J. Hampstead, the premium brand from Siyaram, has forayed into the Indian premium men’s apparel market. The brand is planning to extend its existing product line from premium fabrics to apparel and has launched men’s premium shirts. According to Gaurav Poddar, Director,
J. Hampstead Apparels, the move to introduce premium shirts was taken keeping in mind Siyaram’s commitment to the Indian market and their focus on innovation. Aimed at the upwardly mobile young men, J. Hampstead premium shirts will offer international fabric, styling, color and fashion trends for varied occasions. With the new addition, Siyaram’s now has three ready-to-wear brands in its stable -- MSD, Oxemberg and J. Hampstead.
“It’s taken us some time to build Oxemberg as a brand. Once that was consolidated, we told the parent company we wanted an extension in the premium wear segment, which is growing in size, and we believe that it is intelligent leveraging of a brand which is J. Hampstead,” says Prasad Shetty, President, Sales and Marketing, J. Hempstead. “After shirts, we will soon launch trousers. As the largest manufacturer and importer of the fabric, we are a complete wardrobe brand,” Shetty adds.
However Shetty feels that with other established players like Van Heusen and Arrow already present in the premium shirts segment, it may not be a cake walk for J. Hampstead. “We are up against formidable and established players. It’s war for us. The onus is on us to innovate and be more meaningful to our customers. Also, J. Hampstead has a certain amount of brand equity among premium customers. Besides, we have been in this trade, grown in this trade, and we would like to lead the trade,” Shetty adds.
The new shirt range is made of finest quality cotton fabrics, sourced globally. What’s more they are easy to care, which make it very convenient to carry while traveling. As for marketing, J. Hampstead will rely on their exclusive brand outlets called Siyaram’s Fashion. “We have four such outlets. These don’t have fabrics. All three Siyaram’s brands are housed here,” Shetty explains. Moreover, the brand is also sold through select multi brand outlets, “We use agency platform for selling J. Hampstead so we have control over which retailer to supply to. And we ensure the channel partner has a good rapport with select premium outlets,” he sums up.
