Hearts beat for desi brands

Young hearts beat strongly for Bharat and its products, despite the high visibility of international brands in Indian retail as well as online stores, the survey reveals.

Deep Samlok, a 19-year-old student of Lady Shri Ram College, is not surprised when told that 72% youngsters, when choosing between Indian and international brands, opted for the former

Fashion falls flat if it doesn’t have an ethnic touch for the majority of young Indians. A teenager out shopping today is more likely to pick a pair of hot pants with ethnic prints and a tie-and-dye shrug instead of plain denims, she says.

The survey reveals both men and women make a strong pitch for Indian brands. But men, 73.6%, are more likely to go for a desi product than women, 70.4%. More women, 57.2%, prefer retail

AMRITA SOKHI, Journalism student

outlets for shopping than men, 52.6%.

Indian prints, fabrics, embroidery, colours … it’s a celebration. Everything’s pleasing to the eye and most importantly it’s the cut and style that suits the Indian shape.

“We are built differently and Western brands don’t quite get the fit right,” says Samlok, who sources her clothes from the popular Janpath and Khan Market in New Delhi.

A bit of idealism works as well. She says it does not make sense sometimes to buy expensive international brands when “you hear about how some of them get their clothes made in Nepal or Myanmar”.

Younger buyers, 74%, are more likely to choose Indian compared to peers in the 22-25 age-group.

Older buyers seek the comfort of shopping online. Respondents aged between 18-22 keep their options open, with 29.7% saying they have no problems buying goods from e-commerce sites as well as retail outlets.

Youngsters aged between 22 to 25 are more likely to reward themselves with an expensive buy.