Early chill boosts sale of winter wear

The onset of an early winter has brought cheer to the city’s textile and retail markets, with the sale of winter wear picking up strongly through November. Retailers say the season has arrived well ahead of schedule compared to the past two years, when sales momentum began only after mid-December. This year, the demand has surged weeks earlier.

Large apparel manufacturers have described the season as “exceptional,” while smaller producers remain cautious, choosing to wait until December before taking repeat orders.

Sandeep Jain from Monte Carlo said they were expecting an outstanding season. “This should be one of the best winters in recent years,” he predicted.

Kavya Arora, Director of Femmella, an online women’s wear brand, shared similar optimism. “It is certainly shaping up to be a better season compared to last year. Although it may be shorter, sales so far have been impressive,” she said.

Echoing the buoyancy in the market, Sudershan Jain of Oner Knitwear, who also serves as president of the Knitwear and Apparel Manufacturers Association Ludhiana (KAMAL), said retailers were upbeat about November sales. “We supply to several corporates and all have expressed satisfaction with the market response. This November has been far better than the past two years,” he noted.

However, some local manufacturers are taking a more conservative approach. Darshan Dawar, president of the Ludhiana Woollen Manufacturers’ Association, said many producers preferred to avoid the risk of overproduction. “In the last two years, several vendors returned unsold stock, causing heavy losses. This time, most manufacturers plan to wait until December before placing repeat orders,” he explained. “Big corporates operate in a different market segment, so the smaller players are watching the situation carefully before increasing output.”

The industry now looks towards December to see whether the strong start translates into sustained winter demand.