TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ While national pride and an all-Indian identity are a part of its legacy, the government-owned Khadi and Village Industries Commission wants Brand Khadi to stand for a lot more. It is building a new narrative around sustainable fashion, cracking down on misuse of its label and overhauling its design sensibilities, all in an effort to stitch together a contemporary avatar of the age-old khadi brand.
Its image change is being driven by a change in positioning, a hard look at its trademark protection mechanisms and through a differentiated retail strategy. KVIC’s Chairman V K Saxena says, “Khadi as a brand has penetrated the rural and semi-urban markets, the focus now is to take it close to customers, especially millennials in urban markets.”KVIC has around 8,059 stores and most of them are located outside metros.
For urban consumers KVIC has signed up with retail chain Globus for an exclusive space within its stores, with Raymond for a regular supply of its fabric and collaborated with the Aditya Birla Group for its Peter England label. It is also working with designers and fashion schools to create a more youthful look for ready-to-wear khadi. For young non-urban consumers, it has sewn up a patchwork of partnerships with schools and local municipalities, hoping to create a mass demand for the fabric.
