Rel retail's Swadesh stitches up pact with Falguni Shane

Reliance Retail's ethnic handicrafts venture Swadesh has inked its first partnership with luxury designer label Falguni Shane Peacock, executives aware of the development said.

"The collaboration may evolve into a deeper strategic partnership in the near future," one of the executives said. The retail arm of Reliance Industries plans to scale up ethnic handicrafts under Swadesh brand with stores similar to the government-run Cottage Emporium stores, and will retail ethnic handicrafts, fusion clothing, jewellery and home decor, the executives said.

Reliance Retail has close to a dozen existing tieups with luxury designers including Satya Paul, Ritu Kumar and Manish Malhotra. In the western lifestyle and fashion space, it has collaborations with global luxury designer labels including Versace, Balenciaga, Armani, Jimmy Choo, Gas and Hugo Boss. An email sent to Reliance Retail's spokesperson to confirm the development remained unanswered till press time on Thursday. Currently, the company has a Swadesh experience store in Mumbai and a Swadesh standalone store in Hyderabad's Jubilee Hills.

Falguni Shane Peacock, founded by designer couple Falguni and Shane Peacock, known for mixing traditional Indian craftsmanship with modern western trends, has dressed international celebrities including Beyonce and Rihanna.

According to researcher IMARC Group, the Indian handicraft sector is expected to touch annual sales of $6.21 billion by 2028, up from $3.96 billion in 2022. The sector remains fragmented and unorganised, with a few large, organised players and a plethora of regional startups, direct-to-consumer (D2C) players, and state and Centre-level handicraft platforms.

The retail division of Reliance Industries last week announced revenue of ₹75,630 crore for the quarter ended June, an 8.1% increase from ₹69,962 crore in the year-ago quarter. Reliance Retail noted in its earnings that the business expanded its network by opening 331 new stores during the quarter, taking the overall store count to 18,918.