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Photo: H Vibhu

Sound buy More and more people are going in for brands to ensure quality and more importantly, style

“It looks like it,” says Priya S., who works in a bank. “My colleague is so brand conscious that we had to present her newborn with a ‘labelled wear, anything less would not be right for Brand Mom.

So we got her a ‘Fabindia frock.” But about herself says Priya, “I am not really on to the brand wagon, but there’s no denying the fact that such products are better by design and quality. But I find them too expensive.”

Ajit M. Khona, Partner Kochi-based Vama Agencies, who are distributors for premium, fashion and mid segment garments to the stores in Kerala and in the business for the last seven years, says, “In the last three years there is a definite change in the way youngsters are buying brand wear. Earlier, they were price conscious but not any longer. Kochi is the fashion barometer of Kerala. Now people are trying to catch up with the latest in national and global fashion but we are still six to nine months behind. We still don’t have a brand pull here. People still prefer multi brand outlets (MBO) like Seemati, Jayalakshmi or Kalyan to stand alone outlets. This is precisely because they don’t have a brand loyalty.”

And he cites an example. “if I go to a multi-brand outlet for, say, a Blackberry trouser and it’s not available, then the salesperson is able to convince me to pick another brand. Only if this brand pull is strong can stand-alone brand stores do well in the city.” Khona is apprehensive too about the several malls coming up in Kochi. He says, “the major business still comes through sale of saris and Punjabi wear. A small segment comes through kids and menswear.

How many people will buy a premium brand? How many franchisees will break even? “But he who has watched the customer over the years adds, “Unlike in many places in the North, the customer here is very intelligent. They are least bothered about the brand if it’s not value for money. It is only the 15 per cent or so who go for brands.” “People who know about brands definitely come to the store,” says Anuradha Jauhar, owner of Benetton on MG Road.

“College kids are still not our clients, but an older thirty-plus crowd, more mature and perhaps more moneyed, buy Benetton products. . Kids clothing and menswear do extremely well but Kochi still does not have a market for women’s wear. Yet our sales have doubled since we opened in 2006.”

And so the last few years have seen the labels appear on clothes, shoes, bags worn by people in the city. “Definitely, Kochiites are turning brand conscious and that’s mainly because of exposure and also proximity,” says Priya George, designer, Good Concept. “People have more money now and besides what we would see in ads are now available in the city.” But she feels that the youngest member of the society, the kid, is most brand conscious. “Big label is important for them.” But for herself she says, “I won’t buy it just because it is a Gucci. I would rather buy something that suits my body and is my style. I am a bit cost conscious too and don’t believe in spending because it is a brand. But yes, brand culture is there in Kochi now and there is good potential for brands to come and do well here.

Captain BK Iyer, lead singer of band Evergreen, says that brands assure him good quality and so he’s ‘branded’, unlike his daughter Bhavya, 15 years old who goes for brands because of style and fashion. For Sam Sharma, it is brands but never fakes!

Whatever be the reason, everybody seems to be having one to buy a Levis, a Benetton, Pepe or the label that is him or her.

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