The pandemic has also led to a shift in consumer preference towards not just comfortable clothes, but also slow fashion, sustainable clothing, and wellness. Keeping that in mind, Indya launched its first natural, sustainable daywear line called Earthen. It also expanded into skincare with a line of products that fuse ayurvedic and traditional Indian ingredients with popular skincare agents like hyaluronic acid, Niacinamide, and retinol.
But Malik and Poddar are aware that fashion trends can come and go faster than seasons, especially for the young, millennial women they cater to. With that in mind, they are bringing key production processes, like embroidering and printing, inhouse. That will allow HSE, which employs about 800 people, a 30-day ‘mind-to-market’ production schedule, comparable with fashion giants such as Zara.
“We’re really in-housing a lot of supply chain, which means we have complete control over our product from the time we make the sample, to fabrics to processing, to essentially every step of the way, to have closer cycles,” says Poddar.
That is especially essential since fashion will never go out of, well, fashion. Despite a 27% slide in 2020, estimates BCG, India’s apparel market is expected to grow about 18% through 2024. The biggest push is likely to be from ecommerce sales, growing at a 27% CAGR over 2019-24, with grocery and fashion being the primary drivers, according to a report by EY and Indian Venture Capital Association.
