Aditya Birla Group eyes billion-dollar club for clothing brands

MUMBAI: Aditya Birla Group expects four of its lifestyle brands - Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, and Peter England - to achieve billion-dollar status within a decade, benefiting from rising consumer interest in fashion, and higher discretionary spending, among other factors.

While international lifestyle brands such as Louis Vuitton, Nike, Chanel, and Adidas have achieved multi-billion-dollar status, Indian fashion brands are yet to reach the billion-dollar milestone. Currently, Louis Philippe and Van Heusen each generate sales over Rs 2,000 crore, with Allen Solly and Peter England exceeding Rs 1,000 crore each. For comparison, the Raymond brand, owned by Gautam Singhania, generates sales exceeding Rs 3,000 crore.

Aditya Birla Group ventured into fashion and lifestyle in 1999 by purchasing the four brands from European company Coats. Since then, the apparel business has seen several structural reorganisations. Initially operating as a division of Indian Rayon and Industries, the four brands were subsequently transferred to Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail. Currently, they operate under Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands, which commenced trading on the stock exchanges on Monday.

Its shares closed at Rs 159 on the BSE, showing a decline of nearly 5%. Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said, "Our ambition is clear: to build India's first portfolio of billion-dollar brands in fashion and lifestyle." The quartet of brands, which began their journey in menswear, have since diversified their product range to include womenswear, footwear, bags and fashion accessories. The Indian fashion industry is projected to expand to $170 billion by 2030, representing a 1.5-fold increase from current figures.

According to the group, this expansion, driven by consumers shifting from unbranded to branded products, presents an "incredible opportunity" for the brands to grow substantially.