Business

When Technology Meets Fashion

Alcis Sports, an Indian performance wear brand, recycles eight PET bottles to make one PET apparel. Wonder Tee, which weighs just 85-90 grams, is made of R-PET (Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate) a recyclable material.

Roshan Baid, managing director, Alcis Sports, said: "Consumers in India are increasingly getting environmentally conscious and a lot of them share a dislike for virgin polyester, which is an energy-hungry and non-sustainable synthetic fibre.

Our fabrics come with inherent technologies. We give chemical treatments to our fabrics to make them easier to wear. Almost 50-70% of our products are made out of PET bottles. We not just make environment-friendly products but fashionable and trendy too." The brand, formed in 2016, is next trying to infuse balance technology in apparels. This means wearing those clothes can help a person better their balancing act. "Fibres like polyster are man-made fibres. We can manipulate them in whatever way we like unlike natural fibres like cotton. We use human intelligence to provide more advance and efficient product to our customer base," says Baid. He added, "Innovation in textiles and technology has helped make improvements in functionality, in such a way that the garments have become more breathable, light-weight and odour-proof. Product categories become fluid-the lines between indoor & outdoor activities blur as styles & technologies migrate, and have been repurposed for different environments and conditions." There are some international brands that have come up with such products, but those are priced far above than what most of the Indian consumer can afford. "Alcis Sports has been formed to tap into the emerging athleisure segment in the country as more and more Indians are getting health and fitness conscious. The idea behind Alcis was to create a homegrown affordable Indian sportswear brand, which is cutting-edge in terms of quality and also in sync with Indian sensibilities. India is a huge market when it comes to performance wear and we are trying to tap that market. Our products are created keeping in mind what is required for the Indian environment and consumers. Any international brand cannot cater to the Indian consumers as we can."

He added: "The price of our products is almost three times less than what an international brand charges. We pride ourselves for being the first Indian brand to have the capability and production ability to manufacture technologically advanced sportswear at affordable price-points to enhance the performance of the wearer. Alcis recently launched its AW2018 collection that comprises 149 men's styles and 135 women's styles, across the categories of running, training, racquet sports and yoga and the collection will eventually consist of a total of 695 options.

Alcis products are available in over 700 outlets across the country including large format stores such as Lifestyle, Shopper Stop, Central, Globus, Sports Station, etc and online retail websites and eight exclusive brand stores at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Jaipur, Guwahati and Bengaluru.

The brand also has an exclusive tie-up with FIFA for the manufacturing, sales and distribution of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Licensed Apparel Fan Merchandise in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Alcis was also the official fan merchandise manufacturer and seller of NBA in India. They are also the kit providers for the six-nation Kabaddi Masters Dubai 2018, held at the Al Wasl Sports Club in Dubai.