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India : Pantaloon To Sell Italian Casual Sportwear Brand |
2003-8-26
Pantaloon retail (India) has signed an agreement with Italian apparel major Moda & Musica to bring the latter’s casual sportswear brand UMM to India. Pantaloon will launch the brand shortly through its exclusive stores.
The licensing agreement also involves exchange of technology as well as training for design forecasting. A team from Pantaloon will undergo training at Moda & Musica’s design facility in Italy before the launch in India. Pantaloon has also created an independent marketing team for the Italian brand. The company has plans to sell the brand through stand-alone stores at a later date.
“We have signed an agreement to bring the UMM brand to India. We are targeting the fashion-conscious youngsters,” said Rakesh Biyani, director, Pantaloon Retail (India). The brand is mainly targeted at the age group of 16-30. While the topwear (T-shirts) will be available in the price range of Rs 395-795, bottomwear will be priced in the Rs 799-1,099 range.
The UMM brand was established in the ’80s as a music label and gained recognition with music artists like Blast, Alex Party and Tanya Louise endorsing the product. Moda Musica, which owns the UMM brand, is part of the Cage group. The Cage mainly has sportswear brands. Moda & Musica brands are sold in retail stores in Spain, Greece, Germany and Italy.
Pantaloon has earlier acquired the trademark and exclusive licensing rights for the apparel brand Norules in India from the US-based Norules Inc. Norules, the California-based apparel company, sells lifestyle products targeted mainly at the 8-18 age group.
Several domestic apparel companies are now targeting the kidswear and youthwear market which are dominated by unorganised players. The size of the domestic sportswear market is around Rs 150 crore.
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