In the non-leather footwear segment, KICL has partnered Taiwan-based Evervan-Shoe Town Group, the third-largest contract manufacturing group known for producing innovative products for global brands such as Crocs, Adidas and Nike. The joint venture, named Phoenix Kothari Footwear, has set up a facility in Perambalur to manufacture Crocs and recently completed another facility in Karur for Adidas, which will be inaugurated soon. If the deal goes through, this will be the first instance of an Indian footwear company acquires a considerable stake in an iconic global brand.
Gaining Brand Control
“We have a lot of footwear manufacturing in India. But I don’t believe any Indian company owns an international brand. Small countries like Sweden and other European nations own international footwear brands. Owning one is very important,” says Jinnah Rafiq Ahmed, Executive Chairman. In India, the Kickers brand was brought to market by KICL in 2024 through a long-term 30-year licensing and distribution agreement in India and eight neighbouring countries — Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh. As part of this expansion, Kickers has already opened and operationalised a store in Qatar. “We are in talks to take intellectual property for Kickers and hopefully we will announce very soon,” says Ahmed. One of the key aspects of the deal would be shifting of the entire manufacturing base from China to India. “Currently, Kickers made in India are used only here. Once we acquire, we can move the entire production facility to India,” points out Ahmed.
A Design academy too…
N Mohan, Director and Chief Executive Officer, KICL says the EU free trade agreement will unlock numerous opportunities as duties are expected to drop from 17 per cent to zero. “The Indian footwear market is around Rs 120,000 crore and growing at 8 per cent. The premium segment, priced at Rs 3000 and above, is growing at 12 – 18 per cent. This indicates that India’s aspirational young population wants to be fashionable,” he says. Ahmed also feels the India-EU FTA is a welcome relief given the tariff challenges from the US which constitute almost 60 per cent of export. To offset this several manufacturers were moving to Indonesia that has free trade agreements with the US and EU. “However, land and labour are expensive in Indonesia. Like the EU trade deal, we also hope the US trade will be finalised soon,” notes Ahmed.
Piggy bagging on the EU deal, KICL has also entered into a tie-up with IUAD, Italy’s prestigious fashion and design institution recognised by the Italian Ministry of Education, to build the design talent in the country. The collaboration aims to build world-class talent in design, creativity and innovation that will directly support India’s manufacturing and creative industries. “We will start a design school in Tamil Nadu and later expand across India,” points out Ahmed.