Funds to be deployed to expand presence across Indian & global markets
National, May 27, 2024:The parent firm of well-known women’s fashion brands FabAlley and Indya, High Street Essentials (HSE), has raised INR 50 crore in debt and equity. Leading the fundraising round was Mrs. Sangita Jindal, Chairperson of the JSW Foundation, with involvement from Timmy Sarna of Pure Home + Living, Krishna Bodanapu of Cyient Technologies, and prestigious family offices of SRF Group.
With the help of this funding infusion, Indya is able to strategically expand the market for its high-end event wear line, “Weddings By Indya,” and create a growth plan for a major entry into the occasion and wedding wear segments.”Weddings By Indya” is a carefully chosen collection that offers finely tailored ensembles for a variety of occasions, appealing to the discriminating preferences of India’s thriving wedding market.Through strategic relationships with well-known Indian designers like Varun Bahl, Ashish N Soni, Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna, and Nikhil Thampi, Indya is democratising luxury fashion. These partnerships offer designer elegance to fashion fans at high street rates.
Commenting on her investment in Indya brand, Mrs Sangita Jindal, Chairperson of JSW Foundation said,“The fundamental strength of Indya is their distinctive designs, which appeal to both the Indian diaspora and the global market. With this financing, Shivani & Anurag will be able to further drive Indya’s global expansion while securing a larger portion of the sizable Indian wedding dress market. They have developed solid back-end skills. Beyond the financial commitment, we both share the goal of introducing India’s traditional textile creativity to the world market.
The India wedding wear market is valued at US$ 15 billion. In order to capitalize on the growing wedding wear segment, Indya has plans to expand its business presence across the country with 10 new wedding stores in this financial year. Indya is currently retailed through 12 exclusive brand outlets in 8 cities, and 150 large format retail outlets, including Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, Centro and Ethnicity. Its global retail footprint continues to expand with a second store in Malaysia with plans to also open outlets in USA and South Africa within the next 18 months. However, Indya’s largest volumes come from its international direct-to-consumer ecommerce business spanning more than 43 countries. With over 1.5 million customers globally, this business segment has posted a 50% year-on-year growth.
Shivani Poddar and Anurag Murali, the co-founders of HSE, commented, “We see a huge chance to establish Wedding By Indya as a major player in the US$15 billion wedding apparel sector, which is still mostly unorganised. With the constant support of investors such as Mrs. Sangita Jindal, we are well-positioned to grow rapidly and establish the most renowned and largest brand in the wedding wear sector.
The key growth driver will continue to be the international ecommerce business. Indya will be expanding to new geographies while investing in on-ground brand & marketing initiatives. The other big leg of growth will come from Indya’s large wedding stores. Over the next few years, Indya plans to open 100+ wedding stores across the country.
For more than 30 years, Mrs Sangita Jindal and JSW Group have built symbiotic relationships between women entrepreneurs and traditional craft communities. Mrs Sangita Jindal’s team at JSW reaches out to thousands of woman artisans enabling them to develop meaningful collaborations and interventions for making their crafts contemporary. Beyond this investment, Indya also offers a strategic opportunity to collaborate with these artisans for sourcing & integrating India’s heritage designs in luxury wedding ensembles. Mrs Sangita Jindal along with Shivani Poddar & Anurag Murali are committed to take India’s heritage textile artistry to global markets.
