Myntra launches Fashion House of Pataudi with offerings inspired by heritage looms of royal households

A lack of organised ethnic wear brands in the country has led Flipkart-owned fashion e-tailer Myntra to invest in some brands that can propel the diverse ethnic range in the country. Towards this end, it has launched an ethnic wear with actor Saif Ali Khan. Called ‘House of Pataudi’, the offerings will be inspired by the heritage of royal families of India, according to media reports.

Saif Ali Khan. Reuters image

Seeing the demand, entrepreneurs and established brands have forayed into this segment estimated to be around Rs 82,220 crore in 2014 to grow at a CAGR of 9 percent to reach Rs 1, 26,210 crore in 2019.  Of this, the lion's share is taken by women's ethnic wear, which is dominated 47 percent by sarees followed by salwar kameez and lehenga. Anantha Narayanan, CEO, Myntra-Jabong, believes ethnic wear in India is a Rs 70,000-crore market, according to an Economic Times report.

House of Pataudi will have both men's and women's fashion wear. However, as of now, it will only be available online, said Narayanan. Myntra will have a majority stake in the brand which will be co-owned with Khan and Excelsior Entertainment, the ET report said. In-house brands comprise one-fourth of Myntra's revenues.

The e-tailer is also looking at featuring designs from the royal households of Punjab, Rajasthan and South India, Mid-Day had reported earlier. A team of researchers was put to work to source the work for the new endeavour, the report said.

In December 2016, Myntra had launched its Brand Accelerator program aimed at helping small, local sellers who are relatively unknown and don't have a large consumer connect. With the accelerator program,  Myntra hoped to get into strategic partnerships with local brands. The e-tailer wants to make growth-linked equity investments in exchange for a 3 percent to 5 percent stake in 15 emerging Indian fashion brands that are part of its Brand Accelerator, the Hindu BusinessLine said.  These brands would drive 10 percent of its platform revenue by 2020, an executive said, the report added.