Zara vs. Zudio: The Battle for India’s Fashion Crown Heats Up

Simone Dunoyer was born in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1930. In 1953 she traveled to India as a tourist and never left the country, where she met Naval H. Tata, whom she married and became Simone Naval Tata. Her maiden name was not known, but the name she adopted after her marriage, belonging to the saga that leads and gives its name to the largest business conglomerate in India, Tata, was. Far from remaining solely as the tycoon’s wife, Simone Naval Tata played a key role in Tata’s leap into retail, a business in which it now rivals Zara through Zudio, an affordable fashion chain made in India for Indians, which already has close to a thousand stores in the country.

Tata, founded in 1868 and with interests in sectors such as motors, steel, technology, infrastructure, aerospace, telecommunications and tourism, operated until 1998 in the cosmetics sector through Lakmé, today controlled by the Indian subsidiary of Unilever. That year, Tata sold its 50% stake in the company and, with the proceeds from the transaction, launched its own retail subsidiary.

Under the leadership of Simone Naval Tata, CEO of Lakmé since 1961, Tata saw an opportunity to expand into the fashion sector, which the big international groups had not yet seen the potential for in India. Shortly before the divestment, Tata bought through Lakmé the Indian business of British fashion company Littlewoods, which had only one store in the country, located in Bangalore.

Zudio now has more than 800 stores with men’s, women’s, interiors, ethnic, cosmetics and footwear

Subsequently, Tata changed the name of the store to Westside and merged it with Lakme’s export subsidiary, giving rise to a new entity, Trent Limited, which has become one of the most transformative companies in the retail business in recent years, along with Reliance and Aditya Birla.

Trent’s business was centered on Westside until 2004, when it launched the first Star Bazaar hypermarket, projects that were later followed by the acquisition of 76% of the Landmark book chain; the alliance with Benetton to develop Sisley in 2007; the joint venture with Inditex to develop first Zara and then Massimo Dutti in India in 2009, and the agreement with Sonae in 2015 to introduce Sport Zone in the country.

Except in the case of Inditex, agreements with international groups did not last long, but Trent had an ace up his sleeve: Zudio. This chain, little known beyond India’s borders, has become one of the fastest growing retailers in the country. Zudio was, in fact, the answer to the failed expansion of the Westside chain, whose image and premium positioning did not allow it to reach beyond the main cities of the Indian market.

Inspired by Zara’s price positioning and focus on fashion and speed, Trent launched Zudio less than ten years ago. Its garments, aimed at the younger audience and below 999 crores (10 dollars), began by being distributed within one of Trent’s businesses, Star Bazaar, but in 2016 Zudio opened its first store, in Bangalore.

Trent had learned with Westside, had industrial strength to produce fast, had been inspired by the Zara model, and has had the support of Tata for the launch and development of Zudio. So the process has been fast. In less than ten years, Zudio has woven a network that is on track to reach a thousand outlets in major and secondary cities in India.

After opening 200 outlets in FY2024, Zudio reached a network of 806 outlets in over 230 cities by the end of last September.

“India’s fashion and lifestyle sector continues to offer encouraging growth driven by favorable demographics, digitization, rising disposable income, urbanization and evolving consumer preferences,“ Trent explains in its annual report for the last full financial year. The fashion market in India is set to grow between 10% and 12% annually through 2028.

After opening 200 outlets in FY2024, Zudio reached a network of 806 stores in more than 230 cities at the end of last September, compared with 261 for its Westide concept. Zudio has even begun its international development, after making the leap last year to the United Arab Emirates, where it now has three stores.

Trent’s affordable chain offering has been growing and now encompasses women’s fashion, men’s fashion, underwear, ethical fashion, beauty and footwear. The brand’s stores range from 650 square meters to over 1,000 square meters.

Zudio is now the driving force behind Trent, which also operates Westside, Samoh and Utsa in fashion and Star and Booker in supermarkets. The new openings are driving growth at Trent, which last week reported 11% growth in the second quarter of its fiscal year, ended Sept. 30th. The company closed the period with net income of 3.77 billion rupees ($43 million).

Zudio’s growth is progressing at the same time that Trent and Inditex are parting ways. If the Indian group played a key role in the landing of the Spanish company in India, in recent years Inditex has been buying back the joint venture with the Tata subsidiary.

Last week, Inditex announced that it has taken up to 80% stake in Inditex Trent Retail India, the joint venture with Trent that operates the Zara business in the country. Until now, Inditex Trent Retail India was 65% controlled by Inditex, after the Spanish group had already increased its equity weight by 14% in 2024. In addition, Inditex holds a call option on one hundred percent of the company.