Why is the lingerie market in India still fragmented?

The innerwear industry is having a moment globally, but is India catching up to this trend?

If you go on Zivame’s website, there’s a calculator to help you find the right bra. All you have to do is answer a few questions: what’s the size you usually wear, what’s the shape, how do your straps fit (do they dig into your shoulders or slide off?), how does your band fit (do your assets spill out or does your bra gape?). After five minutes of evaluating the way I bought and wore a bra, the result that flashed on the screen was, well, unexpected. I got recommended a plain, dull red bra in a size that was bigger than what I normally would wear. When I tried the bigger size, it, unsurprisingly, didn’t fit well. Why is it hard to find a perfect bra?

“In my experience, innerwear has always been difficult to find,” says Sobia Ameen, an influencer for body positivity who has more than 28,000 followers on Instagram. “The options are limited to neutrals for people who are bigger in size; you’ll never see sexy, colourful or geometric designs,” she says. Nikita Jain, one half of clothing label EZRA, shares similar concerns as Ameen when it comes to buying lingerie for her slender frame. “It’s difficult and tricky to find good designs in bras, they are either loud or blingy. If they do happen to have a good design, it turns out to be uncomfortable,” she says.

Finding the right bra is like finding the right companion. You have to try a bunch until you settle on a few that will give you what you need: support, while looking good. With the issues about style and comfort being constant complaints for many, why haven’t lingerie brands and innerwear labels in India figured out a balance between the two yet? Is the idea of a perfect bra, just like the idea of a perfect person, a myth?

Big players versus independent labels

Let’s start with a basic question: where do you buy your lingerie from? If this was a game and I had to make three guesses, I would say Marks & Spencer, La Senza and H&M, knowing fully well that I hit the nail. Although falling under a higher price range, international brands have dominated the lingerie market in India for a while. Indian brands like Zivame and Clovia are trying to match up to their international counterparts by offering discounts and competitive price points. A Marks & Spencer bra will cost anywhere from ₹600–₹5,000, while on Clovia’s website, you will probably find a bra within the range of ₹400–1,500. On the other end of the spectrum, you have brands like Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger that sell premium innerwear starting from ₹2,000.

In the last few years, many homegrown innerwear labels like Easybee, The Underworld.co, Tailor & Circus and Bummer have tried to bridge this gap between affordable and premium innerwear. With cool designs and colourful prints, these labels have created a community on social media that is inclusive of all people and all sizes. But despite all the visibility, it’s a rocky road these smaller labels have to walk on. “The business of undies is a niche segment. You have to make sure to cater to all sizes and produce huge inventories, which for any small player isn’t easy. Plus brand loyalty when it comes to innerwear is high; people don’t want to switch easily if they are happy with the fit and the cut of a particular brand,” says Joyita Banerjee of The Underworld.co. “Being a boutique brand drives the costs up, which is a big deterrent when competing with established brands.”

Design and innovation

According to a survey by CashKaro, a cashback and coupons website, 90 per cent of women felt that it’s worth investing in sexy lingerie as it makes them feel and look confident. But more often than not, as Ameen and Jain pointed out, the element of comfort gets lost if the design is appealing. Pooja Merani, the COO of Wacoal in India, insists that the Japanese brand fills in that gap by providing elements of comfort and quality without compromising on style. “What’s the first thing you do when you get back home? You remove your bra. And why do you do this? Because you’re not comfortable in it,” explains Merani. “The last thing you should be worried about on a busy day is your bra.” A scroll through Wacoal’s website will give you a look at their wide collection of elevated basics and lacy intimates, available in multiple colours and in various sizes, from 32A to 40DD.

Adwaita Nayar, Co-founder of Nykaa and CEO of Nykaa Fashion, believes that it is the limited awareness and education, combined with an underdeveloped supply chain ecosystem, that makes it hard for women to find comfortable lingerie. “This is what drove us to launch Nykd in 2020, a brand specifically created with the body shapes and comfort needs of an Indian consumer in mind,” she says. Nykd recently unveiled a collaboration with designer Masaba Gupta for a collection of innerwear that is lightweight, has an odour-free and anti-microbial finish and is available in classic Masaba prints and colours, inspired by Indian fruits, flowers and spices.

Gaurav Durasamy, Vasant Sampath and Abhishek Elango co-founded Tailor & Circus in 2016 with the idea of providing quality innerwear without hurting your wallet, while using alternative and sustainable fabrics. “There also weren’t any brands using the fabrics that we are using, which is micro modal (soft to touch and can pick moisture better than other fabrics). Not many brands were doing printed innerwear with quirky designs either,” says Sampath. You’ll find innerwear in cheeky prints and fun colours on Tailor & Circus’ website, all made from the cellulose-based fibre micro modal which is biodegradable and eco-friendly. Easybee, too, uses one of the most sustainable cellulose fibres called TENCEL™ Lyocell to make soft and minimal-looking innerwear.

But when it comes to using technology and innovation, the bigger brands have an edge. Uniqlo launched AIRism absorbent seamless sanitary shorts that has liquid-absorbing, quick-drying and odour-controlling features. Japanese innerwear brand Wacoal measures over a thousand women of different age groups and sizes, on a regular basis, and collects that data and research materials to create the ideal bra. There’s been a much needed push in the lingerie market in India where the bigger players and independent brands are upping their game by providing consumers a balance between design and comfort through innovation and sustainable practices.

The road ahead

“When we started in 2016, we looked at data on how much the innerwear market would grow in the coming years. It was a healthy number then and is a healthy number now, growing at nearly 10-15 per cent a year,” says Sampath. In 2020, the global lingerie retail market was valued at approximately US$42 billion, according to a report by Statista, while it is forecasted that by 2027 the value will reachUS$ 78.66 billion.

While the Covid-19 pandemic came as a blow to many businesses, the lingerie market had a steady foothold, with brands like Wacoal doubling their numbers in sales. Several brands launched a collection of loungewear in order to steer clear from a dip in their revenue and sales during the pandemic. Tailor & Circus also introduced a ‘lounge bra’ during the pandemic which provides ease and comfort while giving enough support, even if you worked in your pajamas all day.

In this competitive space of innerwear, how can smaller labels stand out? Durasamy believes that the only way to do so is by building a community. “Most of our social media campaigns are unique and we are very vocal about what we are and what we stand for. We also want to continue building newer products with sustainable fabrics,” he says. “The innerwear segment in India is going to grow manifolds,” says Banerjee. “I personally feel the consumer is becoming more aware and conscious, and it’s for the niche brands like us to understand the current gaps and create products which add value to people’s lives.”

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