Bengaluru/Mumbai: For decades, Raymond sold India the idea of “The Complete Man.” Today, its newest chief executive officer (CEO) is trying to revive one of the country’s most iconic apparel brands after years of leadership churn and changing consumer preferences eroded its dominance.
As the fourth CEO in five years, Satyaki Ghosh faces the formidable task of restoring Raymond Lifestyle to a position of strength, reviving growth, rebuilding shareholder confidence and convincing investors that the century-old company can deliver a sustained turnaround after years of instability.
Ghosh, who took the reins at Raymond Lifestyle in January, has earmarked FY27 as a year of consolidation, closing loss-making stores, streamlining operations and doubling down on premiumisation and casualisation before embarking on the company’s next phase of growth.
"This year is going to be about consolidation because there has been a lot of ups and downs in Raymond Lifestyle," Ghosh said in an interview with Mint. "We would directionally try to double in five years, but the whole piece is on the quality of growth rather than the quantity of growth."
The strategy comes even as Raymond Lifestyle delivered a mixed performance in the June quarter. Consolidated revenue rose 6% year-on-year to ₹1,516 crore. Higher depreciation and finance costs following the demerger from Raymond Ltd in 2024, however, widened the company's consolidated net loss to ₹23 crore from ₹20 crore a year earlier.
Ghosh's turnaround rests on two pillars—premiumisation and casualisation. Rather than relying on broad-based price hikes to offset rising input costs, Raymond Lifestyle is increasing the share of higher-margin products across its portfolio while strengthening categories seeing faster demand. "One is premiumisation and the second is casualisation," Ghosh said.
Raymond Lifestyle operates across branded textiles, apparel, garmenting, high-value cotton shirting and an emerging businesses portfolio comprising Raymond Home, Ethnix by Raymond, Park Avenue Innerwear, Chairman's Collection and its sexual wellness business.
Branded textiles remained its largest business in the June quarter, contributing ₹684 crore in revenue, followed by branded apparel ( ₹349 crore), garmenting ( ₹296 crore), high-value cotton shirting ( ₹195 crore) and emerging businesses ( ₹79 crore). Garmenting was the standout performer, growing 50% year-on-year, while branded apparel and emerging businesses grew 4% and 9%, respectively. Branded textiles and high-value cotton shirting declined 2% and 5%.
To drive premiumisation, Raymond is selectively increasing prices at the upper end of its portfolio while expanding the mix of premium products such as luxury shirts and higher-end suit lengths. At the same time, it is strengthening its casualwear portfolio through brands such as ColorPlus and Parks, both of which posted double-digit growth during the June quarter. Casual collections within Park Avenue and Raymond ready-to-wear also recorded strong growth, while e-commerce is growing at a high double-digit pace and now contributes about 12-13% of revenue. While casualwear is emerging as the primary growth engine, Ghosh expects formalwear demand to recover in the second half of the financial year as the wedding and festive season gathers pace.
Another pillar of the turnaround strategy is Raymond's integrated value chain - from fabric manufacturing and garmenting to branded retail - which Ghosh believes gives the company greater control over quality, speed-to-market and margins as it adapts to changing consumer preferences.
The retail network is also being reset. Rather than chasing rapid expansion, Raymond is closing underperforming stores before entering its next growth phase. The company ended the June quarter with 1,627 stores across brands. In Ethnix alone, it closed 17 stores during the quarter and plans to shut down another 20-25 by the end of the financial year. While the company continues to expand through large-format retail and e-commerce, Ghosh said exclusive brand outlets remain Raymond's most profitable format and will continue to anchor its long-term retail strategy.
Ethnic wear is another business undergoing a strategic revamp. Raymond plans to move its premium sherwani business from ready-made garments to a made-to-measure model, arguing that customers spending ₹75,000-100,000 increasingly prefer customised outfits. For more accessible products such as kurtas and bandhgalas, the company plans to expand distribution through its network of more than 1,100 Raymond shops and e-commerce instead of relying primarily on standalone Ethnix stores.
Beyond apparel, Ghosh is also trying to strengthen newer businesses. He expects the innerwear business to turn Ebitda-positive by the end of the financial year after streamlining distribution and improving products, while the home business has already broken even and is expected to grow about 25% this year. Ethnix, meanwhile, will continue to receive investment as Raymond looks to strengthen its position in India's wedding-wear market.
The company is also leaning on exports to diversify growth. Its garmenting business, which manufactures for global brands, grew about 50% in the June quarter, supported by improving demand from Europe and the UK after more than a year of customer development. Ghosh expects the recently-signed free trade agreements to provide a further boost to exports in the coming quarters. The export business helped offset weaker domestic formalwear sales, which were affected by a delayed festive and wedding calendar.
Raymond Lifestyle has significantly lagged the broader market, with its shares falling about 30% year-to-date, compared with a 6.7% decline in the Nifty 50.