An Armani jumpsuit for the casual evening, an Elizabeth Hurley swimwear for the hobby session, and a Raghavendra Rathore bandhgala for the family function?sounds like the diary of a high-flying fashionista, right? Except that the wearer is a toddler from metropolitan India.
Today?s kids are a pampered lot, and their high-spending parents are spoilt for choice. From the occasional evening wear to accessories like headbands, handbags, jewellery, shoes and bow-ties, nothing is stopping fashion-forward parents with a taste for luxury from paying through the nose and to get that designer look for their little ones. To that end, several high-end designers and fashion houses have branched out into children?s wear in the country.
Just a quick visit to Delhi?s DLF Emporio mall gives an idea of how international kids? luxury brands like Fendi Kids, Baby Dior, Armani Junior and Young Versace are successfully doing their business. As for the prices, sky?s the limit here. The collections can range anywhere from about R2,000 to as high as R73,500. For ensembles, prices can start at R2,800 and go up to R60,000. For prams, strollers and cradles, they can even touch a six-digit figure of R1,55,000.
Bringing its kidswear brand to India, Giorgio Armani opened its first Armani Junior store at DLF Emporio in 2012. Spanning across 2,000 sq ft, the store showcases Armani Junior collections for boys and girls, including formal wear, casual wear, sports wear and accessories. Starting from Armani Baby for 0-2 year-olds, the store also offers apparels and accessories in the junior (2 to 8-year-olds) and teen (9 to 16-year-olds) ranges.
Just a few steps from the Armani Junior store, lies Les Petits, a multi-brand luxury store for kids? apparel and furniture. Spread across 1,500 sq ft, the store houses several international brands like Fendi Kids, Baby Dior, I Pinco Pallino, Miss Blumarine and Simonetta under one roof. Miss Blumarine outfits, Fendi shirts, Versace T-shirts and Baby Dior rompers are a big draw here. Recently, iconic fashion brand, Young Versace, launched its collections at the store. While the range of these products starts from R3,000, it can go up to R73,500. They cater to children in the age group of 0-8 years.
For Swati Saraf, president, Les Petits, the idea to come up with a kids? store housing international brands came up while she was looking for a gift for one of her relatives? children. ?It was during the quest for a gift that I realised the serious dearth of luxury fashion clothing for this age group in India. Moreover, during my foreign trips, I noticed fellow Indians shopping for the best of designer brands and luxury merchandise for kids at premium stores,? says Saraf.
Though they don?t have an India-specific collection for kids yet, the selection of apparels is done keeping in mind Indian kids, and looks, colours or products that work for them, adds a company official.
Still, if one is looking for ?made-in-India? brands, there is Kidology, with its stores located in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and even Dubai. For Ankur Mittal, co-founder, Kidology, the void in Indian designer garments for kids was the motivation for coming up with the chain. ?Well-designed Indian occasion wear for kids was a segment not truly explored in the country. Having identified this void, we shared our idea with a few designers like Gauri and Nainika, Gaurav Gupta, Malini Ramani and Ritu Kumar and their enthusiasm for the business concept and segment gave us the confidence to start our venture,? says Mittal.
Since then, Kidology has added some big names from the Indian fashion industry to its portfolio like Namrata Joshipura, Nandita Basu and Siddharth Tytler, and has also developed its in-house brand through designer Maya Nocon.
Apart from occasion wear, the store also offers accessories, including headbands, handbags, jewellery, shoes, bow-ties and belts. Their apparel collection ranges from R2,000 to R20,000. ?One of our bestsellers is the ?princess dress? designed by Gauri and Nainika. It is available in four styles and as many price variants, with many different colour options. Gaurav Gupta?s Indian styles are a big hit too. Siddharth Tytler?s prom dress is proving to be a big hit this year,? adds Mittal.
Kidology recently laun-ched its website and is receiving orders not only from India, but also from the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong. The company has now partnered with luxury designer-wear retailer Kimaya to retail from its stores in DLF Emporio, IGI Airport in Delhi and south Mumbai. Its next store is coming up in Abu Dhabi.
In Mumbai, Minoti Sampat launched MAL The Store, which specialises in designer apparels for infants and kids up to seven years of age, in 2010. ?Few years back, I found that India did not have any high-end outlet catering to children despite having a treasure trove of both skill and raw materials. I spoke to a few designers and, before I knew it, MAL was born,? says Sampat.
?Our bandhgalas and breeches do really well for boys, as do our dhoti-kurtas. For girls, ballet tutus and anarkalis are quite popular. We have Raghavendra Rathore for boys, while Elizabeth Hurley does pint-sized swimwear for kids,? says Sampat. Unlike others, the company?s prices start at R999, and its bespoke outfits, hand-embroidered and especially dyed (sometimes vegetable-dyed, allergy-tested fabrics) outfits, can cost up to R12,000.
According to Sampat, the designers at the store had never ventured into kids? wear before, but joined her as they, too, wanted a ?refreshing change of perspective?. ?Some were keen to explore a new market, while others felt that a child growing up wearing their designs would create great brand loyalty even into the future,? she adds.
Sampat is contemplating a MAL outlet in Pune this month, besides planning several more across the country later this year. Though the company doesn?t have an e-tailing system as of now, it is looking at the possibility and may come up with one soon.
The online market too is hotting up. E-tailing site ShopClues, which deals in premium international and Indian brands, has registered a significant growth with an offering of over 2.2 million products and listed merchandise value of R5,600 crore. ?Over the past three months, ShopClues has been registering over 75% growth in the kids? section. It is one of the fastest growing categories for us,? says Sanjay Sethi, co-founder, ShopClues.
