Levi's ropes in Deepika Padukone as global brand ambassador

Levi’s has roped in actor Deepika Padukone as its global brand ambassador. The iconic American denim maker, which entered India 25 years ago, and has been struggling to stretch its sales over the last two years, hopes to find a perfect fit in Padukone, who in sync with the core brand values of the denim brand—bold, authentic, true and uncompromising—and might help the brand widen its appeal among women.

“With her on board, we are confident of strengthening the brand further, especially when we are strongly focusing on leading the women’s category,” says Sanjeev Mohanty, managing director (South Asia and MENA), Levi’s. Padukone, the first female celebrity to endorse the brand in India, is thrilled to be the face of the denim maker. “I am absolutely honoured and delighted to be associating with one of the world’s most iconic brands,” the Bollywood actor said in a media release. The right pair of jeans, she added, make her feel comfortable and confident.

In its latest regulatory filings, Levi’s India underlined the ‘significant’ impact of Covid-19 on its operations. “The trade suffered due to loss of sales and resultant pile up of inventory,” the company says in its filings, accessed from business intelligence platform Tofler. The company has taken back stocks worth Rs 82 crore from the trade. 

For the financial year ended March 2020, the denim maker posted revenue of Rs 1,122.57 crore, a paltry 1.6 percent increase from the last fiscal of Rs 1,104.38 crore. The company attributed increase in sales to a battery of factors such as strong growth in ‘tops business’ in women’s and men’s category, growth in women’s denim driven by higher adoption of fashion fits, a profitable store network, and an acceleration in pace of direct-to-consumer business. Profit after tax (PAT), though, declined during the same period to Rs 28.4 crore from Rs 50.3 crore.

As the company continues to navigate the pandemic and its impact, it will keep the focus intact on areas that will drive value. This means investing in digitisation, and accelerating efforts to diversify across geographies, product categories and distribution channels, including doubling down on the fast growing direct-to-consumer business, Levi’s India outlined in its regulatory filings.