Chennai, NFAPost: Wearing a face mask is mandatory whenever one steps out of his/her home. Leading brands have now come up with designer and regular masks to cater to the crowd. Keeping women in mind and also considering their comfortable clothing, Fashion brand Madame has launched its latest Tee & Mask Co-ord Collection.
The brand, based out of Gurugram, is well-known for its Winter and Summer Collection. It is also known for its vast variety, latest styles and fast turnaround of new collections up to seven times in a year.
While the majority of workforce is Working From Home, and masks being compulsory, the brand has come up with coordinated concepts of fashion masks with the slogan tees, making it a fashion statement.
Akhil Jain
The price range starts from Rs 699 and goes on till Rs 899. “With Covid-19, people now prefer digital platform. We have been planning for omnichannel, and due to this sudden preference for digital platform, we are hurrying and piloting onto our few stores. By the end of October, it will be available pan-India,” Jain informed.
While it is obvious that many companies have been badly hit due to Covid-19, some are quick enough to respond to the new trend and customers’ preferences. The fashion brand, which generally sees 5% sales through ecommerce of the total turnover, the percentage has now settled somewhere between 11 and 12%.
Talking about the collection, Jain said, “Almost a decade ago, people used to prefer motivational slogans adorning their T-shirts, and we are seeing that this trend is back now. Since customers told us that they are looking for such stuff, this collection carries slogans to spread the positivity.”
From monotones to stylish look, this new range of fashion masks and tees are available in impactful prints and designs to match one’s daily looks. As far as colour preference, he said customers prefer bold colours like bright yellow, pink and green tees and not dull colours.
Madame to open more stores
Madame has over 150 exclusive brand outlets across the country. Madame also retails in over 600 multi-brand outlets and has four stores in Saudi Arabia. The brand is retailed through online marketplaces including Myntra, Jabong, and Amazon, and additionally, the brand has set up its own online store called Glamly.
The company’s executive director said, “We thought of opening 22 stores, but due to the present situation, we will be launching eight stores. Just a week ago, we launched a new store in Phoenix United Mall, Lucknow. We have also acquired the space for our next seven stores, and they will be opened soon. This new store is our fourth one in Lucknow alone.”
Jain also said that due to Covid-19, malls are not able to get back high footfalls. “We are struggling with malls. But in high-street business, we could see that our customers are back. In case of Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets, we are sending videos and photographs of collections and are also strictly following social distance and sanitation part is taken care very strictly,” he added.
He also said that the demand for night suits and pyjamas will stay. Both manufacturing and retail put together, the company has 2,000 employees and Jain said that they are not letting anybody go.
In the last fiscal, Madame’s turnover was Rs 275 crore, and it expects that the normal business will be back in October or November. “In this fiscal, we expect to achieve at least 65-70% of last year’s turnover,” Jain said, adding, that they look Winter as an essential category, and sweaters and jackets will be back in comfortable numbers.
