Raymond Ltd, a fabric and apparel major that still has a near 60 percent market share in the Rs. 18,000-crore suitings segment, the overall Indian suiting business has seen a slowdown over the years as people opted for more readymade garments. Raymond Ltd to decides to shift its focus to bringing in a lot of innovation, in terms of product offering, into its suiting business to beat an overall slouch in the fabrics market and reverberate well with young consumers.

Suitings typically refer to fabrics used for making blazers, coats, jackets, suits and trousers. Apart from suitings, the other segments under textiles division include shirtings (fabrics for making shirts), made-to-measure garments and exports. Apparel as a category is anyway much bigger than suitings because of consumer preference.

Vice President, Head Sales & Distribution – Textile, Raymond Ltd, Ram Bhatnaga said that there has been a slowdown in the overall suiting market and it is same for them as well. Currently, their suiting business is growing in single digit, mainly due to sluggish economic growth, while apparel business growth is in double digits. However, suitings are and will remain a significant division for Raymond.

So, while the overall suiting market is growing at 3-4 percent, they are at 6-7 percent. And this is mainly because they are doing a lot of innovation in the suitings space which is widening their consumers base and ultimately driving their growth.

For instance, over the last one year, the company has launched and explored new offerings focusing on functionality. In March this year, it launched its ‘technosmart’ brand of fabrics which is targeted at corporate travelers and has features like UV protection, wrinkle resistance, and smooth touch, which are ideal for crafting trousers, suits, and jackets.

Raymond now says that the response has been phenomenal and it is one of the greatest success stories for the company.

Over the years, Raymond have realized that they can’t do much about the change in consumer preferences and mindsets but that they can certainly make their product even more appealing by adding features consumers love and that’s how they came up with their techno series, Bhatnagar said.

Raymond’s techno series has been received so well by all the consumers, especially young user base. Over the last few months, they have acquired lot of new customers who got excited by the feature and has asked for trails. The range has already become a 150 crore category for them and it has now become a standalone brand for Raymond.

The company is also looking to come up with the new product ranges in the techno series like techno stretch. The idea is to make techno series as big a brand as The Complete Man,”.

Raymond, as part of its overseas push is also looking to strengthen its brand presence in the Middle East and South Asian countries.

The company, currently manufacture textiles from three manufacturing unit; Chhindwara in Central India, Vapi in Gujarat, near Mumbai and Jalgaon in Maharashtra is also ramping up its production capacity. In Feb, this year Raymond invested Rs 450 crore in a new textile unit at Nandgaon Peth in Amravati district in Vidarbha which will have an annual capacity of 20 million metres of cotton fabric.