Fashion apparel and footwear brand Lee Cooper will be expanding its product line in India to include watches, innerwear and fragrances.
The company, which has a marketing and licensing agreement with the Delhi-based M&B Footwear, said the latter would be setting up its first mono-brand store in India.
“We are in the process of scaling up our presence in India. The European market is still reeling under a slowdown. Apart from introducing newer products, we are also looking at the possibility of catering to the women’s segment with accessories and apparels,” Andy Dunkley, CEO, Red Diamond Holdings Sarl, which owns the brand Lee Cooper told reporters.
Currently, Lee Cooper largely sells footwear and apparels for men in India.
Dunkely said the company had been witnessing high growth with its arrangement with M&B footwear.
Mono-brand store
“We have been in a licensing agreement with M&B Footwear for the last 18 years. We feel the time is right for the brand to stand on its own with a mono-brand store, and if India continues to grow as per our expectations, it will be the second largest in the next five years.”
Currently, the company’s clothing segment accounts for 60 per cent of its Indian revenue, while the balance comes from footwear.
Dunkely said 90 per cent of all its products sold in India were manufactured locally. The company said that currently less than 5 per cent of its products were sourced from India.
“We source less than $20 million from India. Some of our shoes need high-quality components which are unavailable in India,” he added.
Inder Dev Musafir, Director, M&B Footwear, said the company would be adding 10 more stores. At present, the company at present has 25 mono-brand stores.