Aiming to lay to rest the woes of parents not being able to easily access and find luxury clothing for their kids, Les Petits was born out of an idea that its Founder, and now President, Swati Saraf had while on one of her trips abroad.
“It was at that moment that I realised that there was a dearth of luxury kidswear products even in the Indian market, and hence, Les Petits was started in an effort to fill the void with top international brands,” Swati Saraf, President of Les Petits, told Apparel Resources (AR) in an exclusive interview.
Incepted in 2011, Les Petits has emerged as a leader in the kids’ luxury fashion market offering collections from renowned international brands such as Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Nuna and many others – all under a single roof! Over the years, the retailer has added more than 24 brands and also enjoys exclusive rights to sell kids’ collections of seven international brands in India.
BRAND IDEOLOGY
Getting an international brand to retail via one’s platform in a foreign country is no easy feat, and one that requires a focused vision, uncompromising standards and a commitment to quality not only in terms of marketing the products, but also in terms of service.
The retailer offers premium fashion apparel, accessories and furniture from leading international brands such as Versace, Moschino, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi and many others, while mirroring characteristics of class, style, quality and top-notch fashion with the help of best-quality fabric, originality and quality – elegant designs that are well manifested through luxurious choice.
How Swati has managed to bring, grow and most importantly, retain iconic international fashion players, speaks multitudes about the brand she is building.
Upon being asked about how she approached and persuaded such market players to come onboard for Les Petits, Swati said, “We conducted extensive analysis to understand the purchasing pattern of Indian parents with respect to luxury brands. Along with this, we explored the popular international brands in India. It helped us a lot in understanding the needs, preferences, price propositions and aspirations of the parents. Based on the pattern, we tapped on a couple of global brands suiting the demands of the Indian parents.”
Les Petits offers premium fashion apparel, accessories and furniture from leading international brands such as Versace, Moschino, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi and many others, while mirroring characteristics of style, quality and originality.
“Initially, we started out with Dolce & Gabbana and Fendi, securing exclusive rights to sell their kidswear collection in India. Since then, we have been adding new international brands to our list. Till date, we have introduced 24 brands and look forward to adding more brands to cater to the diverse needs of potential buyers,” she added.
“We follow an omnichannel model to leverage both online and offline modes in an effort to maximise our reach to customers and come up with the latest innovations to make their shopping experience hassle-free.” – Swati Saraf.
PRODUCT ASSORTMENT AND PRICING
Catering to the age group varying from one-month-old babies to 12-year-old kids, Les Petits offers a wide range of products priced between Rs.2,000 going up to Rs.2 lakh.
What started out as a platform that provides luxury kids’ apparel, has today expanded to include the accessories and furniture segment for kids, in an attempt to create an end-to-end luxury destination for the Indian kidswear market.
More recently, the brand ventured into the jewellery segment by collaborating with jewellery designer Rajasi Jindal, on a limited edition of the exquisite Rajasi Jindal jewellery collection for kids that was made available exclusively on the Les Petits platform. In addition to this, the brand also offers silverware in partnership with Argentor Silver that curates exclusive silver designs of characters patented by Les Petits.
“Gauging the rising demand in the market, we have also recently launched a new category of books and toys for kids,” Swati explained.
What started out as a platform that provided luxury kids apparel, has today expanded to include the accessories and furniture segment for kids, in an attempt to create an end-to-end luxury destination for the Indian kidswear market.
From collections that entail sling bags and dresses, to shorts and denim for both genders with an abundance of choice, to baby essentials and toys, to accessories ranging from comfortable classic footwear to travel accessories such as prams, strollers, high chairs and even jewellery, the brand offers varied products for kids.
The retailer also curates beautiful gift sets to create a memorable experience for kids.
IN-HOUSE BRANDS
Keeping in mind the demand for kids-centric ethnic and partywear clothing in India, Les Petits additionally launched two in-house brands namely, Rang and Stella Rossa.
Rang predominantly caters to customers in search of ethnicwear for their children and Stella Rossa, on the other hand, was introduced to offer the perfect partywear for kids.
Planned in accordance with changing seasons and their corresponding requirements, the retailer’s in-house collections majorly focus on two seasons: Spring and Summer and Autumn and Winter.
“In the process, we have released 25 style codes for each brand of Rang and Stella Rossa, with dresses emerging as the bestsellers for Stella Rossa and kurta pajamas as one of the top sellers at Rang,” Swati highlighted.
MARKET POSITIONING THROUGHOUT INDIA
BRAND PERFORMANCE ACROSS METROS, TIER-1, TIER-2 and TIER-3 CITIES
In terms of performance, the majority of the sales recorded at Les Petits come from metro cities, most likely from Delhi and Mumbai, given the brand’s organic presence in these cities that allows first-hand experience with international brands.
The global kids’ apparel market is estimated to reach US $ 296.83 billion by 2029 projecting a CAGR of 6.8 per cent during the forecasted period of 2022-2029.
That being said, the brand is getting an increasing amount of “traction from Tier-2 cities as well, owing to the website that helps us serve across the nation. A lot of orders come from cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Jaipur. Along with this, we also receive orders from Chhattisgarh and Assam as well,” Swati pointed out.
POINTS OF SELLING
AR: What are some of the measures taken on the part of Les Petits to enhance the omnichannel experience across its stores?
(Swati Saraf)SS: In order to elevate the omnichannel presence, we at Les Petits harness the benefits of software to maintain our inventories and fill the gap. The third-party software Browntape allows for the integration of inventories across all three stores and aligns it with the website as well. All three inventories are synced with the website owing to this third-party software. Along with this, there is another software ERP that is used across all three stores to take care of the billing and manage the inventory at the same time.
AR: What strategies do you implement in order to capture online demand?
SS: Living in a digital age, we are actively present across social media platforms to stay connected with our audience. We continuously come up with a lot of information related to fashion to exercise organic engagement with the audience. Also, the innovative approach that we take on the digital marketing front has proved to be successful for us.
ADDITIONAL REFORMS
TECH AND AI
Les Petits believes in integrating technology to evolve with time and stay competitive in the market. The retailer strives to employ the latest technology to make the website increasingly user-friendly by aligning it to improve the customer experience and increase the speed as well.
Moving at pace with the technology, the retailer is working towards integrating AR and VR for providing an experiential user interface to its customers.
SUSTAINABILITY IN THE RETAIL SEGMENT
At present, a lot of conversation is happening around sustainability. It is acutely shaping the kids’ fashion industry as it promotes organic and durable clothing that is comfortable on the kids’ sensitive skin. Moreover, with the present age parents being aware of environmental degradation, they are very actively adopting sustainable clothing for their children.
Swati strongly feels that, while looking at current consumer behaviour, it is very likely that sustainable clothing will take over the trend in near future. “Aligning with this, we recently launched a sustainable collection from the house of Mayoral that embraces fashionable clothing that manifests functionality at the same time. It caters to the varied requirements of kids enabling them to comfortably don the attire while accentuating the look with the exclusive fabric underscoring delicate detailing of urban tone.”
INDIAN RETAIL MARKET
AR: What are your views on the market scenario of India? Is the industry poised for growth?
SS: The kids’ luxury fashion industry has traversed a lot from the time we came into existence. Moreover, living in the digital age, the Indian market scenario looks very promising.
We have inevitably become a part of global fashion where not just parents but even kids are developing their own sense of fashion. This emerging consumer behaviour is driving the demand of the market where more and more brands are coming to the Indian market. As a result, the kids’ fashion segment is being recognised as an entirely different segment in the market.
“India has inevitably become a part of global fashion where not just parents but even kids are developing their own sense of fashion. This emerging consumer behaviour is driving demand where more and more brands are looking to enter the Indian market.” – Swati Saraf, President of Les Petits
The sheer confidence with which kids are donning fashion these days, the industry is posed to grow at a phenomenal rate. If the industry reports are to be believed, then the global kids’ apparel market is estimated to reach US $ 296.83 billion by 2029 projecting a CAGR of 6.8 per cent during the forecasted period of 2022-2029.
FUTURE EXPANSION PLANS
Commenting on what the future holds for Les Petits, Swati said that the brand has observed good traction from South and East and that these regions and markets are where they plan to come up with new stores to build on their customer base.
At present, Les Petits has physical stores across India in Mumbai at Phoenix Palladium and New Delhi, at DLF Emporio, Vasant Kunj and DLF Avenue, Saket. But the brand also caters to the customers pan-India with the help of its online platform that enables purchasing from any part of the country possible.
“For catering to customers residing across the country, we offer our products on the e-commerce website of Les Petits enabling online shopping that is well complemented with a hassle-free experience,” Swati explained.
In its mission to rise to prominence as a leader in the luxury kids’ product industry, Les Petits aims to always delve into vitality and creativity so as to instil delight in every child.
