Speaking to us, Satyen P Momaya, CEO, Celio India, talks about the brand and its impeccable style in this exclusive interview as he quotes, “Our French heritage has always been a source of inspiration for us, and we are proud to highlight the differentiation we bring to the Indian menswear fashion scene. Celio understands the young millennial and Gen Z, and our merchandise collection is designed to help you express yourself in your own unique style” he added. Edited Excerpts:  

Celio has been an iconic brand for Indians now with its quality and craftsmanship. What has been the key learnings and challenges with the men’s casual wear segment? 

For Celio in India, what is resonating with our consumers is the fine balance that we have been able to strike with our design inspirations received from our French head offices. We have creatively adapted these keeping in mind the sensibilities with the Indian consumers like, its regional preferences and weather.

The men’s casual wear segment went through some major changes post the unlock. It happened especially in categories like pants, work wear and shirts etc. Brands which were able to anticipate the change in demand are better placed today. Fortunately for Celio, the recovery post covid both in France and in India has been very strong. Our products like the new pants, denim and shirts range are resonating very strongly with the consumers. 

Define the men’s western segment and your consumer base?

As you would be aware in India, the men’s western wear space has very limited European and even French brands. At Celio, we bring in the latest of French fashion and silhouettes to the young and the millennial population. We have remained true to our quality and product aesthetic commitment and we are very happy that the consumers in India have appreciated our efforts. We are aware the new generation is being more quality conscious on what they are wearing today. We provide trendy products, premium quality that is manufactured under the most rigorous sustainability norms.

Circular Fashion and Sustainability are the prime issues for a responsible brand in the market. What are your brand initiatives on this front with some latest examples?

Quality is our core product strength. We are proud of our long term relationship with our vendors who have helped us deliver excellent quality under the strictest terms of manufacturing. Sustainability is prime focus for us and is greatly reflected in our denim manufacturing. We also have a strong imprint of sustainability with our linen category and some commendable measures taken with our winter wear production.

How has technology and innovation made the business more viable for Celio?

Celio has been a constant innovator on its product designs, fabric and manufacturing practices. We have been quick to adapt to digitization across many consumer facing and non-consumer facing business functions. This has immensely improved our productivity. We have launched a new store format which is showing very promising results.

What’s in store with your product category?

Celio is a brand for all season complete casual wear wardrobe. We have shirts, denims and some key products like pants and winter wear. Our shirts start from Rs 1999/- Denims from Rs 2999 /- and our average price points are from Rs 2300/- to 2400/-.

Tell us about your new ad campaign and its collaboration?

We have launched a very interesting brand campaign ‘Do It Your Way’ with celebrities Emiway Bantai, Ranveer Allahbadia, Umran Malik, and Naâman. The campaign features a music video sung by Mumbai-based rapper Emiway while podcaster Allahbadia, cricketer Malik, and reggae musician Naâman will also feature in the video. The brand expects the popularity of these influencers among the millennial and Gen Z to help widen its reach in the country.

We have an interesting range of collaboration merchandise with Eniway Bantai.

We also have an interesting learning on licensing and collaborations. Our team has just mastered and understands the choices of the young consumer.

What’s new with the brand collection for the upcoming season?

Celio’s spring summer has a very interesting take on linen, denim, pants and some very exciting collaboration with Mumbai Indians. We have interesting silhouettes with cargos, jogger pants with fabric innovation across shirts, denim and tees.

To get sharper, we have split our spring summer season into 2 drops making us go closer to market and be a delight to our consumers.

Categorize the stronger markets for your brand? Do you focus on regional aspects while planning your product merchandise? 

Celio’s key markets are Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad.

We work on a certain percentage of assortments based on the regional preferences and tastes. Celio stands out as a clear differentiator in the market with its merchandise.  

What is your retail matrix? 

We have presence with our 72 exclusive brand outlets (EBO), 180 multi brand outlets (MBO) and 300 large format stores (LFS).

We have a strong presence across marketplaces and also retail through our own website. We also have a strong online to offline interface.

What’s lined up for future retail expansions?

We are now accelerating our retail expansion with Celio’s new format stores. We are planning to add 30-35 new stores in the next 2 years. 

What’s your current turnover and the growth you are expecting in the next 2-3 years? 

We grew by 2 X, post our business transformation measures successfully undertaken between the years 2017 – 2019. The brand has also seen strong recovery during and post pandemic period. We are targeting a 25 percent CAGR growth for the next 3-4 years.