There’s nobody in the country who does denim the way Spykar does: Sanjay Vakharia

Established in 1992, Spykar has come a long way and has certainly defined the rules of the fashion arena. It started as solely a men’s denim brand sold at multi-brand outlets. Spykar today has expanded its portfolio to become a one-stop shop for casual wear ensembles for both men and women – available pan India across 200 exclusive outlets, 900+ multi-brand outlets, all key large format stores, and e-commerce portals, Besides online, Spykar has over 2,000 points of sales across 350 towns and cities of the country.

Spykar has become synonymous with the ‘Young & Restless’ generation of today. Keeping up with the ever-changing dynamics of the global fashion industry, the collection exudes an individualistic and contemporary style. Spykar is part of the Lord Bagri-promoted Metdist Group, a diversified portfolio of companies.

In conversation with Adgully, Sanjay Vakharia, CEO, Spykar, talks about the trends and marketing insights for 2023, Spykar’s over 30-year journey in India, ruling the denim market, engaging with Gen Z, and more.

What are the marketing trends within the retail segment to watch out for in 2023?

Depending on which part of the segment you are in within retail, addressing the youth of India, marketing impact is mainly digital. For a retail brand, the moment of truth exists in the retail store. The retail store becomes very important when you engage with your customers Besides, there are a lot of other social media aggregators that are there on the digital front. If you are looking at sports as a medium then Hotstar and all of these cricket matches and other sports events become very important. When talking about music, we have so many digital music platforms to engage with our audience. For Spykar, it is my retail store through which we have a very consistent engagement with our customers, and digital has become a very important area where we can have regular conversations.

What is the media mix strategy for Spykar?

Social media platforms take on a significant role because, in many respects, they are the sites where customers will go to look at what we are doing and where you may first engage with them. Myntra and Ajio are examples of places that are more online fronts for Spykar and the garment industry, because customers are already there with the intention of purchasing, and that is the most excellent location to interact with them. We must consider these chances for Spykar to speak with clients in tactically and strategically pertinent settings.

How is Spykar strategising to stay ahead of the competition?

The strategy remains the same for us – from Day Zero, we have been building a brand on two promises: one is that we will always stay relevant to young India; the second pillar is that we will always serve the fashion requirement of our denim consumers. So, there is nobody in the country who does denim the way we do denim. We used denim and put it as a canvas and there are so many interesting concepts and ideas which are very relevant and contemporary in the nature. One which is very unsaid and unspoken, but most important, is that we promise to deliver the best quality for the money that you spend at Spykar.

How was 2022 for Spykar?

2022 has been one of the best years, we also completed our 30th year in 2022. It’s just remarkable that we are going stronger and strong or much better much faster. The year has been a great year because it has been the highest turnover, highest margin and also all these things with our fewer count of the store. We started many more categories as well and from a revenue perspective, it has been one of the great years for Spykar.

What are your key expectations from 2023?

By the end of 2023, we would have broken through many more hurdles and thresholds to become the largest denim brand in the nation to originate from India. We will be able to offer customers exciting product categories, of that I am very positive.

Since Spykar has been a household name in the industry for 30 years, I figured that every ordinate person in India was sporting a Spykar.

I am happy to say that we probably rank among the best for women’s jeans wear in terms of fit. We currently sell through Central and Reliance as well as the Shoppers Stop bank loan.