Akhil Jain, Creative Director, Madame shares the philosophy, production, and style of the t-shirt and knitted top category.
Akhil Jain reveals that the popularity of basic t-shirts has faded in the present times as people are lured towards new fabrics, value-added sequin, swarovski and message t-shirts. However, slogan and graf?ti t-shirts and tops are still ruling the market. He further shares about his designing team, manufacturing base and popular trends.
Madame has emerged as an elegant trendsetter brand for the female apparel industry.What is your brand philosophy?
Brand has been steadily working towards the right ? ts for trendy and fashionable audience in India. A thorough study of emerging colours and forecasts has always helped us to create and market a product liked by the customer. Madame offers opportunities to women the way they want to dress.
Who is your target audience?
caters to young women between 18-35 years of age.
Do you also see a lot of demand coming from the other age groups?
Yes, since westernwear is quite popular and forms a major part of the casualwear segment, we receive demand from the higher age groups as well. In fact, the demand is ever increasing. In terms of sales, it is 15-18 percent.
How many t-shirts and knitted tops do you manufacture annually? Also, do you plan to increase the production?
We produce close to 1.10 million units per annum in all. As far as increasing the production is concerned, we believe that demand and supply always go hand-in-hand and so does the production. We are even adding more facilities to increase it.
What manufacturing facilities and technologies are you using?
We have a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with machines from technologically advanced countries like Japan, Korea, Germany and Italy. Such robust manufacturing facilities support to create products that are accurate in ?ts and sizes and likeable in appearance. This also includes a lot of computer-aided machinery, fabric layering, cutting, sweater manufacturing machine, and more.
Tell us about your manufacturing base.
Spread over 5,000 sq.ft., our manufacturing base is located in Ludhiana. There are more than 2,000 employees working with us. Madame has a total of 4 manufacturing units in Ludhiana. Being the creative director of the brand, I often have to visit the units. In fact, the entire design team frequents the manufacturing units to ensure that best quality products are created. The R&D studio is also based in the same vicinity. Moreover, regular visits to manufacturing units are required to ensure that right products are being produced, especially in high-fashion categories.
Where do you get inspiration from?
We have an in-house design team of 20 designers based in Delhi and Spain. Each designer is sourced from reputed fashion institutes in India and Europe, who work relentlessly to make innovative designs. We research on national and International trends, visit fashion events and shows across the globe to expand the creative horizon and take clues from trend forecasting agencies like WGSN.
How do you develop an idea into a collection?
The team starts work on a collection a year prior to its launch. After developing the idea and its concept, the team creates a mood board and sources the fabric simultaneously. Once the samples are created, designers ?nalise the designs and styles. Next, the team works on the retail environment for the collection.
What are the popular designs and styles in the women’s t-shirts and knitted top category?
The category of t-shirts and knitted tops comprises around 15 percent of the present collection at Madame. The popularity of t-shirts with the present target audience is limited, as people have moved to formal georgette tees and chiffon options. Message t-shirts with sequins and Swarovski embellishments are a major in the collection followed by Polo t-shirts, which are always a hot favourite among all.
What fabrics do you use for the t-shirt and knitted top category?
We mostly use cotton, rayon, viscose blends with spandex because polyester and acrylic do not complement high-quality apparels. Cotton gives us the required base, and blends of viscose and spandex give us the required shimmer and resilience.
What colours are popular among women?
This season white and black take a leap followed by tints of peach, blue and green.
How do you see the trends changing from one part of the country to another?
The trends are always global and do not change in aspiration. Yes, conservativeness or modernisation of a particular region may vary the liking of particular categories like tank tops, sleeveless, etc.
