Madura Garments, aiming to tap into the rapidly growing segment of premium retailing in India, launches for the first time, international brand Esprit.
Home to brands like Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England and SF Jeans, Madura Garments has entered into a strategic tie-up with the fast-growing brand Esprit with an objective of strengthening its brand portfolio in key segments (women's segment / premium relaxed clothes segment / accessories) and to capture the buoyancy in premium retail business in India.
About Esprit
The spirit of Esprit is an attitude that is not bound by age, time and geography. It is an international youthful lifestyle brand, which offers stylish fashion and brings originality and style to life.
Founded in 1968 in San Francisco, USA, today Esprit is a leading international lifestyle brand. Various product lines offer women's, men's and kids' apparel, body wear, sportswear, shoes, accessories and other licensed products, including time wear, jewellery, fragrance, bed and bath, etc. The group's merchandise can be found in 44 countries worldwide. The Esprit Group operates in approximately 630 directly managed retail outlets and has over 9,700 wholesale outlets internationally.
The global business headquarters are located in Germany and the global finance headquarters in Hong Kong. Esprit has a global retail turnover of around US$ 2.6 billion and produces over 10,000 designs in 12 collections every year. A team of international designers translate the Esprit attributes into contemporary collections self-confidently, naturally and stylishly.
Esprit is listed on the Hong Kong and London stock exchanges and is a constituent stock of the Hang Seng index, MSCI Hong Kong index, FTSE all-world index for Hong Kong, S&P/HK ex large cap index and S&P Asia 50 index.
After experiencing tremendous success in Europe, Asia Pacific and the US, Esprit Holdings Ltd. sees a great future in emerging markets like China and India. It already has a No. 1 rank in China with retail outlets, India being the next.
With the launch of Esprit, Madura Garments aims to upgrade the retail standard in India. "We are aiming at the key segments of womenswear, premium relaxed clothes and accessories, which will add to the flavour in premium retail business," says Mr. Hemchandra Javeri, President, Madura Garments. "We want to provide an international shopping experience to discerning and well-heeled Indian consumers," he adds.
Mr. Thomas Grote, Group COO, Esprit, says, "Esprit is always looking for new markets for its expansion. We at Esprit are very excited about this new partnership with Madura Garments." Stating that the company's focus is on the product quality and price / performance ratio, Mr. Grote further explains, "We live up to our customers' expectations by providing truly international retailing standards."
Mr Vikram Rao, Group Executive President (fabrics and apparel), Aditya Birla Group says, "It is indeed an honour to be associated with an international brand of such repute as Esprit. The entry of Esprit in India will be a remarkable one."
All merchandise planning, store design, retail operations and customer service policies are as per the Esprit Global Systems with 100 per cent of the merchandise being imported into India. Efforts are being made to provide the same global shopping experience to all customers of the brand in India with respect to merchandise and retail ambience.
Esprit will showcase its apparel line for fall / winter 2005 in India with a fashion show — The Esprit Skywalk by Sports Unlimited. The Esprit Skywalk, a tradition to Esprit launches all over the world, is an unique and exciting form of vertical catwalk, combining mountain climbing techniques with synchronised dance choreography and rapid descent movements. The skywalk will be performed in two locations: one on the Linking Road storefront and the other on the impressive Hilton Towers Hotel facade in association with the Hilton Towers, Mumbai.
Esprit enters the Indian market with the launch of its flagship store in Linking Road Bandra, thus bringing the retailing standards of Milan, Paris and London to the commercial capital of India. The brand will soon be launched in Delhi.
For more information on Esprit, please visit www.esprit.com
Esprit stores in India:
Bangalore
10, Vittal Mallya Rd,
Ananda Bhavan (Next to Ffolio)
Tel: 080- 55370241 /42/ 43
Mumbai
Plot 290, Near Ghanasingh Jewellers,
Khar Linking Road,
Tel: 022- 56271161 /62/ 63
VAMA, Peddar Rd.,
Tel: 022- 23871450 - 59
New Delhi
M64, Main Market,
Greater Khailash 1,
Tel: 011- 55963001/ 02/ 03