Reliance gives a leg up to its iconic Vimal brand

Vimal, the heritage textile brand from Reliance Industries, plans to reinforce its presence in fabrics segment with a slew of new offerings in the fashion and lifestyle category.

Having entered the readymade garment segment in the past, it has decided to focus on fabrics instead, in a competitive and cluttered environment.

Anand Parekh, President, Textiles Division, Reliance Industries, said, “We are taking a new and fresh look in the area of fabrics which comprises nearly 80 per cent of the textile business. Since the apparel segment is going to take a longer time to grow, it will be fabrics which will continue to be our mainstay. We intend coming up with several innovations in the area of fashion and value added fabrics, with a new agency and campaign to build our brand in the fabrics category.”

new AD agency

Vimal has recently shifted its creative agency from Grey Worldwide to a relatively smaller Mumbai-based advertising agency Scarecrow Communications. The size of the account is estimated at Rs 30 crore.

“Every year we try to do something extra in the fabric area and with a new agency we will also be unleashing a new campaign in the next 3-4 months with the launch of several types of fabrics in formal wear and fashion,” added Parekh.

Grey Worldwide had been handling the Vimal account for the past seven years. Prior to this, it had Mudra which came up with the iconic baseline ‘Only Vimal’.

back in vogue

With tailored fabrics back in vogue, the bespoke or customised model has been gaining ground with textile players. “We feel fabrics as a segment is still growing with demand for tailoring in areas such as ethnic wear and jackets,” added Parekh.

In fact, Vimal will have a dedicated line of fabrics sub branded as ‘Fashion’ fabrics for making ethnic wear, blazers and even sportswear.

Besides, Vimal has already been offering tailoring services at all its stores imparting training to its tailors from experts in Italy. Competitors such as Raymonds and Arvind have also been enhancing their respective ‘made to measure’ offerings for their fabric brands.

Currently, Vimal has 20 company-owned stores and 1,700 franchises of which 400 are exclusively stocking the Vimal brand of suiting, shirts, trousers and accessories.

“Expanding through exclusive franchises has been tough. Today, we have a presence across multi-brand retail formats,” added Parekh.

The organised mass market for branded fabrics is dominated by textile companies such as Arvind and S Kumars. According to Saloni Nangia, President, Technopak, “Reliance has not been focusing on its Vimal brand for the past couple of years with limited investment behind the brand. With the demand for tailored clothing on the rise, Reliance is rebuilding Vimal with renewed focus and trying to make a comeback in the fabric segment.”

Purvita@thehindu.co.in