Dormeuil seeks partner for garment retail venture

NEW DELHI: Anglo-French luxury brand Dormeuil is looking for a new partner to kick-start its garment retail venture in India. The company, known for its high-end fabric suit lengths, holds 51 % stake in the Indian joint venture with Birla VXL — Dormeuil Birla VXL (DBVL). It only markets the European brand’s traditional fabric lines.

The company is seeking to launch its new ready-to-wear range with a different partner and in a different retail format, possibly through a high-end boutique. “Retail of luxury garments is different than marketing or manufacturing of fabric. So we are looking for someone who has strong retail experience in India for the launch of the ready to wear (RTW) range,” Mr Frederic Dormeuil, VP, Dormeuil Japon KK, told ET.

The company has, however, yet to identify a retail partner for its high end RTW range that is currently being marketed in US, Japan and Europe. “We are not sure about the retail scene and if we do not find the right partner we might see if we want to do it alone,” he said.

The men’s clothing brand, known for its high-end Savile Row featured suit lengths, would be a relatively late entrant into the high-end men’s formal ready to wear market in India that has long been dominated by Italian brands.

The seventh generation family member to join the traditional firm says that the ready-to-wear initiative has been a little slow in coming but has found good response in the global markets where it has been launched. The brand plans to keep its new retail venture low-key for the first two years.