadi products through a newly introduced brand called Raymond Khadi – The Story Respun,” he added.
Ethnix and Next Look were launched a couple of seasons back. These two brands have been test marketed, checked out what is working and now Raymond is planning to launch these brands in the full swing. As far as Raymond Khadi is concerned, it is expected to be introduced next month.
All About Ethnix
Raymond is pitching Ethnix as a stylised, elegant brand with tonal embellishments. At present, the brand concentrates only on men’s wear and immediately has no plans to introduce women’s wear range.
Revealing the detailed retail plan for Ethnix, Bhanjdeo said, “Ethnix products will be available at The Raymond Shop franchise stores, MBOs, large format stores like Shoppers Stop and exclusive brand outlets for Ethnix.”
The Ethnix store, which will span across 800-1,200 sq.ft., will be coming up in Hyderabad, Nasik, Nagpur, Mumbai, Delhi and also in parts of UP by the end of coming fiscal year-end.
Apart from this, Ethnix is also available at Myntra, Jabong and Flipkart.
To do a launch campaign which includes print media and hoardings, the brand is planning to spend anywhere between Rs 4-6 crore.
Next Look
Next Look will be available on Myntra, Raymond online store, Raymond franchise stores, MBO’s like Pothys and Sarvanas and Reliance Trends stores.
“We are really not thinking of opening exclusive stores of Next Look right now as brand plays in the economy segment which is at bottom of the pyramid,” revealed Bhanjdeo.
The products range of Next Look has been nominally priced. The cost of shirt ranges from Rs 800-1,400 and pants start from Rs 1,100.
The brand is targeting youth who has just started working and needs to look good at work. The brand plans to have a strong presence is Tier II and III and IV cities.
According to Bhanjdeo, “There are a lot of brands in the similar segment but we have an edge over these brands as our distribution network is fairly strong, our franchise outlets are spread across India. And As compared to other brands we are offering superior quality and aspirational designs at a comparatively lower price range.”
He further added, “For marketing and promotion of the brand, we are completely focusing on doing in-store visual merchandising and we will soon start a localised print campaign.”
Raymond Khadi
As khadi is a difficult fabric to work with, Raymond Khadi will be applying techniques and processes to make it wearable and desirable – be it in the terms of look and feel of the fabric, prints that the brand will be introducing or the cuts and the silhouettes that the brand will be doing.
“We are trying to adopt a few clusters and work with them and tell them the techniques which will improve the quality of the output and then captively buy-out their entire production. So, over a long period of time, we see ourselves working in tandem with these clusters and this way we will be supporting a lot local karigars, weavers,” revealed Bhanjdeo.
He further added, “If we do not make this brand aspirational or design-wise acceptable to today’s young consumer, we will not see final through-puts of the product, So therefore, we buy from them, we apply our own techniques and processes to these fabrics to make them wearable, shrink-free and to make them more attractive.”
Raymond Khadi has an expansive range of products like trousers, short kutras, long kurtas, bandhgalas, shirts and a lot more. The price range of the products ranges between Rs 3,000-14,000.
Apart from EBOs of Raymond, the brand will be available at Raymond franchise outlets, MBOs and exclusive brand outlet of Raymond Khadi.
“First EBO of Raymond Khadi, which will be a boutique store spanning around 600-800 sq.ft., will open at Klaghoda, Mumbai. Apart from this we are also planning to open exclusive brand outlets at Delhi and Bengaluru,” said Bhanjdeo.
“All these brand are expected to contribute Rs 100-150 crore to Raymond’s revenue next year and going forward Ethnix and Next Look has the potential to reach Rs 500 crore each,” concluded Bhanjdeo.
