IIM-A students to roll out lingerie brand

Times News Network

Nov. 28 2006

AHMEDABAD: Bra wars II is possibly being scripted on a B-school campus in India. Four final year students of IIM-Ahmedabad are busy giving shape to their own business plans. They have opted out of next year’s placements and are strapping up to launch their own branded women’s lingerie line.

The team has already firmed up a business plan that entails a foray into the mid-segment of women inner-wear market, which they say has been ignored by traditional inner-wear makers.

What’s more, the plan has already made it to the top three innovation-based plans in ‘Anveshan Business Plan Contest’ at the just-concluded Confluence 2006. The team, comprising Vishal Prabhukalonkar, Bhushan Dabir, Vineeta Singh and Debashish Chakravarty, will be mentored for the next two months so that they can improve. They were also given Rs 25,000 as seed funding.

What inspired them? “After a lot of discussions with industry experts led us to believe that this as a lucrative option,” a team member told ET. The four plan to launch products priced between Rs 150 and Rs 500 with the “correct fit at affordable prices”.

“Women inner-wear market is growing at a very high rate. The market size is expected to grow up to Rs 1,200 crore by 2010. At present, the products are available in lower and upper segments. There is nothing significant happening in the mid-segment,” says Prabhukalonkar.

“We will launch our products in that segment. The lower-end products are priced between Rs 20 and Rs 100. The premium costs Rs 1,000 and more. The income of the mid-level consumer is going up and there is a will be demand for our products,” says Prabhukalonkar. During focus group discussions conducted by students, it was found that the two problems in the current inner-wear market are comfort and fitting.

“We found that comfort and proper fit are missing from both the segments. Even after paying thousands for the product, the fit is never right. We will have products, which are tailor-made for Indian customers.

Priced between Rs 150 and Rs 500, our product will offer comfortable size and fabric, matching colours as well as the fit,” says Prabhukalonkar. The team will carry out a research for their products over the next two months and present it before the group of experts as a part of their business plan.

It has also kept an option to foray into food processing open. A final decision has not been taken as yet. “The money required may be raised from venture funds, banks and other routes to name a few,” says a team member.

The group is already talking to several industry players to understand the technology and finances. Once the project is finalised machinery and other required materials will be imported or sourced considering the cost factor, he says.