By March 2017 we will launch around 15 stores: Daniella Faralli

Cadini, the Italian affordable luxury brand for fabrics and menswear, has debuted in the Indian market. It has recently launched its flagship store in Mumbai in association with Siyaram Silk Mills. While looking at India as a growth driven market for the future, the brand is aiming to launch around 15 stores across key metros by end of the current fiscal with an investment of Rs 15 cr. Thus unveiling future strategies of the brand, Daniella Nicolle Faralli, Brand Director, Cadini spoke to Indianretailer.com on the occasion of launching its first store.

What inspired Cadini to launch a flagship store in India while being in association with Siyaram Silk Mills for more than 9 months?
We acknowledge that India is a growing and important market, so we wanted to have our own retail presence. And understanding that India is a very complicated market, we decided to have a local partnership before venturing our own. So, we partnered with Siyaram Silk Mills which has a very good foundation here.

What is the unique feature of the store and what will be the offerings?
We have put a lot of focus on interior designing and product offerings which includes Italian and Indian taste. In terms of product offerings, more focus will be on fabrics and garments with quality assurance. There are fabrics made in India as well as some top quality Italian fabrics made from mills in Italy. For sure one of the focuses is the fabric but, the key is style which is still maintained in Italy is the garments.  Also the store will have vast range of products including accessories like ties, belts etc.
The store is spread across 1000 sqft of area.

Have you customised your product range for the Indian market?
Yes, we have started doing that because Indian market has special requirements. Although Indians have started liking Italian products, we have started a collection which is a mix of Italian styles and Indian tastes. We are trying to propose a collection, which is workable for the Indian market.

What is your target consumer group?
At the moment, our prime target is the consumer segment already buying prestigious Indian brands. Adding on to their fashion quotient, we would introduce them to the Italian products with not much variation in the price range. Also, we would be targeting consumers buying luxury goods as well as those buying genuine Italian product. We will be promoting Italian products partially made in India and Italy. Our products fluctuate from Rs 2500 to Rs 1 lakh and large chunk of our clientele are businessmen between 35-60 years.

What are your retail expansion plans across offline and online space?
We are planning to open around 5 to 6 stores in the next three months, whereas our expansion plan includes launching around 15 company-owned stores across the country by the end of current fiscal. Financially, we are planning an investment of 15Cr for the projects. We have plans to open stores majorly in the metros including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Calcutta. Franchising option will be thought of, once we push off. In the next three months, we will ensure that our fabric and garments are distributed across large number of retailers with presence in LFOs.
We are open for presence across leading e-Commerce marketplaces but it depends upon how market moves and what kind of expectations we have from offline and online channels.

What is your estimation of retail contribution from the Indian market?
This fiscal, we are targeting sale of Rs125 Cr with our retail foray. In two to three years, we are expecting 5-7 per cent of growth in the Indian retail market. It will take time to increase the sales and we are aiming it to grow quite significantly and successfully. As of now, our target is to present ourselves well to create brand consciousness in the local market.

How is Siyaram Silk Mills helping Cadini in creating brand presence in India?
We have been seeing Siyaram’s escalating market existence for more than 20 years. Their position in the Indian market is a key thing for us. They understand the local market well and this endeavour, of venturing in the Indian market, would not have been without them. Besides knowing what the Indian customer want, they have the know-how of brand selling in the domestic market. They know the best locations for retail stores, also, what should be the price points. These inputs would ultimately help us in generating our brand presence.

While being present across 40 countries in the world, how do you see India as affordable luxury products market?
When it comes to consumption of affordable luxury products, Indian market is very discrete and growth driven. The consumer, here, is gradually getting familiar with the quality of the product. In fact their knowledge for the product is getting better over the period of time. I have been travelling to India for more than 15 years and have noticed a tremendous change in the way consumer look at goods and understand the quality of the product.

What is your vision with the Indian market?
We want to offer Italian fashion to the customers at Indian prices and upgrade their fashion quotient. Our aim is to bridge the gap between luxury and style to offer consumers an amazing product line.