Category Expansion Is a Sourcing Problem First, Indian Brands Find

Superkicks spent three of its four years in apparel simply getting T-shirts, hoodies and sweatpants right before it could attempt what CEO and Co-Founder Sangeet Paryani calls "elevated fashion apparel." That timeline — three years of basics before a single fashion-forward piece — is the most concrete data point in a new round of brand interviews on category expansion, and it frames the commercial question squarely: a new category is not a marketing decision but a multi-year sourcing, fit and vendor-building exercise.

The pattern repeats across the four brands that shared their expansion stories. Each one reports that the hard costs sat in materials knowledge, vendor relationships and production skills, not in distribution or brand storytelling.

What does expansion actually change on the ground?

For Mumbai-based Superkicks, the sneaker retailer's move up the apparel value chain brought three distinct development challenges. "The first was scouting and sourcing the right kind of materials and building relationships with new vendors. The second was getting the fit right, particularly as we were experimenting with new silhouettes. The third was ensuring that the story we wanted to tell through each pack was actually communicated through the silhouettes, construction and design," Paryani said.

Notably, operations and distribution stayed unchanged; the brand ran the new line on existing systems. The consumer side proved less cooperative. Paryani expected instant acceptance and got a slow one instead, as customers took time to understand what Superkicks was building in apparel. The brand also deliberately keeps per-pack quantities low, a choice that keeps overheads relatively high — a trade-off sourcing teams will recognise as the price of scarcity positioning.

Gully Labs: from leather to linen-cotton

Delhi-NCR sneaker brand Gully Labs faced a steeper knowledge curve with Kara, its first full ready-to-wear collection, which opened the door to customers seeking everyday garments rather than occasion-wear. The brand had to learn fabrics entirely outside its footwear background in leather and suede: cotton twill, linen-cotton blends and poplin, plus finishings such as coconut and coin buttons.

The deeper cost sat in labour. "We also had to extend our karigar network's skill set from footwear assembly into garment construction, and build a production and casting process specific to apparel storytelling," said Co-founder Arjun Singh. That meant sourcing karyakarta — people from the community — for the campaign rather than professional models, and shooting on the plantations themselves to stay true to where the collection started. Distribution, as with Superkicks, did not move: in-store with a showcase preview the day before, online from day one.

Does brand equity carry over? Jockey says no

Jockey India's expansion stayed inside its own perimeter — athleisure, activewear and youth-focused lifestyle apparel, supported by the JKY Studio and JKY Groove collections. JKY Studio includes official partnerships with Disney and Marvel across casual wear, graphic oversized T-shirts, loungewear and socks; JKY Groove targets athleisure and streetwear for consumers aged 18 to 24.

Even so, the lingerie-to-streetwear giant hit the same wall as the startups. "The challenge was to understand what could be carried forward from Jockey's core strengths, and what needed to evolve for the new category and consumer. The experience reinforced that brand equity alone is not enough to succeed in a new category," said CMO Nihal Rajan. His one regret is operational, not creative: "If there is one thing we would have done differently, it would be to accelerate consumer feedback loops even earlier in the development process."

Womenswear athleisure label Mile Collective expanded into a broader everyday wardrobe as demand grew for multi-purpose pieces. "We wanted to make sure every piece had a clear purpose and could seamlessly fit into different parts of a woman's day," said Founder Harshita Motaparthi. The shift forced rethinking of parts of the product development and sourcing process, because fit, comfort, versatility and styling all carried different expectations in the new space. "It was also a learning curve to understand which details truly mattered to customers and where we could create a point of difference," she said. "Ultimately, it pushed us to become much more rigorous about product testing and customer feedback."

The uncomfortable arithmetic

The interviews carry two blunt conclusions for anyone costing an adjacent-category move. First, winning in one category buys very little credibility in another — a resortwear brand's premium pricing does not transfer to everyday essentials, however loyal the customer base. Second, starting positions differ but none is a free pass: newer brands hold speed and closeness to emerging tastes; legacy brands hold distribution, supplier relationships and procurement scale. The new category still has to earn its place with the consumer and work as a business.

Founders are also advised to decide, well before launch, which of two goals they are chasing: deepening the wallet share of existing customers, or winning genuinely new ones and market share. The two imply very different investment schedules.

What does this change for sourcing teams? Budget for vendor scouting, fit development and upskilled production before revenue, and expect roughly three years of groundwork — the Superkicks number — before the elevated margin story begins. The consensus here is that overheads rise first and acceptance arrives late.