Children's apparel includes clothing for kids between 1 and 14 years of age. The market for kids' apparel in India exceeds Rs. 13000 crore, of which around Rs. 3000 crore is constituted by branded kids' wear. The kids' wear market is growing at the rate of 10% per annum, which makes it one of the fastest growing markets.

Some major changes in trends are taking place in the market for kids' apparel. One of the important changes is the increasing preference for branded apparel. This shift is taking place on account of changes such as a rise in the disposable income of the people and the increasing influence of foreign culture. The other important change that is taking place in this area is the emergence of kids as an independent buyer group. Influenced by mass media and peer pressure, today's kids are more informed and self-conscious.

Armed with this knowledge, popular apparel brands are coming up with new collections that will appeal to kids. Gini and Jony have come up with a collection of brightly colored apparel. Their collection includes clothes in hues such as lilac, pink, plum, orange and citrus green.

Certain brands like Weekender have made an agreement with Walt Disney and Warner Bros., whereby they can make use of some of their famous cartoon characters in their apparel. The brand is planning to make use of characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse as well as Tom and Jerry in the new line of children's clothing that they are planning to launch. This collection is to be named 'Toon World'.

Pantaloon and Gini and Jony have entered into a joint venture to set up a chain of retail stores for children's apparel. Raymond has launched its first store for kids' apparel 'Zapp!'. DS Corporation, which owns the Ruff Kids brand of kids' garments, is planning to expand.

Generally in India, the trend was that most of the people prefer buying functional kids' apparel rather than branded ones. Children's garments were usually purchased from small stores and from street shops, while branded garments were only bought by the very high status families. This trend is gradually changing and the market for branded kids' clothing is growing.

Dungarees, shorts and shirts are the evergreen fashions in kids' apparel. Short skirts, tops with puffed volume, halter tops, lace trims and cropped trousers are the in things in the world of children's apparel in today's times.

Copyright ? 2007