Go Colors, India's only listed bottom-wear brand, hits a wall as its mainstay leggings go out of fashion

Over a decade, Go Colors has built a legacy around leggings as a stand-in for the Indian churidar and a bridge to western wear as an alternative to jeans. But as garment silhouettes widen and tastes evolve, leggings are no longer the star they once were. The change in the fortunes of India’s only listed bottom wear-focused companies shows the perils of building a business on one trend, even a long-lasting one.

“Churidars, leggings historically, before Covid, were 50%, 55% of the business. And post-Covid, it has slowly settled at about 35% because the other categories, the trousers category, have done fairly well and have picked up in volumes," Gautam Saraogi, the Go Colours CEO told analysts during the September FY26 post-earnings interaction.

Since it went public four years ago, shares of parent firm Go Fashion are down almost 60% to about ₹507 each. In November 2021, the Peak XV-backed company had listed at a 90% premium to its offer price on the back of an issue oversubscribed more than 135 times.

At the time, Saraogi's singular focus on bottom wear was strong. “…we will not dilute our attention by allocating our investable resources in seeding other apparel segments," he said in his AGM speech to shareholders in 2022. “Even as the bottom wear market in India is virtually limitless, we have selected to address only a specific segment of this market – the upper to mid-market customer."

These choices, while they delivered handsomely initially, did not age well. In the first half of FY26, total revenue grew an anaemic 4% year-on-year to ₹447 crore while profit after tax fell 11% from the year-ago period. Same store sales growth (SSSG), a key growth metric in the retail business, has remained flat for 10 consecutive quarters and, in the first half this fiscal, declined 2.4% year on year.

Saraogi also cut the annual store addition target for the third straight quarter from 120 to 80-90, saying he would “rather not hurt the P&L" by opening outlets in weaker locations.

In August, the company started selling top wear and some menswear in 15-20 existing stores, a departure from the company's earlier promise to investors as its fortunes sagged.

Silhouette shift

Betting on a single trend can be dangerous for retailers anywhere in the world. In the mid-2010s, Victoria’s Secret, once US’ largest lingerie brand, began to decline as beauty trends shifted away from its signature size-zero models of ‘Angels’ who strutted the ramp showcasing the ‘ideal’ body type for its aspirational lingerie. Then, body positive brands making lingerie for all body types began to take centre-stage. Victoria’s Secret's net sales tumbled from $7.5 billion in its financial year 2020 (ending 1 February) to $5.4 billion the next year, per Bloomberg data, and it hasn't quite recovered since. Last year, it clocked $6.23 billion revenues but with a modest 2.5% net profit margin after a fire sale in 2021 while fashion bigwigs such as LVMH’s L Catterton pour in money into body positive rivals like Savage x Fenty.

While the move away from leggings is a global trend, the decline in demand for it in India coincides with the post-pandemic fitness wave, which pushed millions of women toward athleisure, performance fabrics and versatile silhouettes they could wear from workouts to casual occasions. Newer brands like BlissClub and Cava Athleisure capitalized on that shift making flared leggings and wide-legged trousers that quickly became the preferred choice for younger consumers — a trend Go Colors was slow to pivot toward.

India’s bottom-wear market is expected to clock revenues of around ₹24,300 crore this year, compounding at 12.4% annually from 2020, according to a June report by equities brokerage firm Motilal Oswal. Garments such as trousers, palazzos and fusion silhouettes, in comparison, are clocking 20%-plus annual growth, it estimated, while branded share of the market is expected to jump from 33% to nearly 47% over the same period.

Go Colors currently holds about 8% of the organised bottom-wear market, the brokerage report said.

The shift in consumer behaviour has Go Colors rivals and younger, digital-first brands pulling ahead. Founded in 2021, Cava, a Bengaluru-based company, has garnered attention from Gen Z and young millennials by positioning leggings not as home-wear but as elevated fashion that can be worn across occasions.

“Leggings today aren’t just something you wear at home," said Shreya Mittal, founder of Cava. “People wear flared leggings to the airport, to meet-ups, even to parties. The acceptance has changed completely because athleisure has become a style in itself." In the last four years, VC-backed brands selling women's bottomwear have grown rapidly. Per data from research firm Tracxn, BlissClub reported more than ₹90 crore in annual revenue in FY24, about 10% of Go Colors’ annual revenue.

A key reason, Mittal said, is the shift away from cotton, which Go Colours specialized in. Cava’s signature nylon-spandex blend gives its leggings a more structured, elevated look. “You can wear them even to a bar or for dinner. They don’t feel like lounge-wear anymore."

Designers say the shift away from leggings is unlikely to reverse. Said Mumbai-based fashion designer Nitasha Agarwal: “People have become too comfortable with baggy silhouettes. Skinny fits just don’t appeal anymore. I don’t think anyone is going back to tight leggings in the near future."

Agarwal added that while Go Colors has broadened its fabrics and silhouettes, its brand perception is still tied to an older audience. “Younger shoppers want aspirational athleisure. Once you enter their store, the products are there — but they don’t feel as young or versatile as what newer brands are offering."

Hustle to recover

An ex-investor who had backed Go Colors before exiting argued tepid growth is not unique to Go Colors. “There is a consumer slowdown in general… not just in women’s apparel. Growth has recovered somewhat this year, but it is still not what we saw pre-Covid," the investor said, requesting anonymity, noting that SSSG stagnation is now common across retail.

Faced with this shift, Go Colors is pushing beyond its traditional churidars and leggings with a newer range of trousers, palazzos and wide-legged bottoms launched this month, along with a pilot to sell top wear and menswear.

However, its rivals had started this expansion years ago. For instance, Lux Industries’ owned Lyra started as a leggings brand too, around the same time as Go Colors. But, just a couple of years after launch, it expanded into lingerie and other womenswear categories including modest wear and athleisure.

Yet, analysts remain optimistic about Go Colors. In June this year, Motilal Oswal initiated coverage of Go Fashion with a buy rating, predicting an upside of over 30% from its current trading price. “Go Colors is well-positioned to leverage its leadership in the women's bottom-wear segment and D2C model, with significant expansion potential beyond its current presence in ~180 cities," the report said.

Saraogi remains hopeful too. “We believe the opportunity in bottom-wear is still very large. This is a transition phase for us," he said on the analyst call.