Long before fashion weeks defined the yearly calendars of fashionistas, and way before stand-alone designer stores provided shoppers the opportunity to savour high fashion in swanky surroundings, you had multi-label stores such as Labels, The Designers and Ensemble. Serving a vital function - that of providing a conduit between customers and designers who didn’t have the capital or production capacity or the guts to open their own stores - these boutiques brought together a variety of labels under one roof and kick-started the business of fashion retail in Pakistan.

Fast-forward to a decade later and what was once a pioneering concept seems to be dying a slow death. From the early 2000s onwards, when Labels and The Designers first emerged as the main players in the market, there has been a mushrooming of multi-brand stores in all major cities, but you only have to step inside one to realize that the grand exteriors more often than not belie the real picture. Poorly stocked racks, a plethora of unknown labels, unattractive product placement - these are only some of the issues that plague the boutiques.

Even in the case of those rare well-run and amply stocked multi-brand stores, customers are hard to find. Instep spoke to the major players in the business, designers as well as boutique owners, to understand whether there is still a future for such stores in the country.

The changing face of retail

The decline of multi-brand stores can be attributed mainly to the growth of stand-alone designer stores. Sania Maskatiya, Sana Safinaz, HSY, Zara Shahjahan, Nida Azwer, Elan, Muse, Deepak Perwani, Shamaeel - the list of designers who are taking the plunge and setting up shop is growing at a steady rate. Ten years ago, designers were hesitant to make the huge financial commitment that comes with a store, and paying for a rack at a place like Labels, which gave them the visibility they needed minus the risk, made sense.

With the setting up of fashion councils and the regularization of fashion weeks, fashion is no longer the domain of a select few. Fashion is finally out there in the open and with increased prominence has come increased demand. Young designers like Sania Maskatiya and Nida Azwer were savvy enough to strategize in a way that allowed for commercial profitability as well as critical success and once they had successfully established their stores, many of the older lot, who had hitherto been content to operate out of home-based studios, followed suit.

According to Zahir Rahimtoola, the brains behind Labels, one of the country’s most popular multi-label destinations, designers have mass retail brands to thank for the success of their stand-alone stores. "The scenario really changed when big players such as Khaadi, Bonanza, Al-Karam and Gul Ahmed took over the business. The deep pockets and heavy branding that came into play ensured that mass retail suddenly became a viable option for the Pakistani woman," says Zahir.

To put it simply, the average shopper’s mindset changed once she realized the convenience of picking up a tunic for under 4000 rupees as opposed to the inconvenience and heartache of making innumerable trips to the darzi. From there, it didn’t take long for her to graduate to buying pret regularly and even splurging on the occasional couture piece.

Why the shift?

With so many designers opening up their own retail outlet, some located in the same vicinity as the big multi-brand stores, the savvy customer is beginning to frequent the former rather than the latter. And the reason for that is simple. As Umair Tabani of Sania Maskatiya puts it, "while we do stock at many multi-label boutiques, we obviously have an edge at our own stores, where there is a much larger inventory on display, and customers have a greater choice of designs and as well as sizes. If someone is looking for Sania Maskatiya particularly, chances are they will come to out store rather than go to Labels or Ensemble."

Shamaeel Ansari, the Karachi-based designer whose luxury pret and couture has been a favourite with fashionistas for over two decades now, was content to sell from boutiques and one-off exhibitions until recently. With the opening of her own shop in Karachi, the designer says she was aiming to create a shopping experience for her clients, something that they can’t get at a multi-label store.

"When people are shopping for luxury brands such as mine, they want to be made to feel special. My shop, where I have control over the sales, the marketing and the staff training, will give them a chance to feel that they are buying into a brand, not just taking a random item off a rack. The Shamaeel shop is luxury-oriented because we want out customers to feel special," says the designer.

Zara Shahjehan, fresh off the success of the opening of her Karachi store, agrees with Shamaeel. "I do feel that the experience of shopping at multi-brand stores has become a rather stale one. You go in and find a desultory selection of outfits on the racks. Compared to that, when people come to my stores they find all my lines under one roof. The ambience is stylish, the shop looks good because it is run by my people who are looking solely after my interests as opposed to dealing with a multitude of other designers too."

The numbers game

Are we to believe then that multi-brand stores are left to their own devices without anyone to oversee stock management and turnover? That obviously cannot be the case, especially for older establishments such as Labels, Ensemble and The Designers. But even those have come under fire for not stocking enough or targeting the right tier.

Designers and boutique owners agree that a vicious cycle of payments vs. stock replacement is often the root cause of the problem. While designers complain of payments not reaching them on time, multi-brand stores cite delivery issues as leading to those delays.

"Multi-brand stores work on thin margins so when inventory is not supplied in time and stock isn’t replenished, there is a loss of sales at our end. That eats into our cash flow, which in turn upsets the payment system," explains Rahimtoola.

Those who suffer as a result are popular labels such as Shamaeel, whose stock has a high turnover rate. "If my money is stuck in pending payments, that puts my business in a serious cash crunch. I may have the production capacity to keep providing new stock on a monthly, even a weekly, basis, but how can I cover the expenses for that if finances are blocked? In that case it makes sense to start off on your own," says the designer.

Un-healthy market

Can stand-alone designer stores and multi-label boutiques run side by side? Asad Tareen of The Designers, doesn’t believe that to be possible. "Our market isn’t mature enough for both kind of retail models to do well. It’s the mindset of the designers at play here. While I’m not speaking for everyone, a lot of them don’t have the right business ethics and as a result multi-label stores suffer.

"Just to give you an example, internationally a designer outfit will sell for the same price wherever you buy it. Here, pricing differs according to location. The designer will give a discount at his or her own store to pull in customers but will not allow us to do the same. There will be a sale at the designer outlet but not at the multi-label store. How can you expect multi-label stores to thrive in such a climate?"

While Tareen bemoans the fact that the multi-brand boutiques are often viewed as competition even by those designers who stock there and have their own stores, Shahjahan is savvy enough to admit that it boils down to the satisfaction and stability of having cash in hand.

"Multi-brand store have a system of cyclical payments that even if not delayed, will reach you after two months. When you sell directly to the customer, you get immediate payment. Of course that is a big incentive for a lot of people."

What does the future hold?

With more and more designers realizing that increasing visibility and catering to a growing demand can only be done through establishing retail outlets, what does the future hold for multi-label boutiques? "Mark my words," laughs Rahimtoola, "we will be the dinosaurs of our times." Yet, the savvy businessman who likes stay one step ahead of the game isn’t worried.

While he agrees that the multi-label store is a dying phenomenon in big cities, smaller cities that escape the notice of most big brands still remain viable markets. Moreover, with e-commerce becoming more prevalent, that’s an area that holds immense promise.

"The Pakistani e-commerce industry, which stands at 25 million dollars at the moment, is forecasted to grow to 2.5 billion dollars in the next five years. We at Labels are focusing strongly on that area now."

For Tareen, it is the international market that holds promise. "While we are making our Pakistani stores more exclusive and stocking only the top tier of designers, we are still doing remarkably well at the store in Dubai. I will now be targeting Canada and Europe, and The Designers lifestyle stores will launch in both destinations this year."

The verdict

Multi-designer stores once served a valuable function and allowed many an established designer to test the market before making a wholehearted commitment to retail. But one rack at a boutique does not a successful designer make and in today’s market, a designer who doesn’t have a visible retail presence is unlikely to make it to the top. Similarly, multi-label boutiques need to evolve too. Not only must they branch out to different destinations but they must also take the e-route to remain relevant to the global consumer. At the end of the day the more business generated the better. And whether designer or retailer, or both, he or she who manages to achieve critical as well as commercial acclaim is the one who’ll reap the rewards.