As part of its category extension, Louis Philippe, the premium apparel brand from Madura Garments, has announced its foray into footwear.
A division of Aditya Birla Nuvo, Louis Philippe is planning to compete in the premium-end ‘formal footwear' segment in the price category of Rs. 2,999-4,999.
In India since 1989, Louis Philippe says that its latest entry into footwear will help it complete its portfolio of offerings in meanswear.
According to Vishak Kumar, Chief Operating Officer for the brand, the foray into men's footwear space follows a market research which pointed to the non-availability of a men's shoe brand in the ‘formal category' which offered comfort to the user. Hence, the Aditya Birla group company, he said, had decided to leverage the brand strength of Louis Philippe to bridge the ‘formal footwear' gap in the menswear category. With a first-phase investment of around Rs. 7 crore, Louis Philippe's range of men's shoes was launched across 30 stores in the country.
“Top-end branded offering of shoes available nationally is limited,” Mr. Kumar said. He expected the Louis Philippe brand of footwear to grow rapidly to be a Rs. 100-crore brand in three years. He was confident that Louis Philippe brand would garner a 5-6 per cent share of that growing market. He said Louis Philippe had tied up with a Bangalore-based manufacturer. Almost 80 per cent of the sourcing would be from this manufacturer, he said. He expected Louis Philippe to hawk one-lakh pairs of footwear in the first year.
