Wedding collection sales surge in FY24, bucking overall trend
Tarun Tahiliani and Abu Jani, Sandeep Khosla to Sabyasachi and Rahul Mishra recorded a surge in sales of wedding and occasion wear in 2023-24, ranging between high double-digits and triple digits, bucking the overall trend of lacklustre demand as a sharpening focus on premiumisation added sheen to their labels.
«Luxury is always recession-proof if you do it right,» fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee told ET. «The good thing about being a good luxury brand is you almost create a monopoly. So, when everybody fails, you're the last man standing which probably reflects in the financials.»
Joint Ventures
Mukherjee's firm, Sabyasachi, saw a 42% year-on-year increase in revenue to Rs 487 crore in 2023-24.
Most of the nine designer labels that either have joint ventures (JVs) with or have been acquired by Reliance Retail and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail reported sales growth for the financial year, according to their annual reports. Industry executives pointed out that the JVs are mostly for ready-to-wear clothing and operate in the bridge to luxury segment, while the designers separately run their core haute couture companies that create custom-made garments in the luxury segment.
The wedding and occasion wear market has been traditionally serviced by local shops delivering made-to-order outfits, but over the past decade, brands such as Manyavar, Mohanlal, Tasva and Ethnix by Raymond have brought consistency in the celebration wear segment in terms of delivery and execution, albeit at lower price points than
