By IANS,
New Delhi : Bad hair days for Indians may soon be history with the entry of some of the leading international hair styling and hair care brands in the country, who are not only hawking their wares but also training Indian hairdressers.
The latest entrant in the market is Italian hair care giant Alfaparf Milano, which launched in India with a glitzy fashion parade in Mumbai Monday.
Early this year, British hairstylist and trainer Toni & Guy began operating in India and French hair care guru Paul Mitchell set up online shops to sell its products. Revlon, according to industry sources, will soon introduce its complete hair care range in the market.
According to inaugural projections by senior company representatives in India, Alfaparf Milano plans to capture 10 to 12 percent of the market and wants to take on market leader L’oreal, which commands at least 40 percent of the market share.
“Indian salon or hairdressing industry is a buoyant sector, which is growing at a rate of 14 percent annually. The total annual turnover is nearly Rs.150 billion,” Arpit Jain, director of marketing and sales of Alfaparf Milano’s India operations, told IANS on phone from Mumbai.
The company will sell its shampoos, conditioners, hair styling products, hair treatment products and hair colours under the Alfaparf brand name. It targets to set up 50 hair style salon-cum-academies called Alfaparf studios by the end of three years on the line of the Toni & Guy institutes in the country.
“We have tied up with the British hairstyling institute Mahogany for our institutes because our thrust in India is haircare education,” Jain said.
According to the press communiqué issued by Alfaparf Tuesday, the company is planning to bring in offers for salons with yearly contracts and tie-ups.
“Initially, we are tapping big cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Ludhiana because our’s is a premium brand. The focus areas are northern and western India,” Jain said.
According to Jain, Alfaparf has the largest range of 126 hair colours with low ammonia and 40 ammonia-free colours. “Colours sell the most. In India, nearly is 40 percent of the industry is occupied by hair colours,” he said.
As part of its launch, the company hosted a fashion show and organised a workshop in Mumbai. The workshop was attended by some of the biggest names in the Indian hairstyling industry like Javed Habib, Hakim Alim and Adhuna Akhtar.
Ken Frost, an Alfaparf technician and one of the top hair stylists in the world, conducted the workshop. Frost’s clientele includes celebrity talk-show host Oprah Winfrey and supermodel Tyra Banks.