L-R: Mahesh Bhupathi, Palak Tiwari, Milind Soman, Arjun Rampal and Leander Paes pose for photos during the launch of the iconic Legends marketing campaign and a new website of U.S. Polo Assn., at Hotel St. Regis in Mumbai on Friday, August 25, 2023.- Photo By GPN

MUMBAI, 26 AUGUST, 2023 (GPN): U.S. Polo Assn. is a global lifestyle brand that is known for its classic American style. The brand has a wide range of clothing, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and children.

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“USPA reached $2.3 billion (globally) at retail in 2022. Our initial plan was to get to $2 billion by 2025, so we exceeded our long-term strategic plan last year. And India has been a very, very important part of that growth with roughly 15% of retail. This is also our fastest growing market and is among the top three in the world,” said Mr. J. Michael Prince, president and CEO of USPA Global Licensing, the company that manages and oversees the US Polo Assn brand.

Prince, who is in India to launch a new Legends marketing campaign and a new dedicated website with its longtime Indian licensee Arvind Fashions, told GPN the company is targeting a billion-dollar business over the long term from India. “We are very excited about the India opportunity and the growth in the market,” Prince said.

Lifestyle major Arvind Fashions is giving a fillip to the US Polo brand in India with an all-round marketing, retail and e-commerce push this year.

Mr. Kulin Lalbhai, vice-chairman and non-executive director, Arvind Fashions, said in a conversation with GPN. “India has emerged as the fastest-growing global market for US Polo Assn (USPA), making up 15% of the clothing company’s global sales last year, US Polo is the largest casual wear brand in the country. It is the right time to give it an even deeper and richer experience,” Lalbhai said, after announcing that his firm was launching US Polo’s e-commerce site in the country apart from a “Legends Forever Play Together” campaign featuring actors Arjun Rampal and Milind Soman and tennis stars Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.

“The market has been built; the brand is one of the most loved brands, and we feel now the time is right to give it an even deeper, richer, more authentic storytelling and experience,” said Kulin Lalbhai, in a conversation with GPN.

US Polo, which is into men’s wear, will also offer brand extensions into footwear and accessories and has stepped into areas such as kids and women’s wear as well as inner wear. The brand, which was licensed to the Arvind group in 2013 by the US Polo Association, is nearing the Rs 2,000-crore-mark in terms of topline this year, Lalbhai said.

“One of the themes happening in India is that the really successful brands are premiumised. What we are seeing is that if the product is upgraded, the Indian consumer is willing to pay more for that product,” he said. Over the past 12-18 months, US Polo Assn. has seen its average price point increase by 10 per cent.

The online store will offer not only apparel but also footwear, aiming to provide an entire shopping experience to customers.

India is the third-largest market for US Polo in the world after the US and Turkey and the all-round push is likely to take the country to the second spot in the next few years, Michael Prince, president and CEO of USPA Global Licensing, said. Presently, 25% of US Polo’s sales in the country come from online aggregator websites, 45% comes from exclusive brand outlets and 30% from multi-brand stores.

Arvind Fashions also plans to open more than 50 stores of US Polo this year, each maintaining an average size of 1,500 square feet. Most of these stores will be opened in Tier-II and Tier-III markets. Currently, the brand’s retail footprint in India is at more than 400 brand stores, and over 2,000 shop-in-shops, across more than 200 cities in India.

One of India’s leading casual wear power brands, US Polo Assn is also the largest brand managed by Arvind Fashions, which also includes ARROW, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Flying Machine and Sephora.