The Aditya Birla Group, founded before the Crown formally began her reign over India, is in talks with Danish apparel company Bestseller A/S to acquire a significant stake in the Indian arm of the fashion house that owns Vero Moda, Jack & Jones, and Only — or labels for the millennial.

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Fashion Ecommerce Houses Continue Their
Love For International Labels
The Aditya Birla Group, founded before the Crown formally began her reign over India, is in
talks with Danish apparel company Bestseller A/S to acquire a significant stake in the Indian arm
of the fashion house that owns Vero Moda, Jack & Jones, and Only — or labels for the
millennial.
#DigitalErra Thought Corner
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail is in “active discussions” to acquire 49% stake in Bestseller
India, and is offering attractive valuations. Last year, in a similar move, Aditya Birla Fashion had
acquired the Indian business of fashion chain Forever 21 from Diana Retail Pvt Ltd, the US-
based company’s local franchise partner, for $26 million.
“Our pan-India presence over the last two years has increased and we hope to bring in more
brands to the market in the years ahead,” VineetGautam, chief executive of Bestseller India.
Aditya Birla Fashion owns top labels in formal menswear, such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen,
and Allen Solly. It also owns the Pantaloons department stores. The company claims to have a
rich portfolio of largest and most profitable fashion apparel brands from the globe.
Corporate Backed Fashion Retailers Inking Deals With International Brands

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With the boom in fashion retail ecommerce, corporate giants likeAditya Birla Group, Reliance
Industries, and Tata Sons haveall entered the online fashion space with ABOF, AJIO, and Tata
CLiQ, respectively.
All the major fashion etailers like Myntra, Amazon Fashion, among others have partnered with
top international brands and launched their own private labels. Catching them up and with the
trends, these newer corporate entrants have made it apoint to bring high-fashion global brands
and designer wear to differentiate them in the cluttered online apparel market.
AJIO has its own private label ‘AJIO Own’ and has partnered withmultiple premium
international labelssuch as Diesel and Superdry. Along with top international brands, it has some
offbeat and new fashion brands like Tally Weijl of Switzerland, Holster of Australia,
KiraPlastinina of Russia and MDS of Singapore.
Similarly, last year, Tata CLiQ partnered with Genesis Luxury fashion to bring iconic brands like
Paul Smith, BottegaVeneta, Jimmy Choo, Armani, Crabtree and Evelyn,Furla, Tumi, Michael
Kors, etc. under its belt.
Besides, Arvind limited owns and manages partnerships with multiple local and global brands
such as Flying Machine, Arrow, US Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Gant, Nautica, and Gap.
These omni-channel etailersare carefully choosing the kind of products that they put up for sale
and are looking to tap into an ever growing base of brand affined customerwith their targeted
offerings.
How Is It Creating Value For Fashion Ecommerce?
The growth of fashion in ecommerce is so large that Myntra claims that it will be the first of the
country’s online marketplaces to become profitable. This makes India, the preferred destination
for international names to thrive and flourish on.
Also, an amazing development is that small town consumers now contribute 30-45% of the sales
of online luxury stores, courtesy largely to lack of access to authentic luxury and fashion
products in nearby markets and increasing credibility of online stores that offer. Tier-2 and 3
cities are steadily emerging as fashion retail catchment space.
On the back of it, the partnerships done by fashion etailers have long-term advantageous
prospects fueled by disposable incomes and an expanding middle class. Historically,
International brands have enjoyed unparalleled consumer franchise with their distinctive brand
and product proposition in India. The continued entry of international brands due to easing of
regulations will also drive growth.
Today, the consumer’s taste for fashion comes from a broad portfolio of choices. These
increasingly include reputed global names and etailers can’t miss out on the opportunity to serve
and get a loyal customer-base. Hence, the strategy lies in enhancing portfolio of global brands

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that cater to changing taste of Indian buyers and thereby creating a value for customers and
brands alike.