Can fast fashion wave make this apparel cycle stick?

The segment is projected to account for more than a quarter of India’s retail apparel market by FY31, according to Redseer last year.

Investors are also bullish about a new wave of apparel brands. Venture capital investors backed 28 fashion and apparel deals worth $213 million in 2025, compared with 21 deals worth $172 million in 2024, according to Venture Intelligence data.

Since January, over four new apparel brands, like Armaya’s funding by Z47 and Accel India, CAVA Athleisure’s investment by Verlinvest, Sharp Ventures and Spring Marketing Capital, and Krvvy’s recent raise from All In Capital, have already raised $29 million in funding.

“There is certainly more interest in apparel products compared to what it used to be in the past,” said Dipanjan Basu, partner and CFO, Fireside Ventures, which has invested in new-age apparel brands like NewMe, Terractive and adjacent categories like shapewear UnderNeat. “As GDP per capita increases, the discretionary income beyond food and housing goes to areas like fashion and beauty.”

“Apparel contributed to almost 20 to 25% of consumer-related transactions in the last year,” said Pritha Jha, co-founder of Pioneer Legal. “More and more new-age brands are coming in.”

This comes on the back of apparel, once tied to occasions and seasonal drops, increasingly behaving like an everyday consumption category, with younger consumers purchasing more frequently.

Investors and bankers Mint spoke to said that while frequent demand and improved supply chains are supporting a new wave of startups, profitability and differentiation remain challenges.

Apparel brands fertile ground

“In 2010 to 2013, people were very bullish on apparel. Apparel got a lot of investments,” said Vineet Satija, partner, deals, PwC India. “Over time, many of those brands got stagnant and did not grow, so investors became a little cautious. Now there is a renewed interest in apparel because tech has absorbed some of those problems.”

Earlier, such brands struggled despite early traction as many relied on mall-led distribution, seasonal collections and heavy inventory bets.

“The issue in the past has been inventory and working capital cycles and long lead time from manufacturing to retail,” said Satija. “Now, because of tech, people have built faster turnaround from manufacturing to retail, whether e-commerce or offline.”

Quick commerce within apparel is also picking up. Startups such as Zilo and even existing quick commerce startups like Zepto, which is ramping up its fashion and lifestyle play, are also tapping into faster purchase cycles, particularly among younger consumers who discover brands through social media.

Within apparel, a few categories are getting increasing interest, including men’s fashion and athleisure brands. One of the new-age category leaders, Snitch, for instance, has scaled to nearly ₹500 crore in revenue in FY25 and is targeting to close FY26 at ₹1,000 crore as it rapidly scales offline expansion to 100 stores.

“Men’s fashion, including athleisure, ethnic wear, casual wear and fast fashion, is expected to pick up as a category. We are evaluating this segment closely within apparel startups,” said Basu.

Fireside recently closed its fourth fund at $253 million, marking its largest to date.

Athleisure, meanwhile, has expanded beyond gym wear into everyday clothing, with brands such as Blissclub and Agilitas having raised funds last year.

In a recent interview with Mint, actor Alia Bhatt shared plans to invest in an athleisure brand but did not give any further details.

Success not guaranteed

Despite the renewed investor enthusiasm, those tracking multiple apparel cycles caution that faster production cycles alone will not guarantee durable outcomes.

Entry barriers remain low, allowing brands to emerge quickly, but differentiation is becoming harder as more founders target similar consumer segments.

“Entry barriers are very low. You can launch a fashion brand,” said Basu. “But if there is no apparent gap, launching one more brand in another crowded place will find it hard to differentiate.”

Execution, particularly in inventory planning and supply chains, remains the defining factor between brands that scale and those that stagnate.

“Inventory management and supply chain is the most important part of long-term success for a fashion company,” Basu added, noting that investors are increasingly backing companies that demonstrate unique sourcing or manufacturing advantages.

While online channels have accelerated discovery and demand, profitability remains difficult without a strong offline presence.

“If you don’t do it offline, profitability is very tough,” Basu said.

The next phase could see consolidation or public listings as some scaled brands mature.

“Some of them are now large enough where they would actually, in the next year or two years, go for an IPO rather than trying to go for another round of investment,” said Jha.

Still, investors say the real test will be whether brands can avoid getting caught in the middle—unable to scale large enough for public markets while also lacking clear acquisition pathways.

“If a company gets stuck in the middle, there is no man’s land. There is no acquirer, nor can it become public,” Basu said.

Large mergers and acquisitions transactions have recently occurred in other consumer categories, such as beauty and personal care, like Minimalist’s acquisition by Hindustan Unilever, but apparel has not seen such large consolidation deals.