Store Count: 30 exclusive stores, 24 franchise stores, 405 multi-brand outlets, shop-in-shops and four e-stores across the country
First Launch: Being Human Clothing was first launched in 2012 internationally
India Launch: 2013
Connected to: The Being Human Foundation
Brand History
Being Human is a popular fashion brand that was launched by Bollywood star Salman Khan, in 2012. The brand was first launched in Europe and the Middle East before it made its entry into the Indian retail market in 2013.
The brand’s main focus is on casual and stylish clothing for men and women. As a brand, Being Human emphasizes the importance of social responsibility and supports various charitable trusts.
The Being Human clothing line is a by-product of The Being Human Foundation. This Mumbai-based charity was also founded by Salman Khan in 2007, with an aim to provide education and healthcare services for the underprivileged in India.
In a unique licensing arrangement with The Salman Khan Foundation, Mandhana Industries entered an 18-year deal with an investment of 150 crore in 2011. The Being Human Foundation is now primarily funded by the sales of its merchandise, which amounted to a profit of approximately 120 crore till August 2018, out of which the charity’s share was about 12-15 crore.
Having originally started as a foundation, Being Human is still a relatively new brand in the world of clothing. Despite that, it has achieved much within 10 years of being in the retail market.
From the change-bearing causes it supports to its innovative approach in retail, Being Human has continuously reinvented itself to become one of the top leaders in casualwear clothing. And it does not stop with being a retailer in the Indian market. Instead, its teams are already working on a roadmap that will lead to more stores opening around the world.
The brand envisions firmly establishing itself within casualwear and has already grown to over 500+ retail touch-points in India.
Brand Journey
- In the year 2009, at HDIL Couture Week 2009, Being Human Foundation under Salman Khan launched its own brand through a tie-up with Cottonworld. Its T-shirts were sold at offline stores and through the BookMyShow website. Similarly, watches were sold under beinghumanwatches.com
- In the year 2011, the foundation tied up with Mandhana Retail Ventures Limited (MRVL) till 2028 to design, manufacture, retail, market and distribute globally all “Being Human” retail merchandise.
- As on the year 2017, the Being Human brand has a presence across 15 countries with over 600 points of sale and exclusive stores in 45 cities across India and sells its products through shop-in-shops, distributor networks and online portals like Myntra.
- Tie-up of the Foundation with MRVL also helped its entry into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Currently, the Being Human brand is also famous in West Asia and France and is being sold at 256 points and has an exclusive deal with The Landmark Group for its West Asia business. In the year 2016-17, MRVL under the “Being Human” brand reported sales of Rs 216 crore, with a net profit of Rs 20.02 crore as per its Balance Sheet.
Brand’s USP
Being Human’s biggest strength is that it is a completely homegrown brand with a very international presence.
Manish Mandhana, MD-Mandhana Industries said in an interview, “In India, we have advantages like ease of employment and abundance of natural resources for apparel and textiles manufacturing that act as a catalyst to the concept of making in India. This concept allows companies to grow in their own space, paving the way for the overall development of the economy. It levels the Indian standard of manufacturing to that of the manufacturing worldwide, making India a more trusted hub for production and export.”
For an Indian-origin brand to choose to launch itself first internationally is an unlikely and difficult choice to make. But taking their first step in the international market has been an asset to Being Human’s clothing line, and has pushed it beyond its comfort zone to work harder in making a name for an Indian-origin brand internationally.
Challenges
Being Human had to grapple with a few challenges when it launched in 2012. Among those, the biggest challenge was to change the image of the brand. Before the brand had even officially launched, it was severely plagiarized.
This plagiarism could be attributed to many factors. One of them was that because it is a celebrity-owned brand, there was a massive fan base who wanted to flaunt the brand’s heart-shaped logo at extremely cheap prices.
Owing to the celebrity’s popularity, shoppers also wanted to wear T-shirts from the brand to simply feel part of a fan group who displayed their liking for the celebrity through its merchandise.
These factors flooded markets with un-original and cheaply made copies of the Being Human T-shirts that were worn by everybody across the length and breadth of the country. Due to this, turning the overused heart-shaped logo into a serious brand with a strong identity was a huge challenge for its team.
Being Human, as a brand, overcame these challenges by entering the large format retail stores with other national brands. By finding the right market for their stand-alone stores and the right malls for their shop-in-shop retailing, they managed to grow step-by-step. After these progressive changes, the brand experienced 40-50% of growth and is expected to grow at the same pace for the next few years.
Market Growth
Competition from other fast fashion brands does not faze the company, as they believe that not many brands help you look good and do good at the same time. Being Human continues to grow at a decent pace despite competition from other brands and their omnichannel presence.
The brand’s MD, Manish Mandhana believes that this is possible because of their unique USP of fashion, charity and celebrity that sets them apart from most fashion or clothing retailers in the Indian market.
The brand accounts for 10% of the Group’s global sales. In 2014-15, the Being Human apparel brought in 170 crore, which was up by 29.7% from its 131 crore revenue that was previously recorded.
Retail Reach
Being Human currently has 30 exclusive stores, 24 franchise stores, 405 multi-brand outlets, shop-in-shops and four e-stores across the country.
Presently, Being Human stores can be found in the following Indian states –
Ahmedabad, Ambala, Amritsar, Allahabad, Aligarh, Aurangabad, Bangalore, Bathinda, Bhopal, Bilaspur, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolhapur, Kolkata, Kota, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mohali, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Noida, Pune, Rajkot, Surat, Thane, Udaipur, Vadodara, Varanasi and Vijaywada.
The brand aims to reach the deepest pockets in India and keeps its promise of offering global fashion and helping the twin causes of education and healthcare through its foundation.
Being Human Clothing is also selling through more than 200 point-of-sales in India through major retail partners such as Central, Jade Blue, Globus, Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, Splash and Westside and is available across 150 Multi Brand Outlets across India. Additionally, the brand is available with the top e-commerce partners in India such as ABOF, Amazon, Flipkart, Koovs, Myntra and Snapdeal.
Sustainability
Being Human Clothing believes that sustainability should be part of every corporate organization. It has a strong commitment to achieving high sustainable growth while also making a positive impact on the world. As a fashion brand, they place a strong emphasis on quality and craftsmanship, and on materials that are more eco-friendly and less hazardous to the environment.
For this brand, sustainability has a double purpose, both in terms of making environmentally responsible choices and promoting education and healthcare. Being Human offers some of its profit post-tax, to philanthropic causes that promote child education and healthcare for the underprivileged.
Related Initiatives
- On the most recent Earth Day, Being Human teamed up with the Beach Warriors to clean up beaches in Mumbai.
- They actively promote and engage in the Re-purpose, Reduce and Re-use philosophy.
- They are currently on a mission to reduce textile waste in landfills.
- From April 15th to 1st May 2023, customers were encouraged to bring one pair of old denim and save rupees 250 on a new one, and by bringing in two, they would save rupees 500.
- The old denim collected through this initiative was converted into stunning displays and stylish tote bags, in line with their mission to reduce textile waste in landfills.
