Introduction

Those days are gone when the presence of fashion was only seen in adults. But the kids segment has shown the huge potential in the apparels fashion industry. If we look a decade back no one would have predicted that this segment will be the most promising segment in Indian fashion industry. While the fashion industry is still dominated by the menswear segment but the kids fashion segment has higher growth rate. Kids wear market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.1% and to reach to Rs 145,445 crore by 2027 whereas men’s wear and women’s wear are expected to grow at a relatively lesser CAGR of 7.5% and 7.6%

Factors affecting the growth

Shift in Preference

Generally, in India the trend was that most of the people prefer buying from small stores or Street shops, while branded garments were only bought by higher class families. But now the preferences of parents are changing & they are shifting for branded apparel. The reason of this change is due to rise in the disposable income of the people and the increasing influences of foreign culture as well as kids are more informed and self-conscious.

Technological Upgradation

Understanding consumer’s buying pattern is the most unpredictive task for any brand but with the help of AI it has become easier for manufacturers. AI like Deep Vogue is helping companies in developing designs as well. Various companies have tie-up with AI Companies for real time fashion trends, customer sentiments over the particular brand and helping in resurfacing theme patterns, colors and styles whereas brands are building their model on speed and agility. Digital printing is booming in the market.

Manufacturers have started adopting technologies in different manufacturing process like cutting, sewing, warehouse management, etc. Advances in soft robotics will infiltrate garment-making in the future. In the meantime, startups are combining hardware and software to create automated sewing systems. Software Automation, for example, is developing “Sew bots” equipped with robotic arms, vacuum grippers, and specialized “micromanipulators” that can guide a piece of cloth through a sewing machine with sub millimeter precision.

 “Online” channels taking over “Offline” stores

India constitutes 29% of the younger population between the age group of 0-14 years having a huge amount of potential in rising kids wear apparel industry. Major factor of influence in online channel are convenient, discoverable and affordable. Metro cities such as Mumbai and Delhi with tier 2 and tier 3 cities have shown great enthusiasm for online shopping.  In some of the part of the tier 2 and tier 3 city accessibility can be a problem but online retailers are trying to reach with a wider outreach by enabling various brands and have allowed customers to engage with wider discoverability.    

Conclusion

Kid’s apparel segment was not in much light if we talk about a decade back, but current scenario has been changed. It is not just increasing its reach but also getting one of the fastest growing segment compare to men’s and women’s wear with changing in buyer preference and changing influencers.