Wearing confidence : Indian market for womenswear gets commercial

Indian womenswear has gone through a transformational phase during the past decade. Increasing number of working women, independence in deciding financial matters, media exposure, and awareness of current trends give a new dimension to the segment. Womenswear includes both intimate wear and outerwear. Main categories are suits and coats, T-shirts, jumpers, tops, jackets, skirts, blouses, sweaters, and sweatshirts. Ethnic Indian wears like salwar suits also add to it. As the number of working women increase, market for fusion wear and western wear are likely to grow simultaneously. In 2009, Indian womenswear generated a revenue of $10.2 billion with a CAGR of 11.6%.

The industry is highly fragmented, competitive, and much influenced by the every changing tastes and preferences of the consumer. Urbanization, increasing amount of disposable income, increasing brand consciousness and many other factors has propelled the growth of womenswear market. Major players in the market include Povogue, Pantaloon, Page Industries, and Donna Karan etc. Many major men's brands have now started to enter into the womenswear segment, exploiting the highly lucrative segment.

Global apparel market for womenswear grew by 2.6% during 2011 and reached $600,491 million. It is predicted by industry analysts to exceed $621 billion by 2014, a 12% increase in five years. A Technopak study states that Indian market for womenswear was र72,040 crore in 2011. It further predicts the market to grow and reach र1,11,450 by 2016, and र1,75,300 by 202