If you?re the sort that can tell her flat pumps from peep toe wedges, have phased out from empire neck to high waist silhouettes and now wears jeggings instead of regular jeans, you?re probably talking about how Indian departmental stores have surprised you with stocking the latest in high street fashion, the most immediate and wearable interpretation of what?s on the ramp.

Until three to four years ago, India was the one place a fashion victim could never shop at. Trends that hit the ramps of Milan and New York came to India at least two to three seasons late. In some cases, an entire year later, only to be marketed to the fashion-ignorant as ?latest?. But the party is over for brands who used India to stock their leftovers. Today, the Indian customer is well-travelled and fashion-conscious (fashion magazines are on the rise as are trend centric shows on the telly) and brands have to deliver on time.

India?s fashion apparel market is estimated to be about $33 billion, of which high street fashion is about $3 billion, 10% of the market, growing at a CAGR of around 35%.

?The Indian consumer is rapidly evolving into a highly aware, uncompromising entity when it comes to making an informed choice between brands,? says Manjula Tiwari, COO of Esprit.

?They expect international quality standards coupled with accessible pricing and are unwilling to settle for anything but the best. That said, the Indian consumer is also not one who is willing to ape global trends blindly, which makes customisation to local tastes essential.? Esprit launches a new collection every month to keep pace with global trends.

Brands like Zara have shown the way where the USP of the store is that you won?t find the same merchandise if you visit the store a couple of weeks later — a sharp contrast to times when stores had racks of same merchandise from summer all the way to winter.

?We have three collections every season,? says Ashok Dalal, CEO of Brandhouse Oviesse which runs OVS stores. ?Every 45 days, customers comes and ask for something new. The part of fashion that we change every six weeks is called fast fashion. After we sell about 80% of the range, we replace the collection with something new.? Brandhouse Oviesse is a joint venture between Brandhouse Retails, the retail arm of S Kumar?s and Italian apparel retailer Oviesse.

Kabir Lumba, MD of Lifestyle looks back, almost wistfully, at just a few years ago when 75% of their merchandise was core or basic fashion (think regular office wear, basic tees and jeans) and 25% was fashion hot from the ramps. ?Today, it is the other way round. The market for fashion is bigger than core or basic and we change our collection at least four times a year,? he says. ?The time lag between global fashion launches and its availability in the Indian market is disappearing.?

Daniel Hechter, a Paris-based premium lifestyle brand, too is tweaking their merchandise. ?A year ago, ramp fashion usaed to be only 10% of the entire collection, but today it is almost 30%. But the fashion is customised in a commercial avatar,? says Rachna Aggarwal, CEO, Indus-League Clothing, which has an exclusive licensing agreement with Daniel Hechter to retail the brand in India.

And the Indian customer today is unwilling to pay a premium for fashion. Spoilt from trips to Hong Kong and shopping binges at the

Dubai Shopping Festival, the Indian customer sees no reason why he or she should pay a lot more just to keep their wardrobe updated. Besides, frequent updating means frequent shopping, thereby putting pressure on brands to lower their entry barriers.

?A few years ago, the starting price point for a high street fashion denim was an average of $100. Today, it varies between $50 and $100,? says Govind Shrikhande, MD of Shoppers Stop. ?The growth in this segment has led to this as more brands want to capture entry level customers.? The hot picks are denim, dresses, men?s shirts and t-shirts.

?Driven by high street fashion, categories like cosmetics, footwear and handbags are also doing well,? adds Shrikhande. Recently, Shoppers Stop launched Mango in the high street fashion category in their stores in Mumbai and Delhi, with plans to launch in other cities soon.

International retail brands feel when it comes to high street fashion in India, availability of an international standard retail environment is one of the biggest challenges. However, some are of the opinion that today, infrastructure-wise, India is much better than what it used to be a few years ago.

?Today, we are getting locations for offering high street fashion. Shop location is a very important factor. There was an absence of high street in India, but today, the gap is covered,? says OVS? Dalal.

According to industry experts, the high street fashion market offers huge potential. ?It?s a just a matter of two to three years before the market explodes. Then there is the possibility of expansion into tier two cities like Ludhiana, Coimbatore and Surat, which have huge disposable income but are faced with a lack of choice,? says Pranay Sabharwal, an independent consultant.