Hoping for a promising festive season, since Diwali is late this year along with a long wedding season, Sandeep Jain, Executive Director, Oswal Woolen Mills says that a lot of business gets done during the marriage and festive seasons. “But a lot depends on winter. If it’s on time and prolonged, we have a good season ahead. We will do well this and next financial year,” he opines. The well known winter wear brand Monte Carlo has now transformed into a complete wardrobe solution provider for the fashion conscious family. Its offerings include winter wear like cardigans, pullovers, jackets, shirts, trousers, sweat-shirts, denims, thermals and shawls and full-fledged summer range with shirts, T-shirts, trousers, denims, bermudas, shorts, capris and kurtis. The brand also introduced Monte Carlo Junior this year for kids between 7 to 14 years. “We will focus on women’s wear offering sweaters, jackets, track suits, T-shirts, denim. We will expand on these categories and hope they give at least 35 per cent of our turnover in two years. Right now it contributes 25 per cent to our turnover,” says Jain. The Monte Carlo range is available at 152 exclusive showrooms. Commenting on their retail expansion plans, Jain says, “By the end of this financial year, we would take the count to 180. New stores will be mainly in the north and east with one or two in the south.” The brand has 1,000 MBOs and another 50 are being added to the list. “We are also with Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, Planet Fashion. We have our e-commerce website Monte Carlo shop.in and Monte Carlo collections.com apart from tie-ups with online retailers.” Beyond Indian shores, the brand also sells in Nigeria and has a store in Nepal. It plans to open one in Dhaka in the first quarter of next year and three showrooms are planned for Dubai, Muscat and Sharjah. Commenting on fund raising plans to fuel expansion, Jain says, “Three months back, we sold 18 per cent of our equity to Samarra Capital. Our brand is valued at Rs 1,000 crores market cap, that’s the confidence investors have shown in the brand. If the market is right, we may go for an IPO next financial year. Last financial year we closed at Rs 385 crores at wholesale prices, this year, though we don’t expect much growth, we may close at Rs 425 crores.” Monte Carlo’s Autumn/Winter’12 collection includes fuss-free, chic cuts and comfort fabrics like cotton and wool which are just perfect for the season. With bold colour palette that highlights the autumn hues of mulberry and wintery shades of crimson, sapphire, emerald, grey and blacks, Monte Carlo has given each ensemble a timeless yet innovative appeal. Broken out into seven theme based collections, A/W range includes classic Nehru Jackets, trench coats, blazer, coats, track suits (woven as well as knitted), sweatshirts, Pashmina and Cashmere shawls, dresses, tunics, shrugs, etc, available for men and women. Source: Fashion United
