The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : T-shirts are hot in corporate world

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 29, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

T-shirts are hot in corporate world

Special Correspondent

A market share study released now says the casual wear accounts for 4.22 per cent of the Indian apparel market with sales of Rs. 2,419 crores

BANGALORE: Call them "polo shirts" properly or dub them as T-shirts; you just cannot count your wardrobe complete without a few of them at least. The new corporate trend of dressing down, especially in the information technology industry, means you can club them with a blazer or sports jacket and attend a board meeting wearing one.

A market share study released now says this segment of clothing accounts for 4.22 per cent of the Indian apparel market with sales of Rs. 2,419 crores. Of course, this includes T-shirts for women, which have become fashionable.

The region-wise brand preferences compiled by Perfect Profile and KSA Technopak give an idea of what styles and which brands dominate different regions. Nike is the market leader, followed by Reebok in three of the income segments, except for Adidas in the Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000 income segment, and Nike has an 8.3 per cent share.

While Duke is the most popular brand in the wardrobe of the lowest income group of customers, it is second in the next higher income slab to Lee and third in the Rs. 50,001 to Rs. 1 lakh income group. The top five in the highest income segment is dominated by Wills Sports followed by Lacoste, Allen Solly, Lee and Classic Polo in that order.

Benetton is the second most popular brand in the Rs. 50,001 to Rs. 1 lakh income segment and occupies fifth rank in the Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000 segment.

Peter England is among the top five favourites in the lowest income bracket and Crocodile gets similar endorsement in the Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000 income segment.

In the next higher income group, Allen Solly and ColorPlus are in the running.

The income analysis of women shows that Reebok is the top women's "active wear" T-shirt in the lower income segment, Nike in the middle income segment and Adidas dominates the highest income bracket.

The T-shirt study, across 2,697 respondents in major cities reveals that there are two sub-categories in T-shirts: active wear and casual wear. People tend to wear active wear brands for their morning jogging or workout regime while the casual tee serves the purpose of informal clothing. Active wear clothing tends to have a high recall because some of the leading international brands have become more or less generic with active wear.

One important point the study noted was that quite often active wear T-shirt brands that consumers purchase are fakes: customers either buy them intentionally or get misled, especially in places like Janpath in New Delhi, Fashion Street in Mumbai or along the pavement stalls of our own Mahatma Gandhi Road.

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