Raymond launches Be designer brand  ( July '31,2001, FE)

Raymond Ltd announced its foray into the pret-a-porter line with the launch of a new brand ‘Be’ at its exclusive ‘Be’ showroom at Ansal Plaza in New Delhi. ‘Be’ is the fifth brand from the company’s textile division after fabric brand Raymonds and apparel brands Park Avenue, Parx and Monzani; and the first one to address the women segment as well.

Under the new initiative, Raymond has forged alliances with eight national designers, who will supply designer lines to the exclusive ‘Be’ outlets. Besides having a portfolio of ‘Be’ designer wear with the signature of empanelled designers (like Arjun Khanna, Aparna Suneja, Ashish Soni, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Raghavendra Rathore, Puja Nayyar, Priyadarshini Rao and Manju & Bobby Grover), Raymond will also maintain an in-house pret line of ‘Be’ (without any signature).

Says Mr Gautam Singhania, CMD, Raymond Ltd: ‘‘We’re the first to introduce pret-a-porter at the corporate scale, which has been happening abroad.’’ Adds Mr Nabankar Gupta, group president, Raymond Ltd: ‘‘Our understanding of mass market, logistics management and brand development will greatly benefit designers who have so far been hampered by the lack of marketing know-how and organised retailing.’’

Mr Singhania says that the company plans to open four to five exclusive company-owned ‘Be’ showrooms in the next three months with two each in Mumbai and Delhi. ‘‘We plan to open 100 stores across the country in the next couple of years,’’ he adds.

Raymond, which spent around Rs 64 crore in ads last year, has given the ‘Be’ account to Ambience, which will break the first print ads in Delhi on Wednesday. The brand rationale is expected to revolve around themes like ‘Be romantic’, ‘Be Complex’ etc.