Fashion across Westside is doing exceptionally well: Shailina Parti

Summer time means days at the beach and spending more time in swimming pools. Besides, with celebrities of all hues posting enviable photos in beachwear on their social media accounts from exotic locales, well-fitting and well-designed beachwear and swimwear have become much sought after fashion accessories.

There is increasing demand for the perfect beachwear, which is something stylish yet comfortable. Recognising this gap, Westside has introduced a new swimwear collection, called Wunderlove.

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In conversation with Adgully, Shailina Parti, COO, Trent (Westside) speaks about her struggles in finding a well-fitted swimsuit that suited her body type when she relocated from London to Mumbai, which led to launch of the new collection, and much more.

About the launch of the new swimwear collection, Shailina Parti noted, “Covid had stolen everyone. People want to enjoy life, they are holidaying, hotels are booked, everyone is out on a vacation. So, in the swimwear category, it felt like the right time to launch something for women.”

Sharing her own experiences, Parti said, “When I first moved to India, I could not find a good swimwear collection. It felt like we could not get affordable and good stuff, so we asked why not bring it to the market. The time felt right given how people are thinking about living life to the fullest.”

Elaborating on the research done, Parti shared, “We do a lot of research. We look at trends, we look at interesting things that happen in fashion. We researched all the collections, colour palette, and what’s happening in the international market. The biggest trend in the international markets is the use of neon colours, bright lines and the sixties style. Therefore, we decided to launch a young range using those novelty colours. On top of that, we just did some classics, plain black, and a tropical print. When you buy swimwear, tropical prints are always your bestsellers, because people go on holiday and the vibe of flowers feels just right. That’s not so much research, but based on 30 years of me buying this type of product, knowing that’s what women want. And that’s how it came together.”

“We have two target groups – first one is the 18-25 age group, with young, good bodies and who are comfortable with showing off their skin. The other group is the co-Westside customers, who might not be comfortable with regular swimsuits and showing skin, so for them we have higher briefs and cover ups for when they are not in the pool, they feel conservative enough, but still look stylish. We want to target existing customers as well as those new younger girls.”

On how Westside stands out from the competition, she said, “It is keeping up with fashion and trends, while focussing on quality and fit. Our fit is consistent. Fashion changes, shapes change, but the fit is consistent. Our quality is good and that keeps us ahead of the market. There’s a trust factor and that trust factor makes people come back. The fact that every Friday we launch a new collection makes people come regularly for that Friday freshness. I think all of those things keep Westside moving in the right direction.”

Speaking on the company’s performance, Parti added, “We are doing well, the numbers are good, we have garnered huge growth and profitability, and all this has been done without any discounting or promotions. We don’t have any big celebrities as ambassadors. We have seen a lot of progress this year. Fashion across Westside is doing exceptionally well. We are uptaking the market, and the Indian market is growing.”

About their marketing strategy of quiet luxury and not roping in celebrities, Parti explained, “There’s a huge trend of quiet luxury, understated elegance and I think there’s a lot to be said for keeping things calm, understated. We can all be loud, but there are certain customers who like the quality and the elegance of us not being rash. And we are also careful about the colour palettes, we don’t want to be shiny or blingy. We want to have some class and sophistication. As far as celebrities are concerned, they come and go; today a celebrity is hot, but tomorrow she might not be. We don’t want to plan our journey on the back of a celebrity. We plan our journey our way, so that we are in control. And that’s really important.”

On how Westside is maintaining the balance between fashion and sustainability, she noted, “We are doing a lot of work on sustainability and we have set targets in the business. We will be launching a fully sustainable label soon, which will have all the elements that are sustainable. Young people don’t just want to buy fashion, they want to know what they are buying and where it comes from. With fashion, it takes 2 months to make the fabric and another month to stitch it. So, we can’t just switch immediately, but 50% of our fabric sourcing has moved towards sustainable; everything that we can think of, we are starting to now find the alternative in sustainable buying. It is absolutely on top of our mind and we understand what young customers want, so we also have to tell the right story.”

On changes in consumer behaviour, she shared, “There has been a big shift from ethnic dresses to western wear. Especially in our office collection wardrobe, we have seen the smart silhouettes and smarter looks have seen a huge growth. Women are buying more dresses, people are coming out of sneakers and buying heels. Even in men’s wear, we have seen the smarter elements like suits, smart shirts, and chinos grow, whereas joggers, T-shirts and the sweats have been soft this year. It has been a shift from casual and very fluid clothes to structured and smart and a bit more polished.”

While comparing Indian fashion with the global scenario, Parti said, “India is the biggest opportunity in the world at the moment.” She further stated, “I have come from London and have 30 years of fashion experience in London. I can say that I moved because there are opportunities in India, because the young people have now realised what fashion means, they have Instagram, they know what trends they want, what they want to buy. Young people want it now, so we have to give it to them now, so the market is just at the edge. If you give the right fashion and the right fit, we have so many opportunities.”

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