After the five celebrity brands that did not do well, we bring you a list of five celebrity-led brands that have not only captured consumer interest but have also prospered in the highly competitive market
Bengaluru: Celebrity-driven brands have become a significant phenomenon in the Indian business landscape. Over the years, several Indian celebrities have ventured into the world of entrepreneurship, leveraging their fame, influence, and unique personal brands to create successful businesses.
Let’s explore some of the celebrity-led brands which have not only garnered consumer interest but have also thrived in the fiercely competitive market. These brands have managed to carve a niche for themselves, showcasing the potential of celebrity entrepreneurship in India. The brands are listed in alphabetical order of their names.
Being Human by Salman Khan
In 2011, Bollywood star Salman Khan launched casualwear brand Being Human in 2012 through his charitable trust The Salman Khan Foundation (SKF). The brand was launched with the objective of furthering the causes of the foundation.
Few people know that the brand made its debut in Europe and the Middle East before entering the Indian retail market in 2013 with its first store in Mumbai. In 2018, Being Human Clothing expanded its operations to include e-commerce.
Currently, under the leadership of Sanjeev Rao as its CEO, Being Human operates around 100 stores in India and about 10 stores in markets outside of India across Bangladesh, Nepal and lately in Dubai. It also retails through large format stores such as Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Central and Fashion Factory.
In FY 2017, the brand posted sales worth Rs 216 crore, earning a net profit of Rs 20.02 crore as per The Quint. Latest figures are not available.
Being Human is also planning to expand to Canada and other developed markets, Rao told IndiaRetailing earlier this year.
Ed-a-Mamma by Alia Bhatt
Alia Bhatt’s kids apparel brand Ed-a-Mamma made its debut in October 2020 on FirstCry.com, an online store offering multi-category baby products. The Rs150 crore brand offers a range of maternity collections and kidswear, catering to children in the age range of 2–14 years.
The Mumbai-based brand’s product lineup primarily consists of clothing made of natural fabrics featuring nature-themed prints. Each garment includes a seedball, promoting environmental awareness among children and parents.
The word Ed-A-Mamma is a combination of the words Edward, which is the name of Alia Bhatt’s cat and her as in Edward’s Mamma, Bhatt revealed during a Forbes event ‘Tycoons of Tomorrow’ in 2022.
Recently, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. (RRVL) acquired the conscious clothing brand with a 51% majority stake. The partnership aims to see the brand grow into new areas like personal care and baby furniture.
Today, Ed-A-Mamma is available across seven digital marketplaces such as Myntra, Ajio, FirstCry, Amazon, Flipkart, TataCliq, Lifestylestores.com and also retails through the brand’s official website which was launched in 2021.
The company’s revenue in FY (fiscal year) 2022 grew to Rs 16.2 crore, representing a 4.3-fold increase, revealed the brand in a previous press release.
Force IX by Akshay Kumar
The athleisure wear label Force IX by Akshay Kumar was launched in November 2022. The company is under the ownership of 9 AM Ventures Pvt Ltd, an enterprise engaged in the retail sale of clothing and footwear.
Force IX retails menswear, womenswear, and accessories. The ‘force’ in Force IX represents three forces: the dominant force that governs the world, the force of mother nature, and the armed forces. The Roman letter ‘IX’ refers to 9, Akshay Kumar’s birth date, which is his lucky number. It also symbolizes a warrior spirit, explained the star in an interview with Fashion Network.
In January 2023, the brand introduced a select athleisure line on the fashion e-commerce platform Myntra.
In April 2023, the brand opened its first physical store at Bandra in Mumbai followed by the launch of its second organized retail store in Bengaluru in May.
The company is planning to open nine exclusive stores by the end of 2023, and increase the footprint to over 200 stores in the country over the next few years, Kumar said to media during the Mumbai store launch.
HRX by Hrithik Roshan
Lifestyle and fitness brand HRX was launched in 2013 by Hrithik Roshan with co-founders Sid Shah, Afsar Zaidi, and Kamal Punwani. The company is jointly owned by Hrithik Roshan and Exceed Entertainment.
‘HR’ in the name of the brand stands for the name of the actor. “It is also a play on the word ‘hero’ and the X is for extreme,” Roshan said to the media during the launch of the brand.
The brand started with footwear, apparel and accessories for both men and women, in 2021, the expanded into sports and fitness equipment for home workouts. In 2022, HRX and Baccarose, a company that is into distribution of international beauty brands, collaborated to launch a fragrance line named HRX Fragrance.
HRX made its debut on Myntra.com in November 2013, introducing an athleisure collection for men, and in January 2023, the brand marked its first foray into physical retail with the opening of its offline store at Phoenix Market City, Bengaluru followed by its second store in Mumbai.
Today, its products are available on e-commerce platforms like Myntra, Flipkart, and Amazon. The retailer aims to add at least 10 more stores in 2023, said co-founder Afsar Zaidi in an exclusive interaction with Indiaretailing.
The brand which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, has clocked Rs 920 crore revenues at the start of the year and was eyeing a revenue total of Rs 1,000 crores in the financial year 2023.
Wrogn by Virat Kholi
Launched in 2014, men’s casual wear brand Wrogn is co-created by Indian cricketer Virat Kholi with Anjana Reddy, owner of the fashion brand house Universal Sportsbiz (USPL). It sells fashion apparel, footwear and accessories for men.
The brand name is pronounced as ‘wrong’ and it embodies the concept of breaking away from the status quo to embrace one’s individuality and create one’s styles.
Initially established as a youth fashion brand, the company expanded its offerings in 2020 by introducing its activewear line called Wrogn Active. In May 2023, the Bengaluru-based brand launched ultra-lightweight clothing Wrogn Zero on the e-commerce platform Flipkart.
Currently, its products are available at over 350 points of sale across 144 cities nationwide. The brand retails through multi-brand outlets such as Shoppers Stop, and Pantaloons as well as online platforms including Myntra, Amazon, Flipkart and its company webstore wrogn.in. In addition, Wrogn operates its exclusive brand stores in over 45 cities.
After conducting business with a value of only Rs 4.8 crore up until 2014, the brand experienced a remarkable surge in revenue, reaching a staggering Rs. 101 crore in 2017, according to MensXP.
Wrogn aims to expand its retail footprint and envisions reaching over 1000 points of sale within the next 2-3 years, the brand stated in a previous filing.
