Why Les Petits is Betting Big on the Luxury Kids Segment

Children these days are not shying away from donning the latest fashion with sheer confidence. Moreover, the millennial parents themselves are showing a great inclination for branded clothes and seeking the same level of fineness in their kids as well. Owing to this, the kids’ luxury market is poised to grow at a phenomenal rate. Reports from Fortune Business Insights highlighted that the global kids’ apparel market was expected to reach $296.85 billion by 2029, portraying a CAGR of 6.8 percent between the forecasted period of 2022-29. Also, according to Statista, the luxury fashion segment in India was expected to grow annually by 1.67 percent between 2022-27.

Seeing the huge potential that the market holds, Les Petits was launched by Swati Saraf in 2011. Since its inception, the brand has been working towards making luxury fashion convenient for parents and their tiny tots. It caters to kids from a month-old to 12 years. 

The Inspiration behind the Brand

The idea of Les Petits was seeded during one of Saraf’s many trips abroad where she saw the struggles of the parents in finding luxury products for their kids. At that time she realized that even India lacked the luxury kidswear market as a whole. In order to fill the void in the kidswear segment, she decided to come up with Les Petits in the year 2011, and bring the latest fashion from the leading international brands to the Indian market. 

“It was incepted with the idea of offering high-end fashionable clothing lines, accessories, furniture, etc. under a single roof,” she stated.

Offering International Brands

The brand introduced more than 24 brands in the country with the exclusive rights to sell kids’ collections of 7 brands. At present, it offers premium kids' products from the house of Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Givenchy, Moschino, Bloom, Luna, Kenzo, Janod, KMM, and Charm IT, to name a few. 

“Initially, we started with Dolce & Gabbana and Fendi, securing the exclusive rights to sell their kidswear collection in India. We are observing good traction from brands such as Nuna, Bloom, etc. which are performing well in the market,” Saraf highlighted.

Recently, Les Petits introduced Dwinguler in India with exclusive rights to offer premium toys from international brands in India.

“Moving forward, we have plans to onboard the Off-White brand soon,” she added.

Catering to Diverse Categories 

The brand has diversified its offerings beyond apparel to cater to the ever-increasing needs of the customers. Its collection consists of categories such as accessories, footwear, and furniture such as high chairs, strollers, prams, and many more. 

Les Petits ventured into the jewelry section with exclusive rights to sell the limited edition from the Rajasi Jindal collection. The brand also deals in silverware with Argentor Silver curating exclusive designs patented by Les Petits.

Expanding its offering, recently the brand even launched the books and toys section based on the rising demand from the customers. It also launched an exclusive collection of sofas, mats, and castles from the house of Dwinguler for the first time in India. 

“In the future, we are planning to add toiletries and wooden toys in the future to meet the end-to-end requirements of the kids,” informed Saraf.

Changing Consumer Behavior 

The overall shopping experience in the kids' segment has undergone a paradigm shift over the years. Parents are not shying away from experimenting with new trends. They are continuously adding freshness to their wards' appearance by donning diverse trends - ranging from fun bright colors to subtle pastels for a vintage style. They are opting for asymmetrical dresses for accentuating the look with unique cuts, patterns, and colors that create stunning visual effects. 

In addition to the trends, nowadays kids are given the liberty to choose for themselves. They enjoy the power of making their own shopping decision, which was lacking earlier. Additionally, living in a digital age, online shopping has gained a lot of popularity where customers revel in the prospects of choosing from a wide gamut of options with the convenience of comparing the trends and prices through different channels. All the factors are cumulatively contributing to popularizing kids’ haute couture amongst potential customers. 

“Going forward, things look promising for the luxury kidswear market as with the coming in of the digital era, the present-day parents along with their kids have become part of the global fashion. At the rate at which people are becoming active on social media, they are discovering the trendsetting fashion in vogue across the globe. Even children these days are developing a fashion sense of their own, and this is contributing a lot to attracting more and more international brands to the Indian market,” explained Saraf.

Spreading Wings

At present, the brand has an offline presence in Delhi and Mumbai with three stores - DLF Emporio, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, DLF Avenue, Saket, New Delhi, and Phoenix Palladium, Mumbai. 

“We are currently in the process of launching our fourth store in Hyderabad,” she asserted.

Additionally, for an integrated shopping experience, there is an online platform as well for enabling seamless shopping from any part of the country. The e-commerce vertical has been substantially contributing to overall revenue generation with the website accounting for 20 percent of sales that have been growing on a year-on-year basis.

READ MORE: How Bright is the Future of the Kidswear Market

Vision Ahead

Over the years, the brand has observed good traction coming from the South and East market. Looking at the rising demand, it is planning to increase its foothold in these markets in the future. 

Looking at the promising prospects of AR & VR, Les Petits is working towards bringing about its seamless confluence into its operations for providing an experiential user interface to the customers.

“The revenue is growing at double digits every year and given our omnichannel model of operation, we have been able to not just meet but surpass the pre-COVID numbers, and we plan to grow these numbers more going forward,” she concluded.