The numero uno position is held by Monte Carlo from OWM with average sales of 2.04 lakh followed by Casablanca from the stable of OKI across 153 multibrand stores spread across ten cities of India. Rated on the basis of attributes like wool quality, price range, colour and designs, the third and fourth position have been secured by OWM's Canterbury and OKI's Pringle brands, according to the survey.

The survey released on the eve of winter in the country, found maximum sales in the price segment of up to Rs 701-1,000 range, with ladies-wear accounting for the bulk of sales. From the price range of Rs 1,001 to Rs 3,000, the sales volume gradually declined with more of the purchases accruing from menswear, with ladies-wear dominating sales in the price range of Rs 3,000 upwards. The survey is to be published in the December issue of the fashion retail magazine `Images Panorama'.

The survey also found that the market wanted to experiment with new variations of blends even as a large section of customers continued to associate woollens with pure wool. Overall monthly averages indicate maximum sales of pure wool knitwear (Rs 2.34 lakh per outlet) closely followed by acrylic blends (Rs 2.07 lakh), the ORG Marg survey said. The third position was held by 100 per cent cotton winterknits (Rs 81,100 per outlet) followed by cotton-wool blends (Rs 66,400) in the fourth place.

Among leading brands in the branded knitwear market for women, was Creative Line at third place which registered its presence in 40 per cent of the outlets followed by Volga and Pringle. In menswear, Canterbury and Pringle are in the third and fourth position respectively.

Other brands which had a sizable presence in the market were Rajah and Elson in Bangalore and VP Oswal in Calcutta. Other brands doing brisk business at select centres were Reebok, Ajanta, JS Hosiery, Regency, Elson and Woodlands. According to the survey, women were slightly demanding in colour choices even as blacks and cream intermingled with varying shades of blue were the top selling colours for both the sexes. Among designs, plains and jacquards were the top two, followed by stripes.

The average percentage share of woollen knitwear to total garment sale of stores goes up to 71.8 per cent during the peak sales period, the survey added. On an average, for about three and half months, knitwear is sold at the full price while for a little over two months it is sold at a discounted price.