• Telugu actor-producer Vijay Deverakonda relaunched his apparel brand, RWDY, this week as an offering that fuses contemporary street style with traditional elements.
  • Boasting of over 500 retail touchpoints across India, Salman Khan’s Being Human Clothing, which is present in Bangladesh and Nepal, recently forayed into the Middle East market.
  • Three months back, Reliance Retail acquired a 51% stake in Ed-a-Mamma, founded by Alia Bhatt in 2020. The apparel brand for 2 to 12-year-olds  plans to add personal care and baby furniture to its portfolio.
  • Wrogn by Virat Kohli recently teamed up with Disney to unveil its latest collection. It has 350 points of sales in 145 cities and plans to expand its retail footprint to over 1,000 over the next 2-3 years.

When Salman “Bhai” Khan launched his apparel line back in 2013 in India, the fashion world probably didn’t expect his brand to become such a powerhouse — once written off as a celebrity vanity project, at the end of its 10th year, Being Human is a `300-crore brand and an inspiration to another half a dozen other celebrity-owned fashion lines.

The growth of the apparel market in India has lured many actors to take the leap. The segment was valued at `4,118 billion in FY22 and is projected to reach `10,683 billion by FY27 on the back of factors like higher brand consciousness,  greater purchasing power and increasing urbanisation. Branded apparels is estimated to be 50% of the overall apparel market. The celebrity-branded segment constitutes 5-7% of the overall market. The growth of both branded apparel and organised apparel retail has helped it outpace overall category growth.

Karan Taurani, senior VP & research analyst, Elara Securities, says, “While luxury retail and related apparel are growing in the range of 20%-30%, celebrity-branded apparel will be growing faster than that (beyond 40% in some cases) because celebrities have strong recall and brand value and they engage with millions of followers.”

Just to get a sense of the kind of popularity such brands enjoy, during the “Bhai Ka Birthday” campaign that Being Human ran from December 25 to 27 last year, the brand executed over 1.5 million online orders. On Salman Khan’s birthday alone (December 27), the website recorded traffic of 5 lakh users.

Being Human Clothing is among the brands that have done particularly well, thanks to the professional teams running the show. Says Pankaj Renjhen, COO & Jt. MD, Anarock Retail, “Today celebrities are taking a more active part and there’s a significant opportunity to grow because India binges on two things — cricket and films. These brands need to really segment the market well, and get the quality, fitment and the pricing right so that customers come back over and over again,” he adds.

What can go WROGN

Apparel brands launched by celebrities in India hold immense potential due to the inherent advantages of association. “This association aids in fostering brand loyalty and implementing effective marketing strategies, thereby significantly enhancing the prospects of success,” notes branding expert Vejay Anand, CEO, Ironhill India. However, in many cases, the transition from a multihyphenate actor into a fashion designer has not been smooth. In the absence of major marketing push and visibility, brands such as All About You by Deepika Padukone, Nush by Anushka Sharma or YouWeCan by Yuvraj Singh have ended up as also-rans in the market.

So it might be a good idea to watch out for the potential traps. To start with, the celebrity association can also mean that the brand is slightly premium. “The lure of cultivating an image of elitism or exclusivity can alienate a significant market segment,” says Anand.

One brand that suffered from that “association” issue is Aryan Khan’s D’yavol X, where the high price tag — with a jacket autographed by SRK priced at a whopping `2 lakh — triggered much social media criticism right at the time of launch. Competition from well-established premium brands and more affordable ones meant D’yavol X ended up a non-starter.

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That apart, fashion brands require big spends and bigger physical retail visibility to stay top of mind. Samit Sinha, managing partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting, says, “To be a major contender, factors like design, product quality, heritage, reputation, and price need to be in order and have to be then backed by big marketing spends and distribution muscle.” 

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