MUMBAI: For more than two decades, Manyavar shaped how India’s aspirational middle class shopped for weddings. Now, slowing discretionary spending and a surge of organized rivals are challenging one of India’s best-known wedding-focused apparel brands.
India’s ethnic wear market continues to expand, but Vedant Fashions Ltd, which operates Manyavar, is struggling to keep pace. The slowdown reflects both cyclical pressure on middle-class consumption and a structural shift as branded competitors multiply in what remains a largely fragmented market.
According to a Motilal Oswal report initiating coverage on Vedant Fashions, India’s ethnic wear market is growing at a 5.5-6% compound annual growth rate, having expanded from ₹1,800 billion in FY20 to ₹2,400 billion in FY25. Within this, branded ethnic wear grew faster, at an 18–20% CAGR, lifting the organized segment’s share from about 11% to nearly 19% between FY19 and FY22.
Even so, the unorganized segment still accounts for roughly 70-75% of the market, leaving significant room for organized players to expand while intensifying competition.
Manyavar commanded roughly 38% share of India’s branded men’s ethnic wear market as of FY22, the latest available data, underscoring its dominance within the organized segment. But over the past two years, newer organized players have begun competing more aggressively at similar price points, fragmenting demand.
The middle-class slowdown
Company management, however, attributes much of the recent weakness to softer consumer sentiment rather than competitive pressure.
“We did not see any major shift in consumer sentiment, especially in the middle-class segment. Manyavar is catering to the middle class,” said Rahul Murarka, chief financial officer of Vedant Fashions Ltd, during a recent post-analyst call.
He added that while premiumization continues, it has largely bypassed this cohort. “Value and premium are still doing very well. But the middle class is a segment that is getting impacted, where Manyavar is getting affected.”
Murarka said the slowdown reflects muted discretionary spending more than rivalry. “The major reason for the business performance over the last one year or so is consumer sentiment rather than competition,” he said.
Vedant Fashions operates five brands: flagship men’s weddingwear label Manyavar; women’s brand Mohey; South India–focused ethnic wear chain Mebaz; premium label Twamev; and value-focused women’s brand Manthan. The company does not disclose revenue contribution by brand.
Performance has weakened steadily. Revenue from operations fell 3.8% year-on-year to ₹492 crore in the December quarter of FY26 from ₹511 crore a year earlier, while net profit declined 14.6% to ₹135 crore from ₹158 crore. Shares of Vedant Fashions have fallen about 27% year-to-date to around ₹422, underperforming the Nifty 50, which is down just over 2%.
Brokerage reports indicate the slowdown began in FY24, when revenue declined 2.4% year-on-year, and persisted into FY25, with nine-month revenue down 7.5% and third-quarter revenue falling 8.4%. Same-store sales growth has remained under pressure, with SSSG at -4.5% year-on-year in Q3FY26 and 1.8% for 9MFY26. Store expansion has also slowed, from 58 additions in FY23 to 46 in FY24, 25 in FY25 and 14 stores in 9MFY26.
Wedding calendar and competition
Management has repeatedly pointed to disruptions in the wedding calendar as an additional drag.
“This year, there were no weddings in January at all. Last year, there were 11 wedding dates in January,” Murarka said, adding that December also saw fewer wedding days compared with the previous year.
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Tax changes added further pressure. “Our gross margins got impacted because of GST. In around 90% of our products, GST rates increased from 12% to 18%. However, we have not increased MRPs to that extent, keeping a balanced approach from a consumer perspective,” he said.
The company has cited similar factors for several quarters, saying subdued consumer sentiment and fewer wedding dates affected footfalls and sales. Purchases have increasingly been deferred closer to events, particularly among wedding attendees whose spending has tightened.
Not all agree that macro factors alone explain the prolonged slowdown.
“Last year the number of wedding days was much higher compared to the year before, and still the numbers didn’t turn up,” said Aashish Upganlawar, founder and fund manager at InvesQ Investment Managers LLP. “There is a division of the footfall that has happened, and that has hit them in terms of growth.”
He said the expansion of organized wedding-wear brands is fragmenting demand. “Previously, Manyavar was the only brand attracting footfalls. Today, many more brands are entering the wedding market,” he said.
Premiumization and shifting tastes
Rival companies facing similar calendar disruptions have reported relatively stronger momentum.
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd said occasion wear remained resilient despite fewer wedding dates, supported by premium ethnic brands such as Sabyasachi, Tarun Tahiliani, Jaypore and Tasva.
Raymond Ltd also pointed to traction in wedding-led demand through its Ethnix format, while Sai Silks Kalamandir said wedding demand in its core South Indian markets remained relatively stable.
Industry experts say demand trends are diverging across income segments.
“The so-called premium segment remains quite resilient,” said Poonam Upadhay, director at Crisil Ratings, adding that higher-end buyers have been relatively insulated even as middle-income households face pressure. She noted that wedding dates are increasingly bunched into fewer days, creating structural constraints on demand, while rising gold prices are squeezing household budgets.
“Jewellery has become equally critical during weddings,” Upadhay said, adding that higher spending on gold is crowding out discretionary allocations.
At the same time, younger consumers are exploring newer designers alongside established labels.
Pawan Mehta, co-founder of luxury multi-designer store Nuvra, said demand is gradually shifting at the margins. “About 70% of customers still come in asking for iconic designers, but nearly 30% are actively looking for new-age designers who experiment more with design,” he said.
He added that pricing and novelty are driving interest in emerging labels. “Some of the newer designers are better priced, and that definitely makes a difference,” he said, noting that many have built followings through social media before entering physical retail.
The shift suggests that even as India’s wedding market grows, leadership in the organized segment is becoming harder to sustain.
