Major denim Manufacturer

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- 575 Denim (May 75) (USA)
- 7 For All Mankind (USA)
- Aarvee Denims and Exports Ltd. (India)
- ABC Exports Company (India)
- Adriano Goldschmied (AG Jeans) (USA)
- Alpha Garment, Inc. (USA)
- Alpinestars SpA (Italy)
- American Apparel, Inc. (USA)
- American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (USA)
- Annapurna Apparels Ltd. (India)
- Anoname Jeans (USA)
- Ariat International, Inc. (USA)
- Arora Group (USA)
- Arvind Ltd. (India)
- Ashburn Hill Corporation (USA)
- Balloon Marketing Co., Ltd. (Thailand)
- Black Peony (Group) Co., Ltd. (China)
- Blessed & Cursed GmbH (Germany)
- Blue Notch (USA)
- Bond SP. z.o.o. (Poland)
- BOSSA (Turkey)
- Brand Jeans SA (Greece)
- C.P.F. Srl (Italy)
- Caitac International, Inc. (Japan)
- Calvin Klein, Inc. (USA)
- Carrare (France)
- Carrera SpA (Italy)
- Century Textiles & Industries Ltd. (India)
- Christopher Blue (USA)
- Cone Denim (USA)
- Cowest S.L. (Spain)
- Denimatrix (Guatemala)
- Diesel SpA (Italy)
- Dish Jeans Ltd. (Canada)
- DL1961 Premium Denim (USA)
- Dolce & Gabbana Srl (Italy)
- Domenico Vacca (Italy)
- Dr Denim Jeanmakers (Sweden)
- Earnest Sewn (USA)
- Easey Garment Factory Ltd. (Hong Kong)
- Edwin Company (Japan)
- Ego Jeans Ltd. (Philippines)
- EL Vaaz SNC (Algeria)
- Energiers SA (Greece)
- Esprit Holdings Ltd. (Hong Kong)
- F. Engel Konfektionsselskab A/S (Denmark)
- Façonnable (France)
- Fidelity Denim (USA)
- Fifth & Pacific Companies, Inc. (USA)
- Frankie B. Jeans (USA)
- Gap, Inc. (USA)
- Gap, Inc. - Banana Republic (USA)
- Garmex International (Pvt) Ltd. (Sri Lanka)
- Genetic Denim (USA)
- Gesture Jeans (India)
- G-III Apparel Group Ltd. (USA)
- Gokaldas Exports Ltd. (India)
- GoldSign Jeans (USA)
- Grasim Industries Ltd. (India)
- Gridlock Denim (USA)
- G-Star Raw CV (Belgium)
- Guangdong Changrun Garment Co., Ltd. (China)
- Guararapes Confeccoes SA (Brazil)
- Guess, Inc. (USA)
- Henri-Lloyd (UK)
- Hipsis (USA)
- Hirdaramani Industries Ltd. (Sri Lanka)
- Hoi Meng Group (Hong Kong)
- Hudson Jeans (USA)
- Hugo Boss AG (Germany)
- Iman Global Chic (USA)
- Indus – League Clothing Ltd. (India)
- Inter-Asia Sourcing Ltd. (Hong Kong)
- International Textile Group, Inc. (USA)
- Invista (Cordura) (USA)
- IT Jeans, Inc. (USA)
- Italia Independent (Italy)
- Itochu Corporation (Japan)
- J Brand (USA)
- J&Company Jeans, LLC (USA)
- James Jeans Dry Age Denim LLC (USA)
- JeansPilot (USA)
- JFour Denim (Italy)
- Joe's Jeans, Inc. (USA)
- Jordache Enterprises, Inc. (USA)
- JustFabulous (USA)
- Katarína Váleková - Katval Mode (Slovakia)
- Kewal Kiran Clothing Ltd. (India)
- Key Industries, Inc. (USA)
- KG Denim Ltd. (India)
- Kill City (USA)
- Koos Manufacturing, Inc. (USA)
- Kuca Stilin, doo (Croatia)
- Lane Bryant, Inc. (USA)
- Lee Cooper International Ltd. (UK)
- Levi Strauss & Co. (USA)
- Little in the Middle (USA)
- LNJ Bhilwara Group (India)
- LNJ-Denim (India)
- London Denim (UK)
- Lucky Brand (USA)
- Mac Mode GmbH & Co., KgAG. (Germany)
- Magiconf, Srl (Italy)
- Magnet Tekstil Sanayi ve Ticaret AS (Turkey)
- Manifatture Lord, Srl (Italy)
- Mavi Jeans (Turkey)
- Misr Garment Company (Egypt)
- Morrisons of Euroa (Australia)
- The Mulitex Group (Hong Kong)
- Muskan Exporters (India)
- Mustang Bekleidungswerke GmbH + Co., KG. (Germany)
- New Look Retail Group Ltd. (UK)
- Nien Hsing Textile Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)
- Nisshinbo Holdings, Inc. (Japan)
- NRK Overseas (India)
- Nudie Jeans Company (Sweden)
- Numero Uno Clothing Ltd. (India)
- NYDJ Apparel LLC (USA)
- Odyn Jeans (USA)
- Orta Anadolu (Turkey)
- Paige Denim (USA)
- Pepe Jeans London Ltd. (UK)
- Pioneer Impex, Inc. (India)
- Ponte & Mellini Manifatture SpA (San Marino)
- Pretty Green Ltd. (UK)
- Primex Clothings Pvt., Ltd. (India)
- PUMA SE (Germany)
- Ralph Lauren Corporation (USA)
- Rapha Racing Ltd. (UK)
- Raymond Ltd. (India)
- Raymond UCO Denim Pvt., Ltd. (India)
- Red Engine, Inc. (USA)
- Rivet De Cru Jeans (USA)
- Rock Revival Jeans (USA)
- Romano SpA (Italy)
- Roo Hsing Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)
- Roots Canada Ltd. (Canada)
- RVCA (USA)
- Santana Textiles (Brazil)
- Shanghai Zhongbo Fashion Co., Ltd. (China)
- Silver Jeans (USA)
- Siwy Denim, Inc. (USA)
- Spykar Lifestyles Pvt., Ltd. (India)
- Suryalakshmi Cotton Mills Ltd. (India)
- Swinger International SpA (Italy)
- Tak Sing Alliance Ltd. (Hong Kong)
- Target Brands, Inc. (USA)

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ROPE DYEING

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Most denim is yarn-dyed fabric with the warp yarns dyed with indigo dye and the filling yarns left undyed. There are a number of modifications or alternatives in the dyeing process that are routinely used to change the overall look or performance of the fabric. With the advent of denim garment washing techniques, the consistencies of the indigo dyeing process and its modifications have become crucially important in determining the quality and performance of indigo denim products.

The properties of the indigo dye account for the wide variety of color designs that are available on denim materials. Indigo is unique as a major textile dye, because it has a very low affinity for the cotton fiber. Because of the low substantively of the indigo, the ball warps dyeing process ring dyes cotton. Unlike almost all other commercially successful dye-stuffs, the indigo dye concentrates in the outer layers of the cotton yarn and fiber during the dyeing process. This produces an intense ring of color around a white core in the cotton yarn and the cotton fiber thus the name ring dyeing. When using most other dyes, if the ring-dyeing effect occurs, it would be considered a dyeing defect.

This ring diameter depends on pH and ORP or can be adjusted by these two factors

                                    pH      +     ORP

                    NAOH                                        Na2S2O3

Indigo dye in its normal form is a vibrant blue, it is insoluble in water, and it will not dye cotton fiber. In order to dye cotton, the indigo must be converted to a water-soluble “leuco” form and then applied to the cotton. This process is known as chemical reduction. Reducing agents such as sodium hydrosulphite with sodium hydroxide chemically convert the indigo dye to its soluble form. This also temporarily converts the dye from its blue color to a very pale greenish yellow color. The leuco form of indigo is readily absorbed by the outer layers of the cotton yarn. Once in the fiber/yarn, the indigo is made insoluble by oxidizing the yarn by passing the yarn through the air (skying). In fact, the dye will start to oxidize immediately when exposed to the air. The oxygen in air converts the dye back to its original blue and insoluble form. Thus the dye becomes trapped inside the outer layers of the cotton yarn. This results in a small amount of dye being deposited on the surface resulting in only light blue dyed yarn. In order to obtain deep blue indigo dyed yarns, the color must be built in layers.

The dye is layered by using multiple passes of the rope of yarn into the soluble dye and then exposing it to the air for oxidation. This multiple passing of yarn into dye is called dips. Normally, this process is repeated from three to twelve times to build up a deep indigo blue color. The number of dips is limited to the number of dye boxes on the dye range. If the concentration of indigo dye in the dye boxes is doubled, this will result in slightly darker denim. This acts as a multiplier when labeling the denim. A double concentration of dye in nine dye boxes makes it 18-dip denim. Tripling the concentration makes it 27-dip denim. When even darker shades are desired, a sulfur black or blue dye can be applied to the yarn before indigo dyeing. This is known as a sulfur bottom. If the sulfur dye is applied after the yarn has been indigo dyed, it is known as sulfur top.

In rope dyeing, ball warps are continuously fed into the rope or chain-dyeing range for application of the indigo dyeing. Typically, 12-36 individual ropes of yarn are fed side-by-side simultaneously into the range. The ropes are kept separate from each other throughout the various parts of the dye range. For example, if the total number of ends on the loom beam is 3,456, and each ball would have 288 ends, then the dye set would have a total of 12 ball warps. If there can only be a multiple of 10 balls on the dye range, then there would be 345 ends on 9 balls and 351 ends on the tenth ball.

The ropes are first fed into one or more scouring baths, which consist of wetting agents detergents and caustic. The purpose of these baths is to remove naturally occurring impurities found on the cotton fiber such as dirt, minerals, ash, pectin, and naturally occurring waxes. It is very important to remove these materials to guarantee uniform wetting and uniform dyeing. The ropes are subsequently fed into one or more water rinsing baths.

If a sulfur bottom is required at this point, the ropes of yarn are fed into a bath of a reduced sulfur dye. Similar to indigo, sulfur dyes are water insoluble. They must be reduced to a water-soluble form before applying to cotton. Unlike indigo, the sulfur dye can penetrate into the core of the cotton fiber/yarn. The purpose of this process is to give the indigo dyed yarns a much deeper and darker shade or to slightly change the shade of the blue yarn to make it unique.

Once the reduced sulfur dye is applied to the ropes, they are skied to allow the dye to oxidize into its normal water insoluble form.

The ropes of yarn are then fed into the indigo dye baths and skied after each dip. The ropes of yarn are rinsed in several water baths to remove any unfixed dye. If a variant type of yarn color is desired, sulfur dye can be added at this point. Similar to the bottom-dyeing process discussed previously, this process is known as a sulfur top. Although the sulfur dye will migrate towards the core of the fiber/yarn, the sulfur top gives a different type of yarn color performance when garment washed than a sulfur bottom. The sulfur top process is then followed by a water rinse to remove any unfixed dye.

After either rinsing following indigo dyeing or rinsing following sulfur topping, the yarn ropes pass through squeeze rolls to mechanically extract water. The yarns are then dried and coiled into large tubs. The typical type of drying apparatus is a multiple stack of drying cans. These metal cylinders, which in most cases are Teflon® covered to prevent the yarn from sticking, are filled with steam under pressure. Maintaining a consistent pressure of steam within the cylinder can accurately control the temperature of the surface of each cylinder. Care must be taken not to attempt to dry the rope of yarn too quickly, which causes the dye to migrate to the surface of the rope. Additionally, if the surface of the drying can is too hot, the yarn can be over stressed producing an undesirable glazed appearance that reduces absorbency in later processing. Over-drying of the yarns will weaken them considerably adversely affecting re-beaming, sizing, and weaving.

After drying, the color of the yarn is checked either visually or instrumentally. With many modern indigo dye ranges, the color of the yarn is continuously monitored by instruments, which are electronically linked to the controls of the indigo dye baths. This type of control system can automatically adjust the dynamics of the process to obtain the most consistent color from the beginning to the end of the many thousands of yards of yarn contained within a single dye lot.

In order to minimize the color variability between denim fabric panels after garment washing, denim manufacturers employ a technique known as sequential dyeing. Basically, this method is based on the concept that the color properties of indigo-dyed yarn processed at a specific time, most closely resemble the color properties of the indigo yarn processed just before and just after that lot. This method has proven much more effective at minimizing color variability in garment washing when compared to the technique of shade sorting alone.

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CLOTHING BRAND ASSOCIATION

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Brand association is anything which is deep seated in customer’s mind about the brand. Brand should be associated with something positive so that the customers relate your brand to being positive. Often a consumer will ask for a product by the specific brand name rather than the general name-for example, a person wanting facial tissues may ask for Kleenex. When this happens, the consumer is making a brand association.

 Benefit seeking is one of the driving forces for consumers to begin their buying process with.They may seek a product that can offer at least functional, symbolic or even expressive benefits to them in order to satisfy their needs or wants. Therefore, you may say a successful marketing program is not so difficult to create. It simply satisfies the target consumers’ needs and wants. Meanwhile, to know the consumers’ needs or wants is actually the most difficult task for the marketers to handle. In order to succeed in today’s competitive environment, the fashion marketers must be able to formulate effective marketing strategies for their target markets.

The success of a fashion brand depends upon how precise it is in understanding its target customers and their needs, so as to create wants. A purchase filled with meanings, especially a fashion purchase. It was because clothing in itself carries symbols and that’s why clothing has been called a “silent language”. When people talk about the clothes they buy and why they buy them, they show a variety of logics. An understanding of why customers select one brand over another and what factors generate such kind of want is crucially important to fashion marketers. When insiders talk about this issue, the concept of brand image would be mentioned and useful to explain the phenomenon.

It would be fair to say that we all associate different brands with specific people. In general terms you may, for example, link sportswear brands (Adidas, Nike, Reebok) to the packs of polyester clad prats that sit around drinking special brew in the park, shouting at passersby. Unfortunately however, things are not always quite this clear cut. In many cases brand association differs between age group, geographical location and social class. Each generation grows up with a style of its own, with its own particular brands, which, unless you’re talking about established companies, will vary substantially.

Different places will also adopt different styles; if you were to go to the big cultural areas such as London, Brighton, Bristol, Manchester etc you are likely to find more people embracing diversity and variety to create their looks. In this situation brand association isn’t quite as important, you wear what you want because it suits your ideas and personality. In other cities or smaller towns you might well see association having more of an influence, as the desire to conform and fit in is much more powerful in places where diversity isn’t really as accepted.

Some pervious brand image studies seemingly use the term brand image but doing brand personality studies. They equated the image of a brand to a wide range of brand associations. They associate brand with a set of human characteristics, the personality traits of human being. Actually the researches compared the personality of the brand and the consumer to explain consumer behavior. However, the studies are with little explanation of the “brand image” and the components of it. Consequently, confusion of the term, brand image was found and the brand personality becomes brand image rather than just one of the inputs (e.g. brand association) to be considered. In fact, it does not mean that they used the term incorrectly, they just viewed brand image in another perspective.

In Keller’s and Howard’s definition, brand image related to brand’s more essential qualities rather than a reflection of brand. Actually, brand image should be much more than a set of psychological associations, the scope of a brand image should be broad rather than narrow. Unfortunately, most of us also think of the term “brand image” in a way that implies brand personality, since we tend to treat the projected image of a brand as the image of a person, and most of us used to equate brand image to brand personality.

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Marketing strategies for fashion industry

Marketing strategies for fashion industry

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Today, the fashion industry has almost unlimited resources at its disposal.  Information and photographs that appear on the Internet instantaneously reach millions of women the world over.  Immediately, they know which fashions are in and which are out.  They see the colors and trends on splashy, popular websites.  They find out very quickly what they should be wearing and what they shouldn't. 

Fashion marketing techniques apply many of the same marketing strategies that large and small businesses use. Fashion marketing includes market research, advertising and promotion. Research gathers information about the market for a particular brand or product. Advertising helps generate sales, and promotion increases brand or product awareness. Some fashion marketing techniques include fashion events, print publications, press releases and media relations, digital media and product placement.

• Fashion Blogs

People are frequently introduced to brands by friends and family, but they often venture online to do their research and look for reviews from other customers. A big part of the online community includes blogs and social networks. In many instances, bloggers are also tweeting about the topics they discuss on their blogs.

Because of this, it's beneficial to establish strong, mutually beneficial relationships with local and national fashion bloggers and websites as a part of your creative marketing strategy. Develop interesting angles, as they are inundated with requests from up-and-coming designers daily. Send a professional pitch and your look book. If you need help locating bloggers and websites or determining what to send, contact a public relations professional for assistance.

•  Fashion Showcase

Consider hosting a small gathering of 30 to 50 people to debut your line or boutique to key people in the fashion industry. Invite bloggers, editors, buyers and potential high-profile clients. This is a creative way to network and personally introduce your brand through your own vision. During the event, allow time for a small fashion show, and also display items throughout the room. You can use your look book as inspiration and tie elements of it into your event.

•  Events

Fashion marketers conduct promotional events. Product launch events invite the media and public or private guests to learn about new product offerings such as jewelry and other accessories. Runway events showcase fashion apparel that is worn by models. Spectators view the models to see how the clothing fits and evaluate the overall look. Other events involve hosting or sponsoring charity events and causes that help build brand awareness.

•  Print Publication

Fashion marketers use print publications to promote the brand or product offering. Print publications include the brand's self-published magazines, trade and consumer magazine advertisement, mailings and newsletters that feature individual products, flyers and posters at store locations, point-of-purchase announcements that are placed at the checkout counter, product inserts that are included with product purchases and billboard ads along highways and city streets.

• Press Releases

Fashion marketers create and distribute press releases. Fashion marketers use press releases to announce the brand's activities. Releases may introduce a new fashion line or brand, or introduce the brand's founders. Press releases often keep the public informed about the brand's activities by announcing new and upcoming product launches, runway events, successes and newsworthy stories about the brand or individual products. Marketers distribute press releases to newspapers and other media outlets, and may use a public relations firm to help reach larger audiences.

•  Digital Media

Fashion marketers use digital media for research and promotion. Web technology provides an efficient platform for collecting survey data that reveals information about the brand's market. For example, some brands that process orders online ask the customer to fill out a satisfaction survey after they complete the purchase. Other Web technology involves social media applications that accomplish outreach and promotional goals. Fashion marketers can keep target markets up-to-date with live status messages, and use profile queries to find new potential customers and distribute e-promos to relevant audiences.

•  Product Placement

Fashion marketers, publicists and other promoters use product placement marketing techniques. Product placement techniques involve featuring fashion items and apparel on television programs, movies and celebrities. Product placement displays the product without explicitly advertising it, because this marketing technique displays the product within the context of the primary entertainment. Sometimes, television commercials follow-up on television shows that feature product placement items to increase awareness or credibility.

Another specific strategy used by the fashion industry is online advertising.   The use of the Internet involves several strategies which include: creating an online version of a print magazine, banner ads (ads placed on specific sites for greater exposure) and well-placed photographs and articles about the fashion industry.  According to an industry report on the Internet and marketing strategies by women’s magazines, “The Internet has become a billion-dollar business” (Industry Report).   This article also reports that according to Nielsen Net Ratings, more American women use the Internet than men at a rate of 51% – 49%.  It goes on to say; “Women online readers in the United States tend to visit general interest sites on the Internet, such as shopping sites, beauty sites, and health sites. Therefore, magazines discovered the Internet several years ago as another method to better serve the customer since magazines” .  By targeting the large numbers of women who regularly participate in online activity, fashion magazines that maintain an Internet presence provide themselves with continuous, free advertising.   It is an extremely effectively strategy to “ offer other information, such as press releases or news that relates to the company or to their industry, or provide information about special events that relate to the company to their industry”

A constant theme in fashion marketing is to create ideas or themes for what it means to look good or look attractive.  Therefore, marketing to women with various body sizes and shapes makes for good business strategy.  However, the marketing of fashion to women isn’t just about what you look like but what they want you to look like.  That is, part of marketing strategy is to generate ideas in women’s heads about what kinds of clothes we need to wear in specific situations – the work environment, social situations, etc.  As in many other countries, Japanese women seek to wear the latest trends.  “As a market segment, young Japanese women continue to seek new ways to appear trendy and fashionable. In either theme, clothing that is well designed to make women look more beautiful, has potential”

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Indian Garment/Fashion Retail Sector

      Anew focus on the apparel retail sector has attracted attention in recent days. Top exporters have introduced their own brands and are aggressively positioning themselves within segments of the domestic market. The rising importance of branded segments in the domestic market combined with the pressure of import competition is blurring the boundaries between exports and domestic production in countries with large home markets, such as India. With the changing lifestyles, organized retail is playing a key role in structuring the Indian domestic market, reinforced in particular by rising incomes and growing purchasing power among consumers in rapidly growing sectors of the economy such as information technology and business process outsourcing.

Retail sector in India is witnessing a huge revamping exercise as traditional markets make way for new formats such as departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty stores. The branded apparel market represents the largest source of growth. The men’s branded apparel market is growing at a rate of 21.8% and branded women’s apparel segments represents 35% of the total branded apparel market and is growing at an incredible 23% annually.

Leading domestic retailers are becoming more firmly entrenched, increasing their scale of operations and stabilizing their logistics and technology initiatives. A few significant foreign players have been selling their branded apparel in India for number of years. But, now, just like their India counterparts, global apparel brands are setting up their own apparel outlets, instead of just selling through departmental stores. Though local retailers generally enjoy higher margins, they wont be able to keep global retailers at bay for long because of international experience, buying power, IT systems and cash flow to tolerate lower profits. Presence of these brands will make the Indian Consumer become more aware of the international fashion and lifestyle trends leading to a move-up of the industry in the value chain. In this paper, the recent trend and prospect of apparel retail sector in India have been discussed.

Fashion retailing, marketing

Once the clothes have been designed and manufactured, they need to be sold. But how are clothes to get from the manufacturer to the customer? The business of buying clothes from manufacturers and selling them to customers is known as retail. Retailers make initial purchases for resale three to six months before the customer is able to buy the clothes in-store.

Fashion marketing is the process of managing the flow of merchandise from the initial selection of designs to be produced to the presentation of products to retail customers, with the goal of maximizing a company’s sales and profitability. Successful fashion marketing depends on understanding consumer desire and responding with appropriate products. Marketers use sales tracking data, attention to media coverage, focus groups, and other means of ascertaining consumer preferences to provide feedback to designers and manufacturers about the type and quantity of goods to be produced. Marketers are thus responsible for identifying and defining a fashion producer’s target customers and for responding to the preferences of those customers.

Marketing operates at both the wholesale and retail levels. Companies that do not sell their own products at retail must place those products at wholesale prices in the hands of retailers, such as boutiques, department stores, and online sales companies. They use fashion shows, catalogs, and a sales force armed with sample products to find a close fit between the manufacturer’s products and the retailer’s customers. Marketers for companies that do sell their own products at retail are primarily concerned with matching products to their own customer base. At both the wholesale and the retail level, marketing also involves promotional activities such as print and other media advertising aimed at establishing brand recognition and brand reputation for diverse characteristics such as quality, low price, or trendiness.

Closely related to marketing is merchandising, which attempts to maximize sales and profitability by inducing consumers to buy a company’s products. In the standard definition of the term, merchandising involves selling the right product, at the right price, at the right time and place, to the right customers. Fashion merchandisers must thus utilize marketers’ information about customer preferences as the basis for decisions about such things as stocking appropriate merchandise in adequate but not excessive quantities, offering items for sale at attractive but still profitable prices, and discounting overstocked goods. Merchandising also involves presenting goods attractively and accessibly through the use of store windows, in-store displays, and special promotional events. Merchandising specialists must be able to respond to surges in demand by rapidly acquiring new stocks of the favored product. An inventory-tracking computer program in a department store in London, for example, can trigger an automatic order to a production facility in Shanghai for a certain quantity of garments of a specified type and size to be delivered in a matter of days.

By the early 21st century the Internet had become an increasingly important retail outlet, creating new challenges (e.g., the inability for customers to try on clothes prior to purchase, the need for facilities designed to handle clothing returns and exchanges) and opening up new opportunities for merchandisers (e.g., the ability to provide customers with shopping opportunities 24 hours per day, affording access to rural customers). In an era of increasingly diverse shopping options for retail customers and of intense price competition among retailers, merchandising has emerged as one of the cornerstones of the modern fashion industry.

Media and marketing

Media of all kinds are essential to the marketing of fashion. The first dedicated fashion magazines appeared in England and France in the late 18th century. In the 19th century, fashion magazines—such as the French La Mode Illustrative  the British Lady’s Realm, and the American Godey’s Lady’s Book—proliferated and flourished. Featuring articles, hand-colored illustrations (known as fashion plates), and advertisements, fashion magazines—together with other developments such as the sewing machine, department stores, and ready-to-wear clothing produced in standard sizes—played a significant role in promoting the democratization of fashion in the modern era. The development of effective and inexpensive methods of reproducing photographs in print media in the early 20th century led to the rise of fashion photography and of heavily illustrated fashion magazines such as Vogue. Magazine advertising rapidly became a principal marketing tool for the fashion industry.

The creation of cinema newsreels—short motion pictures of current events—and the rise of television made it possible for people all over the world to see fashion shows and to imitate the fashionable clothing worn by celebrities. The dominance of visual media continued in the Internet age, with fashion blogs emerging as an increasingly important means of disseminating fashion information. Red-carpet events such as awards ceremonies provide an opportunity for celebrities to be photographed wearing designer fashions, thus providing valuable publicity to the designers.

India’s apparel market is in the throes of change. Rapid growth and rising urbanization have spawned a new class of consumers with more money to spend, and a growing passion for fashion. In India’s high-growth, fast-changing retail clothing market, we see significant new growth opportunities for foreign and domestic players.

In India, apparel is the second largest retail category (behind food and groceries), representing approximately 10 percent of the total market. This growth is being driven by following factors:

·        New occasions:As the lifestyles of India’s prospering urban consumers have evolved, their clothing needs have broadened, reflecting more varied usage occasions. For men, clothing choices once came primarily in three basic categories: home-wear, work clothes, and special occasion wear. Now, with more “socializing” opportunities, men are buying more sophisticated combinations of outfits: party wear, sportswear, clothes for hanging out at the mall. Not long ago, for example, men from India’s northern regions only required a good dark suit or Sherwani, the traditional long coat, to cover big occasions and important celebrations. But over the past several years, men have begun to supplement those staples with expensive Western style jackets, and collared shirts—some in “funky” patterns and cut for a night on the town, others in stripes or checks for casual meetings with important business associates. Today, Indians are more inclined than consumers in other markets to buy apparel for a specific purpose.

·        Fashion increasingly a form of self-expression. Increasingly, Indian consumers are embracing the idea of fashion for its own sake, as a means of self-expression, and not merely as a functional purchase. Television, movies, advertising and the Internet bombard today’s Indian consumer with new ideas about style, even as American-style shopping malls lure them away from traditional marketplaces. Traditional clothing remains central to the way consumers dress, and the quality and craftsmanship of classic Indian clothing have drawn rave reviews in recent years from some of the world’s leading designers, style magazines, and fashion blogs. In a recent McKinsey survey of Indian consumers, 62 percent said they thought it was important to “keep up with trends.”

    Example

    Pantaloons:

   Pantaloons are one of the biggest retailers in India with more than 450 stores across the country. Headquartered in Mumbai, it has more than 5 million sq. ft retail space located across the country. It's growing at an enviable pace and is expected to reach 30 million sq. ft by the year 2010. In 2001, Pantaloon launched country's first hypermarket ‘Big Bazaar’. It has the following retail segments:

·        Food & Grocery: Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar

·        Home Solutions: Hometown, Furniture Bazaar, Collection-i

·        Consumer Electronics: e-zone

·        Shoes: Shoe Factory

·        Books, Music & Gifts: Depot

·        Health & Beauty Care: Star, Sitara

·        E-tailing: Futurebazaar.com

·        Entertainment: Bowling Co.

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Things to expect in the fashion marketing in 2013

Things to expect in the fashion marketing in 2013

Brands have continued to leverage social networks for big product launches. Previous year, the fashion industry proved particularly keen on location-based gaming platform Foursquare. Using Social media to run promotions or build buzz is an excellent resource for the fashion industry to utilize. Namely, twitter is one of the biggest emerging social media websites to execute promotions and also spread information bursts to a target customer in a fast amount of time.

Consumers are tired with the omnipresent marketing. Consequently, to be more effective, fashion marketers will have to reach further – be more mature and try to establish real relationships with fashionista, not only depend on the use of social media. To accomplish that, in 2013, they will come back to the roots of the marketing and turn away from the globalization:

• Localization and targeting

Consumers are more and more convinced of small, local brands. Therefore releases will have to be targeted more accurately, and marketers will have to take geo-localization more seriously. Applications such as Foursquare or Facebook Places will be used more often. Understanding the importance of the localization is already underway, but the big fashion companies will still have to go down to a more local level than targeting their fan pages or adverts.

This year, marketers will try to reach the single customer, for example by using geo-localizing applications and tools, and causing the change of the brands’ image – the global brand, marketers represent, will be perceived as a luxurious shop from the neighborhood.

• Distinction between mobile and tablet and integrating real and digital grounds

Fashion marketers will acknowledge the difference between people using smartphones (concentrated on social media, but also on specific tasks) and people using tablets (concentrated on social media, entertainment and information).

They will also remember that one person can use multiple, different devices. Thanks to that, they will be able to use more accurate strategies, also those outdoors ones, and better connect campaigns in real life with those in the web. And this is the main direction of the evolution of the fashion marketing.

• Integration of social media

A lot of social media come into being in recent years, and a lot of them we are able to integrate. Unfortunately, the fashion brands still do not lead a coherent communication on them and do not integrate them. I am sure it will change in 2013. Fashion brands will see a potential and relatively low costs of a coherent social media strategy, thanks to which they will be able to reach to a wide group of consumers and save on different expenses (for example: on a media planning, or even SEO).

•  Tradition

Tradition is following just after geo-localization. Everyone likes the local fashion, mainly because it allows distinguishing, identifying oneself, and underline one’s descent and individualism. The perfect example is Style Bubble, who builds her image and blog power on that. In relation to this, in 2013, with the progress of so called fast fashion we may be able to witness a twist in a fashion distribution as well as in communication undertaken by the big brands with their customers.

The main fashion houses are already inspired by multiple cultures – see Dolce & Gabbana recent collections or pro-British communication by Burberry. I think they will go even further – they will refer to multiple customers’ traditions – both in a content (of different collections), and in a form of communication (variety of strategies, going back to the provincial sales).

THEfashion industry functions much like your least favorite high school clique: A leader boldly undertakes something new, a few imitators cautiously follow suit and the rest then clamber to participate before the trend dies out.

The same pattern has emerged so far this year, as brands sample new digital and mobile technologies to market to and engage with consumers. In particular, brands took to location-based social network Foursquare to build buzz around new product launches, like Jimmy Choo's line of trainers and Oscar de la Renta's limited-edition series of python iPad clutches.

In addition to campaigns, fashion brands released a significant amount of behind-the-scenes content on a regular basis, ranging from blurry mobile snapshots of runway models for quick distribution over Facebook and Twitter, to professionally produce short films delivered exclusively on company websites and mobile apps.

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