The words denim and jeans have a different connotation in my mind. Denims gives me a Marlboro man-rugged outdoors feel, wheras jeans is my kind of a feeling-it is fashion. The men’s jeans (or call it denims market) in India is certainly a lot larger. And it has excellent growth.
But we sell jeans to women. And the quest for ensuring that our customers get jeans with the right fit, right fashion, great styling and attitude has been an amazing journey.
We love Indian women. And, I believe that taking us from a one crore to a 100 crore brand, they have loved us right back.
Evolving Dynamics in women’s jeanswear
The jeans market in the country was till recently characterised by a clear dichotomy between metros and tier-II and-III towns. No doubt, this product is an integral element of a girl’s wardrobe in both big cities and emerging towns, but certain products / styles were popular amongst consumers in smaller towns, and others in large cities. For instance, in smaller towns, quite often one observes girls visiting a temple in jeans and a kurti. In addition, a wedding is not complete in these towns without girls wearing
skinny jeans under a kurta. However, the ‘gap’ between metros and emerging towns is now narrowing, with fashion becoming accessible to a larger number of consumers. The Indian woman has frequently surprised us. When we launched Boyfriend jeans it was a very metro product and not something we expected to sell well in small towns. We were surprised by the response from consumers in Tier-II and-III towns. Similarly our Swaroski line did very well in pockets like Surat and Indore, especially as festive wear. The thought that Jeans preferred in smaller towns had to have no high selling points is surely busted.
On a focus level, our key customer group is the college student, about 18-years-old and we help them get the ‘attitude’ of their choice with the products we offer. We began offering power Puff Ts which are exceptional jeans coordinates. And as a result, a girl gets a campus wardrobe by simply buying a few T-shirts and a pair of denims.
The Jealous 21 Understanding
Making great jeans for Indian women required embarking upon some majour learning initiatives. One of the ones that I am proudest of is when we took up the ambitious project of measuring more than 500 women from across the country. We always felt that the most important aspect was the fit, especially around the waist and hips. Often while one pair of jeans would fit, customers found that the other did not fit. We were determined to figure out the answers and to create our proprietory methods to crack the fit code. This huge anthropomorphic study helped us realise that there were three clusters that were existent.
In these three clusters of sizing, more than 50 per cent of women fit, and it helped us develop three hip sizes for every three waist sizes. We termed the hottie for slim hips, hour glass for regular hips and bootilicious for curvier woman. We believe we have figured out the key hip to waist ratios. And if coca cola has its formula-this is our formula.
The above findings have been the core of our considerable growth in sales. Not to forget that the best fabrics and colours were also offered. As I had shared we were the first to offer Boyfriend jeans in India, and then we have expanded to other ranges included coloured denim and distressed denim. And of course, we offer skinnys, slim fit and regular, and lots others. Look out for our engineered stretch jeans.
JEANS WERE NOT PRE-TREATED ALL THE WAY INTO THE 1980S. WITHOUT SO-CALLED ‘WASHING’, THEY WERE STIFF AND HARD AND ONLY HAD THE FIT YOU WANTED AFTER SPENDING HOURS SQUATTING IN YOUR OWN BATHTUB
The Jealous 21 Connect
Jealous 21 communicates with its customers mostly in media where we can have great two way interaction.
Most of our marketing-relating activities take place online and we also participate in several college festivals. We are already been quite active on social media and have carried out several campaigns. We already have 7.5 lakh likes on our Facebook page. Mall activations are another way we get directly in touch. In 2012 and 2013, when we were keen to increase the awareness for Jealous 21 label, we had also initiated several celebrity engagements with stars including Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Britney Spears. Our women empowerment initiative of distributing pepper spray cans was also greatly appreciated by our customers.
Our dream is to put every Indian girl in a Jealous 21 Jeans someday, and we will do it the girl’s way-with great understanding and great connect.
