Dutch apparel brand Scotch & Soda drops Myntra for Reliance

MUMBAI: Dutch apparel brand Scotch & Soda which was being sold exclusively on Myntra.com, has struck a long-term partnership with Reliance Brands to open its stores in India. The e-commerce rights for the brand will also move to Reliance at a time when fashion retailers are looking to deploy a multi-channel strategy of having physical stores as well as a notable online presence. Recently, fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 snapped ties with Myntra and forged a new deal with Madura Fashion and Lifestyle which gave the group online and offline rights for the American brand. Reliance Brands, which runs stores of 19 international brands in India, including the likes of Muji, Kenneth Cole, Steve Madden, Diesel and Brooks Brothers, will start off by opening two stores next year for the Euro 600 million brand.

Scotch & Soda was founded by Laurent Hompes in 1985 and presently runs 160 mono-brand stores globally. In 2011, US-based apparel group Kellwood Company acquired the Dutch fashion brand. Darshan Mehta, president & CEO, Reliance Brands, said, “Myntra will be one of the channels for us and we will continue to sell through them. But we are now the exclusive master franchise partner of Scotch & Soda across all channels in India.” Myntra had struck an exclusive partnership with the Amsterdam-based brand in 2014. Over the past two years, a bunch of international fashion brands like Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge inked exclusive partnerships with the likes of Jabong and Myntra to test the India market.

E-commerce, both mono-brand through scotch-soda.in and multi-brand online commerce would be an important part of our growth and reach strategy. We would also push multi-brand brick and mortar stores, Mehta told TOI. Over the past year, conglomerates like Aditya Birla group, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, which owns Reliance Brands, and Tatas have all spruced up their online commerce offerings particularly in the fashion and lifestyle category. Snagging online rights has become significant for retail groups which bring in foreign retailers to India.

Scotch & Soda’s CEO, Dirk Jan Stoppelenburg said that Reliance recognizes the brand’s breakthrough style and creativity. “We are looking forward to growing our brand in collaboration with Reliance’s expertise in this very important region,” he said. Reliance Brands has over 200 stores across its portfolio. The brand's range will start around Rs 2,500 for t-shirts going up to Rs 12,000 for denims and trousers. Last week it opened the first Indian store for Japanese retailer Muji in Mumbai.