Its in vogue!
Its in vogue!

The shopping experience at Provogue is designed to reflect the brand – innovative, passionate and stylish are three attributes, it tries to capture and transmit through the store experience. Salil Chaturvedi, Deputy Managing Director, Provogue (India) Ltd talks about the retail journey of the brand. 
 
Neha Malhotra (NM): What encouraged you to enter into fashion retailing in India?
Salil Chaturvedi (SC):
Two things if I look back to our beginning 10 years ago. First we saw a gap in the market for ready-to-wear garments for men that had a forward fashion appeal with an Indian twist. Secondly we were garment exporters and the development of a brand moved us up the value chain and gave us a chance to create intangible value over the long term. 

NM: Provogue, a leading name in fashion, is always in the headline for its association with some recent blockbusters. What’s the business strategy behind it? 
SC:
Bollywood is a prime communication tool for many retail verticals, fashion included. Indian film culture connects with the consumers in such a way that inspires all the generations and particularly the youth, who are our primary target market. One has to be careful to be associated with the best that Bollywood has to offer. We’ve been lucky to align ourselves with some of the greatest hits of the past few years. We have proven to ourselves that this cross-branding has had a beneficial effect on the brand and we want to continue to support the best film projects in the future. 

NM: How frequently Provogue introduces new styles? How do designers at Provogue work to keep pace with changing style of youngsters? 
SC:
We relaunched and represente our collection twice in a year. These are Spring-Summer and Autumn-Winter. In addition we introduce capsule collections throughout the year to keep the brand fresh and alive and up to date with latest trends. To keep pace with the changing style globally, we ensure that our internal design teams are integrated into the world’s major fashion capitals and understand what is going on around the world. I want to emphasise that the design aspect is at the heart of our brand and we invest strongly to ensure we have a vibrant and energetic team that is always focused on ensuring Provogue is in the vanguard of fashion direction. 

NM: Who are your target audience and what is the price range of your products?
SC:
Broadly speaking the target group is men and women from 20 to 35 years who seek fashion lifestyles and demand quality products and service. We design and price our ranges to be affordable. Provogue is in the upper middle end of the price brand. Our philosophy is to be within reach of anyone in the segment wanting to own a Provogue branded product. Fashion seekers may only be able to buy one piece at a time, but we want to be accessible and be known as “India’s Fashion Brand”. 

NM: In the light of the recent 'Fashion Weeks' many names in retail are also holding ramp shows. Provogue also follows the trend, so what is the reason for doing so?
SC:
Actually we do not hold ramp shows at India’s fashion weeks. Our shows are special events designed around the launch of our own collections. We have considered being part of Fashion Weeks, but as yet we have not taken that path. So far we have built our brand independently but we might look at doing this in future. Time will tell. 

NM: What is Provogue’s expansion strategy like for the coming times?
SC:
We are aggressively rolling our store footprint across the country. We already operate in over 67 markets and we are both enhancing our presence in these existing markets and opening up new ones in the highest growth cities and towns. Our criteria for a new location are probably the same as any retailer. We need a cost effective space that is well positioned, well managed and attracts other quality retailers so that together we can aggregate footfalls.  
 
 
 

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