What’s between celebs & jeans?

NEW DELHI: The Rs 2,500-crore market for jeans in India is awash with celebrities. Wrangler has John Abraham. Sushmita Sen is Levi's Diva. Pepe Dhooms with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. Abhishek Bachchan is reported to have signed on to hawk soon-to-be-relaunched Arvind's Flying Machine and the svelte Malaika Arora Khan will be out with her denim line in a few months.

Though not exactly cooing like the then 15-year old Brooke Shields' now legendary 1970s (ad) remark —Nothing comes between me and my Calvins — that elevated the eponymous designer denim brand, Calvin Klein, to cult status amongst youngsters, these celebrities are somehow integral to their brand paymasters' sales spiel.

"The mall mania and trading-up phenomenon are leading the youngsters to flaunt wealth. The jeans purchase has now become an impulse purchase, from which Indians no more shy away," says Darshan Mehta, CEO, VF Arvind Brands Group, which retails jeans brands such as Lee, Wrangler, Kipling and Nautica.

Mr Mehta is candid in his admission of need for celebrities to sell jeans in India as consumers understanding of brands is yet to evolve fully. Just one out of five jeans sold in the country is through these big national/global brands such as Levi's, Wrangler, Pepe and Lee.

The rest, over 80 % of the 62-million pairs market, is accounted by unorganised, low-priced (under Rs 500 a pair) local labels. Though the opportunity exists to convert this huge swathe of consumers at the low-end of the market into brand seekers, the organised end is quickly getting crowded.

Big organised retailers, much like Reliance Retail, are reported to be readying with sub-Rs 250 private-label jeans. And premium global denim brands (priced upwards of Rs 5,000 a pair) such as Tommy Hilfiger, GAS, Energie, GANT, Diesel, Evisu, Espirit and Replay, already here or knocking at the doors, have willy-nilly repositioned the mid-market Indian and global brands already present in the country.

"Once Reliance and Big Bazaar start inundating the jeans market with their private labels, the jeans market would expand. This expansion will cater to the price-sensitive buyers who otherwise can not possess the brand badges," warns Arvind Singhal, chairman, Technopak Advisors.

Sensing a pincer attack — with big retail-led price warriors at one end and premium, virtually iconic designer global brands on the other — major denim marketers are reinventing like mad to stay relevant in fast changing marketplace.

"John Abraham is a style icon. When Wrangler evolved into a fashion-oriented brand, associating with the icon proved to be the right positioning tool to cater to the needs of top-end and fashion-conscious consumers.

Moreover, brands are increasingly creating exclusivity in the minds of the consumer through retail space and therefore, retail design, such as exclusive stores, is an integral part of the brand identity", says Janani Subramanian, Business Head, Wrangler.