Press Release

Global and Indian Brands share honours at Lycra ® Images Fashion Awards

Mumbai, January 30, 2006: Two intense days of industry sessions, discussions, deliberations and expositions culminated in one gala celebratory evening at the at the sprawling Powai lake side lawns of The Renaissance, Mumbai. A s the sun set on the Images Fashion Forum (IFF) the stars in the business of fashion took centrestage at the Lycra® Images Fashion Awards 2006 (LIFA '06).

LIFA '06 a gala event empowered by Kshitij

The full force of the fashion and business fraternity was present to witness the Grande Finale of the Images Fashion Forum '06 in style with the LYCRA IMAGES FASHION AWARDS '06. Celebrity movie and TV stars and corporate honchos alike were humored by the inimitable Javed Jaffery , Archana Puran Singh and Simone Singh at the sixth edition of the fashion awards. Celebrities Goher Khan, Anuparma Verma, Mahima Chaudhry, Fluer Xavier, Aditi Govitrikar, Rahul Dev, Tania Zaetta and many more grooved to the music of Hariharan and danced to the beat of Daksha Seth and the Terence Lewis choreographed spectacular 'Moulin Rouge' by Parizaad Zorabian .... 

The LIFA '06 ceremony, a heady mixture of big brands, big winners and high-octane entertainment, was, quite simply, unforgettable. Australian jazz diva Kristy Jeffrey set the tone with an enthralling performance (soulful and saucy in equal measure) at the pre-function area, as actress Anupama Verma welcomed the invitees. The action soon shifted to the LIFA '06 ceremony in the main arena, where renowned danseuse Daksha Seth's troupe got things going with a spectacular performance titled 'Ganesha'.

The hosts for evening were Jaaved Jaafri and Archana Puran Singh. Both were in fine comedic form and their witty exchanges formed a great backdrop to the awards. Jaaved, particularly, was at his entertaining best, appearing in several hilarious avatars through the evening, including 'Dollar Mehndi', 'Chunnubhai MBBS' and even a cross-dressed (but hardly a 'drag') 'Miss Brandnani' -- this last one targeting the Fashion Retail industry.

Singer Hariharan took the stage after the first set of awards and was joined by Bollywood actress Perizaad Zorabian. Another performance by Daksha Seth's troupe followed after the next set of awards, and then the dancers from Moulin Rouge and Perizaad again, and Terence's troupe... each successive performance building up into a crescendo that culminated in the grand finale -- a scintillating spectacular from the Moulin Rouge dancers followed by a crescendo of fireworks that lit up the night sky and had the audience awestruck.

LIFA '06 was a great awards show, with a high-powered industry presence, winners from among the best Indian and global fashion brands, and truly awesome entertainment. Amidst cheers from the captains of the industry, the Lycra® Images Fashion Awards felicitated the country's most admired Ready-to-Wear and fashion brands, companies, retailers their concepts, launches, campaigns and professionals year who have done exceptionally well in the year just gone by on all deliverables. Constantly reinventing themselves to keep pace with the dynamics of the fashion industry, these names would be the forerunners in shaping the future of fashion in India.

The awards were presented by celebrities from Indian and overseas including the diva of glamour world Maureen Wadia . The nightlong celebration was a perfect blend of glamour and business.

The awards began with a set of new evolved categories. Allen Solly that introduced the concept of Friday dressing in India bagged the first title ' The Most Admired Brands of the Year' in Smart Casuals . Allen Solly hopes to increase its balance sheet turnover from 111 crore (FY 2005-05) to Rs. 140 crore (FY 2005-06). The title had gone to ColorPlus last year. While in the Formalwear category Park Avenue received the honour for the second consecutive year, Tuscan Verve , the most happening brand in India today was adjudged the most Fashion Forward brand - the honour earlier held by Provogue.

The branded womenswear segment that outperformed both mens and kidswear segment in terms of growth last year saw major expansion in merchandise development, communication and retail presence saw Benetton winning the title - scoring over last year's winner Allen Solly and three other nominees - W, Wills and Biba.

Levi's with over Rs. 180 crore balance sheet turnover in India retained its number one position as the Most admired Jeanswear Brand of the Year and also received the Special Jury Award ' Most Innovative Fashion campaign of the Year' for Levi's Red Loop campaign.

John Penrice of Lycra® presented the special award The ' Most Innovative Lycra® Brand of the Year' to Reebok for its innovative product development, communication and in-store promotions. Reebok also walked away with this year's trophy in the footwear category. Reebok could easily be the country's largest and fastest growing fashion & lifestyle brand with over Rs. 380 crore retail sales (CY 2005) adding over Rs. 125 crore to its previous year's sales and targeting for Rs. 600 crore for CY 2006.

John Players from the ITC stable - recipient of LIFA 2005 'Rising Star' title - was adjudged the Most Admired Shirts Brand of the Year. John Players reported to have grown to be over Rs. 90 crore brand at retail with over 100 per cent growth in its shirts portfolio.

Gini and Jony, Madura Garments, Titan and Tanishq bagged titles in their respective categories - Most Admired Kidswear Brand, Apparel Company , Timewear Brand and Jewellery Brand - for the fourth consecutive year.

For a kidswear brand to achieve a balance sheet turnover of over Rs. 75 crore is indeed a big achievement. Gini and Jony grew over 40 per cent over previous year.

Madura Garments (MG) with its brands like Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Peter England and Allen Solly reported Rs. 417 crore balance sheet turnover from its branded business in the fiscal year 2004-05 with 243 exclusive outlets in India and 50 overseas, 650 MBOs and over 700 shop-in-shops.

In trousers category MG's Van Heusen (VH) received the LIFA honour. The brand clocked retail sales of Rs. 156 crore across its various offering in FY 2004-05 and targets Rs. 191 crore in the current fiscal. VH sold 260,000 pairs of trousers in FY 2004-05 achieving growth of 15 per cent in volume and 25 over cent in value over the previous year.

With over 200 World of Titans showrooms in India and 9 abroad, presence in 6800 MBOs and 1532 overseas, 38 shop-in-shops in Indian Department stores and 61 abroad, Titan reported sales of over 400 crore. Tanishq is expected to sell over Rs. 750 crore worth of jewellery through 83 exclusive stores this fiscal.

The innerwear brand of the year title went to Euro. With 125 Distributors and 50000 retailers across India and presence in USA, Nepal & Bhutan Euro sold in the year 2005 appox 73.5 lac pcs (Rs. 50/110 price range) achieving about 10 per cent growth in volume and over 14 per cent growth in value term over previous year. Euro expects to close current fiscal at Rs. 52 crore.

Recipients of awards based on industry nomination and actual performance were Guess for Brand Launch and Pantaloon Retail for introducing Fashion Retail Concepts like 'ALL', 'Mela' & 'Fashion Station'. Lifestyle emerged as the Most Admired Large Format Retail Chain of the Year.

Shoppers' Stop was adjudged as the 'Most Admired Shopping Destination of the Year' based on the nationwide consumer poll.

'Most Admired Regional Retailer of the Year', the new category introduced this year was to recognise performance of regional fashion retailers and the winner was Kapsons of Chandigarh. Yet another new category was Home Fashion that went to Bombay Dyeing .

For excellence in individual performance Patrick Hanley of Harvey Nichols presented the LIFA trophy 'The Most Admired Brand Professional of the year' to Shreyas Joshi , President, Raymond Apparel .

Krish Iyer , MD and CEO, Piramyd, the driving force behind the company, won the Retail Professional of the Year Award for his contribution towards Piramyd expansion and influencing the overall retailing outlook in the country.

Kishore Biyani, MD, Pantaloon Retail, who stands out like a beacon in the business of fashion and retail received

the Images Award For Excellence In The Business Of Fashion to from Amitabh Taneja, Chief Convenor of the Lycra® Images Excellence Awards. Receiving the award Biyani said, "I am possibly the most unfashionable person in the business of fashion but my background is textiles. Now in retail I aim USD 2 billion annual sales by 2008 and over half of it from clothing. So Pantaloon will be the first Indian company to achieve a billion dollar sales in clothing only".

"LIFA recognizes the true worth of brands & retailers among consumers and trade as they are based on the verdict of over 7500 brand conscious consumers including some 250 industry big wigs and market analysts nominating for their most favoured brands," said Amitabh Taneja, Chief Convenor, Lycra® Images Fashion Awards (LIFA) .

The awards involved round the year consumer & trade survey by F&R Research, Nationwide brand usage study by A C Nielsen ORG Marg, self nomination by brands, retailers and fashion companies and performance assessment by KSA Technopak with a team of senior consultants and analysts. Lycra® Images Excellence Awards are awarded to brand & retail professionals and industry entrepreneurs and nominated CEOs in the business of fashion and retail.

"The response was amazing on self-nomination filed by the key brands and retailers with detailed information on Growth, business performance & profitability, Fashion Forwardness, Marketing & Sales Acumen, Brand Equity, Campaign and its effectiveness, customer servicing & loyalty programs supported with hard facts and figures specific to their performance in 2005 over previous year," said Meher Castelino, Official Spokesperson IFF 06. "LIFA honoured the best in the fashion and retail business making this annual event one of the most awaited on the glamour calendar. The LIFA has now unanimously been acknowledged as the Oscars of the fashion and retail industry," she added.

Suggestion for titles

Kishore Biyani targets USD 2 billion annual sales by 2008 and over half of it from clothing
- receives the highest honour at Lycra ® Images Fashion Awards for Excellence in the Business of fashion.

India's Most Sought After Brands honoured at the 6th Annual Lycra ® Images Fashion Awards

Images F&R Research, AC Nielsen ORG-MARG and KSA Technopak assesses true brand worth to reward performance in the business of fashion

Over 7500 consumers vote to reward the best in the business of fashion at the Lycra ® Images Fashion Awards

IFF culminates with The Lycra Images Fashion Awards 2006

Celebrating the Stars in the Business of Fashion - The Lycra Images Fashion Awards 2006

Lycra® Images Fashion Awards 2006 - winners marked in red (The first name in each category)

Industry nominations + self nominations

1. Most admired Brand of the year -- Smart Casuals
Allen Solly : handed out by Ravi Thakran of LVMH

Hall of Fame : Wills Lifestyle, Benetton, ColorPlus , Parx

2. Most admired Brand of the year -- Formalwear
Park Avenue : handed out by Eric Musgrave of Drapers Record

Hall of Fame : Arrow, Zodiac, Van Heusen, Louis Philippe

3. Most admired Brand of the year -- Fashion Forward
Tuscan Verve : handed out by Killick Datta of GBMI

Hall of Fame : Provogue , Zod!, Benetton, SF Jeans

Industry + self + consumer research

4. Most admired womenswear brand of the year
Benetton : handed out by Angela Krutez & Dieter Blocher

Hall of Fame : Allen Solly , W, Wills Lifestyle, Biba

5. Most admired brand of the Year -- Jeanswear
Levi's : handed out by Adarsh Gupta of Liberty & Anupama Verma

Hall of Fame : Lee, Pepe, Killer, Spykar

6. Most admired brand of the year - S hirts
John Players : handed out by Sanjeev Gupta of Indivision

Hall of Fame : Louis Philippe , Allen Solly, Peter England, Park Avenue

7. Most admired brand of the year -- Trousers
Van Heusen : handed out by Ashok Bansal & Tarun Agarwall of Suncity

Hall of Fame : Allen Solly , Park Avenue, ColorPlus, Louis Philippe

8. Most admired kidswear brand of the year
Gini and Jony : handed out by Ramesh Poddar of Siyarams & Tanya Zaita

Hall of Fame : Barbie, Benetton, Little kangaroos, Lilliput

9. Most admired brand launch of the year
Guess : handed out by Nicola Evoli of Grotini and Harmeet Bajaj

Hall of Fame : Esprit, Trussardi, Lotto, Stanza

10. Most admired brand of the year -- F ootwear
Reebok : handed out by Chitranjan Dar of ITC and Gauhar Khan

Hall of Fame : Liberty, Bata , Nike, Adidas

11. Most admired brand of the year -- T imewear
Titan : handed out by Aditi Gowitrikar

Hall of Fame : Timex, Swatch, Citizen, Giordano

12. Most admired apparel company of the year
Madura Garments : handed out by Shishir Baijal of Kshitij and Vida

Hall of Fame : Arvind Brands, Raymond Apparel, Levi's India, Zodiac Clothing

13. Most admired brand of the year -- J ewellery
Tanishq : handed out by Raghuvendra Rathore

Hall of Fame : D'damas, Orra, Asmi, Nirvana

14. Most admired innerwear brand of the year
Euro : handed out by Sabyaschi Mukhejee

Hall of Fame : VIP Frenchie, Lux, Jockey, Amul

Based on Industry + self nominations

15. Most Admired Home Fashion Brand of the Year
Bombay Dyeing : handed out by Simon Souden of Savile Row and Reetika Dalal of Daks

Hall of Fame : Seasons, Portico, Spaces

16. Most Admired Exclusive Brand Retail Chain of the Year
Benetton : handed out by Sunil Tandon and Vijay Aroura of Today Homes

Hall of Fame : Reebok, Wills Lifestyle, Provogue, Levi's

17. Most Admired Large Format Retailer of the Year
Lifestyle : handed out by Sunil Tandon and Vijay Aroura of Today Homes

Hall of Fame : Pantaloons, Shoppers' Stop, Piramyd, Globus

18. Most Admired Regional Retailer of the Year
Kapsons : handed out by Chetan Shah of Pepe and Gauhar Khan

Hall of Fame : Hi Style, Jade Blue, Dhirajsons, Ritu Wears

Based on Industry nomination

19. Most admired Fashion Brand Professional of the year
Shreyas Joshi, President, Group Apparel Raymond : handed out by Patrick Hanley of Harvey Nichols

Hall of Fame :
Sanjeev Wadhwani , MD, Tuscan Verve
Nikhil Chaturvedi, MD, Provogue
Sanjeev Mohanty, Director Marketing - Benetton India
Shumone Chatterjee, MD, Levi's India

20. Most admired Fashion Retail Professional of the year
Krish Iyer, MD and CEO, Piramyd : handed out by Bill D' Arienzo of WDA

Hall of Fame :
B S Nagesh, MD & CEO, Shoppers' Stop,
G Sankar, MD, Lifestyle

Based on Self nomination

21. Most admired Fashion Retail Concept Creator of the year

Pantaloon Retail for ALL, MELA and Fashion Station : handed out by H Ramanathan of Landmark and Fleur Xavier

Hall of Fame :
Levi's India for Rivet
Amram Trading for Sensa
Welspun for Home Club
Chordia Fashions for Thanks

Special jury award

22. Most Innovative Fashion campaign of the Year
Levi's Red Loop: handed out by John Penrice of Lycra

Hall of Fame : ORRA Platinum Couples, Bombay Dyeing, Tuscan Verve, John Players

23. Most Innovative Lycra ® Brand of the Year
Reebok : handed out by John Penrice, Prakash Bhojwani and Mahima Chaudhry

Based on Consumer research

24. Most admired Fashion Shopping Destination of the year
Shoppers' Stop : handed out by Maureen Wadia and Rahul Dev

Hall of Fame : Lifestyle, Globus, Westside, Pantaloons

25. Images Award For Excellence In The Business Of Fashion
Kishore Biyani, MD, Pantaloon Retail : handed out by Amitab Taneja


For more details please contact : R S Roy Editorial Director
Images
S -21, Okhla Industrial Area Phase II
N Delhi - 110020
India
Ph: +91-11- 40525000 Fax :+91-11- 40525001
Cell : +91- 9811070053