Forbes Brands signs 30-year agreement with London’s Savile Row Co

Mumbai: Shapoorji Pallonji Group-owned Forbes Brands has tied up with London-based menswear company Savile Row Co, for the next three decades.

According to Jeffrey Doltis, Managing Director, Savile Row, Forbes has been its licensee for the past three years, and under this agreement it will manufacture and distribute the complete range of Savile Row clothing in India, the UAE, Muscat, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Sri Lanka.

Savile Row is also planning to gradually induct its women's wear, accessories and footwear to India, and is reported to have ramped up its sourcing and design network in London to create India-specific silhouettes for the market here, added Jeffrey Doltis.

Savile Row, which did business of $70 million each in the UK and Japan, and $60 million from the rest of the world (comprising around 38 countries), is estimating a business of around $100 million from the Indian market within the next five years, according to Mr Doltis.

The venture will witness the roll out of around 10 flagship stores of Savile Row, each of which will admeasure around 700 to 1,000 sq ft, in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Jaipur. The company has plans to undertake a rapid rollout of around 150 stores in India by the end of 2008, though the shop-in-shop format.

Following the route of brand placement in Bollywood, Forbes has announced a tie up with Apoorva Lakhia's film Mission Istanbul, for which it has provided the wardrobe for the entire cast. This announcement was made at the India Fashion Forum.

According to Reetika Mehra Dalal, executive head of Forbes Brands, ''We want to have our shops in place before the release of the film as the clothes from the film will be on sale in the stores. We will have the film promos along with television and print advertisements marketing the tie-up and products.''

The company reportedly plans to associate with around three films a year to follow the brand placement route to market its designs and apparels, and has also tied up with Farhan Akhtar's debut film 'Rock On' for film styling.