Sachin Tendulkar plans to take his fashion brand True Blue abroad; eyes American, British markets

Mumbai: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is reportedly planning to take his clothing brand True Blue global by entering into the US and the UK market soon, a media report said. Tendulkar, who launched his premium menswear and accessories brand, in 2016 in partnership with Arvind Fashion Brands told The Economic Times that he is personally involved in the design process and gives his inputs to the creative team from time to time. “We need to be recognised as a global brand and not just for a cricket playing nation. In the second innings of my life, there is no 75-yard boundary line that we need to set. We have a bigger playfield in terms of markets and merchandise,” Tendulkar was quoted as saying by the newspaper. [caption id=“attachment_3361782” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Sachin Tendulkar. PTI[/caption] True Blue is sold through 75 outlets across the country which includes eight standalone stores. True Blue had launched its first store in Mumbai in May 2016. The apparel range has been designed keeping in mind Tendulkar’s persona. Menswear is the largest segment in India’s apparel market and is expected to grow at 8.5 percent in the next five years. With True Blue, Arvind Fashion Brands aims to make the menswear category “unboring and more content fashion-driven”. True Blue also has plans to venture into women’s wear section, although, it has not set any timeline. Talking about his brand True Blue, Sachin, in 2017 said, “In the last 24 years if I wasn’t in whites on the field, I was in blues. Blue happens to be my favourite colour as well. So I thought, I might as well take that off the field and share that with people who have supported me for so many years and give them the opportunity to wear something which is of my taste, what I like.” Talking about the joint venture with Arvind he had said, “When someone like Arvind Fashion Brands approaches you, they have a history, they are mega as far as this business is concerned. 85 years of experience is no joke. I understood what they wanted to create and this is all about being Indian and touching the hearts of Indians and beyond that, a product created by Indians.” --With inputs from agencies