Bengaluru, NFAPost: In a bid to tighten its grip on fashion apparels, Flipkart Group today announced an investment of Rs 260 crore ($35 million) in Arvind Fashions.
The investment comes in the wake of Amazon’s plans to expand its private labels ecosystem in India.
Flipkart said it was acquiring a stake in Arvind Fashions’ Arvind Youth Brands, which operates the Flying Machine brand in India.
“Flying Machine is a brand that is known in households across India, popular with the youth and synonymous with value and style. Through this investment, we look forward to partnering with the team at Arvind Youth Brands to continue to grow the market for its portfolio of products and enhance the strong brand equity that has been built over the last few decades,” Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said in a statement.
Fashion industry was one of the worst-hit segments during Covid lockdown with purchases on offline and online platforms dipping in comparison to pre-Covid lockdown.
The partnership will cater to the demands and needs of Indian youth. Arvind Fashions began selling items on Flipkart six years ago.
The 91-year-old firm also manufactures apparels from international brands including Polo Assn, Arrow, GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Aeropostale, the Children’s Place and Ed Hardy.
The Indian e-commerce market for fashion products was worth $7 billion last year, research firm Forrester told TechCrunch.
The partnership with the Flipkart Group is aimed at helping Arvind Fashions accelerate its online growth strategy, Arvind Fashions Managing Director and Chief Executive J Suresh said.
“Given the strong existing relationship with the Flipkart Group, and their presence in online fashion, it was an obvious choice for us to enter into this engagement through which Flipkart and Myntra will be our preferred online partner for the Flying Machine brand, while we continue to grow our offline sales through channels like exclusive brand stores, department stores and multi-brand stores,” he said.
