MUMBAI: Back in the day, in the Indian innerwear market, specifically, lingerie was a mere necessity in a woman’s life with hardly any innovations. But the past few years have witnessed an unprecedented growth and awareness about this clothing segment.

The rising young population, new fashion trends, rising number of female shoppers and need-based lingerie solutions have contributed tremendously to the upward trajectory of this segment.

A recent survey conducted by the Groversons Group one of the leading players in this segment has revealed that the Indian Innerwear market is poised to grow at a robust CAGR of around 15% by the year 2023.

The study done over a large sample of respondents shows that an Indian woman now has at least 8 pieces of brassieres in her wardrobe as compared to 4-5 in the past. Similar is the case with underpants of which a woman owns at least 10-12 pieces on an average.

The report suggests that the outward approach of spreading awareness and making the product available online in the past 10-12 years has also contributed immensely to this category.

The evolution of Indian innerwear industry can be seen with the shift from basic cotton bras in black, white and plain colours to padded, pushups and lacy bras in different designs and colour combinations. Lingerie designed in animal prints, geometric prints, florals and colourful quirky patterns have also forayed into the wardrobe of the current generation.

Siddharth Grover, Director of Groversons Group, said that the future of the Indian innerwear industry looks promising and has a huge potential to grow in the times to come, especially since the consumers are gradually becoming aware of this category and are boldly prioritising their lingerie shopping needs.

The report says that women within the age bracket of 20-30 years are more experimental with their choices and make up for the largest share in demand. This is largely because, shoppers in this segment have a stronger purchasing power as they are much aware of the benefits of good lingerie.

Younger women prefer to experiment with colourful and new designs pairing them up with classy outer wears. Whereas even women aged 25 years and above prefer pretty lingerie pieces crafted with lace in exclusive designs.

According to Gover the times are changing and with passing time people’s perception of the lingerie is also evolving positively. “Women have become bold with their choices and innerwear segment is no longer a hush-hush subject, rather has become informative with regards to women’s health, educating a large number of consumers of this segment," he said.