International Buyers Shifting Apparel Sourcing To India

Apparel, Footwear, Fashion

International Buyers Shifting Apparel Sourcing To India

India is emerging as one of the preferred sourcing destination for international brands and retailers, who are now placing large apparel ordres with Indian manufacturers. These orders usually went to Chinese companies. German leisurewear brand Marc O'Polo has placed a huge order for jerseys to its Indian vendor Warsaw International. The product was earlier being supplied by the German garment firm's Chinese vendor, according to sources. "We have a huge order. It's a litmus test for us and the country. If we crack it, then gates open for more global brands to increase their India sourcing," Warsaw International's Raja Shanmugam said. Shanmugam, who also heads the Tirupur Exporters Association, further said that a lot more sourcing from India is expected this season, which normally begins on 1 September, as brands are realising that they need to look for alternatives. He expects 25% increase in sourcing this season. Similar views have been expressed by P Nataraj, managing director of KPR mills which is a leading garment exporter and is among the largest yarn exporters from India. "Our buyers have told us that this year sourcing from India will be much higher than last. We will know about the actual size of increased orders in a couple of weeks," Nataraj said. United States based Carter, once the largest baby wear brand in the world, also wants to shift a significant portion of its sourcing from China to India. It has asked western Tamil Nadu based SP Apparels to work on developing a new fabric using man-made fibres. "Beating China is tough as they have the scale, but looks like a beginning has been made this time," P Sunder Rajan, MD of SP Apparels said, adding that the sector will need a lot of support on labour, financial and infrastructure from the government.