umbai-headquartered retail chain Shoppers� Stop recently tied up with designer Raghavendra Rathore to launch a range of co-branded merchandise. Announ-cing the 50:50 collaboration, Rathore said, "The future of Indian fashion lies in the sharing of individual strengths." The brand, yet to be named, will be available in all 14 Shoppers� Stop stores across the country. The range will be priced between Rs 399 and Rs 2,000.

The production and retailing for the new brand will be handled by Shoppers� Stop, while design and quality control will be Rathore�s responsibility. Industry observers see this move - of a designer donning a business suit - as the start of a new trend. "This may be seen as the first step towards a full-scale corporatisation of the fashion industry," says an executive with Pantaloon Retail. "The fashion industry is broadening its vision and trying to understand the economics of doing business on a mass scale. It makes sense for designers to serve the middle-class market as they can produce in bulk, smoothening the way for their costs to come down. And the shorter the turnaround time, the more difficult it is for copycats to keep up." ... more