Kanika Vohra and Anuradha Chandrasekhar, Co-founders of ICH Next, note that this is the right time for India to stop importing trend logic and start building its own consumer intelligence framework
India’s fashion demand in this era is being defined by a young, vocal and culturally confident consumer who is no longer content with following borrowed trend playbooks. With Gen Z and young millennials emerging as both trend adopters and trendsetters, their influence now extends well beyond their own purchases to shaping preferences across generations, according to ICH Next co-founders Kanika Vohra and Anuradha Chandrasekhar.
In an interview with BW Retail World, the co-founders note that this shift underscores the urgent need for an India-specific consumer intelligence and trend forecasting lens, one that reflects the country’s diverse segments, cultural nuances and evolving aspirations. ICH Next has partnered with global creative strategy and trend forecasting firm Peclers Paris to bring the ICH Next x Peclers Paris trend forecast reports for western fashion, an initiative aimed at addressing a long-standing gap in India’s fashion and lifestyle ecosystem.
As Indian fashion and retail brands scale up in ambition and maturity, the long-standing dependence on imported trend reports is increasingly proving inadequate for a market as layered as India. The country has always absorbed global influences through a distinctly local cultural filter but what has changed is the readiness of the ecosystem itself. Over the past decade, the formalisation of retail, the ecommerce boom and the rise of D2C brands have created a need for sharper, more predictive intelligence.
As Anuradha Chandrasekhar puts it, “You have to sort of know in advance what is going to work. The aspect of India always needing its own lens and research is probably a problem statement that existed always. The timing of it happening right now comes from the fact that it is only in the last decade we have started organising ourselves as a country in the context of retail and design”.
The country’s consumption story today is being shaped by a uniquely young, digitally fluent population that is far more plugged into global culture than any generation before it. Indian shoppers across metros as well as tier 2 and 3 markets are growing up as digital natives, consuming trends in real time through social media and content platforms. “Trend adoption or knowing, following trends has become equally important to them as it would be to anyone else in the world,” Vohra, who was also the business head and a founding member of Ajio, notes, signalling how access and awareness are no longer limited by geography.
At the same time, this heightened exposure has not diluted India’s deeply ingrained value-led mindset. While aspirations are rising and experimentation has increased, driven by youth, confidence and a willingness to take chances, value consciousness remains a constant, shaping how trends are adopted, adapted and ultimately purchased.
What The Brands Miss
As AI becomes central to decision-making, many Indian brands still approach data through a narrowly quantitative lens, often mistaking volume and sales numbers for insight. This fixation on measurable metrics overlooks a far richer layer of intelligence rooted in culture, emotion and subconscious influence, factors that quietly shape consumer behaviour long before they translate into transactions.
Chandrasekhar points out that when brands think of data, “most users of data think of it in a numerical and quantitative factor only,” even though shifts in food habits, travel preferences, political mood, economic context and new experiences play a decisive role in how tastes evolve. By ignoring this emotional and cultural intelligence, brands end up reacting to past performance, “black dresses sold more, so let us do more black dresses, rather than anticipating what consumers are becoming and what they will want next.
One of the biggest white spaces for Indian fashion and lifestyle brands lies in how they approach research at the design stage, where long product cycles demand far greater foresight than most teams currently deploy. In an industry where it can take anywhere from a month to nine months to move from concept to market, decisions made today are essentially bets on future consumer behaviour.
Vohra explains, “you are putting your money in today, sale is going to happen nine months later,” making the accuracy and depth of research critical. Yet, even as design teams attempt to factor in multiple influences, their scope remains inherently limited. This selective, fragmented approach leaves room for error and blind spots, missing the larger cultural and emotional shifts at play. The real gap, she argues, is the absence of thorough, holistic research that blends emotional intelligence with expansive, artistically interpreted data, rather than relying on scattered inputs, an exact gap ICH Next aims to address.
Leading The Growth Chariot
As fashion brands look to identify the consumer who will shape demand in the years ahead, the spotlight is firmly on gen Z and younger millennials, who are emerging as both buyers and cultural catalysts. Their influence extends beyond what they purchase themselves to how they shape conversations, aesthetics and aspirations across age groups.
Vohra notes that this cohort is “already ruling… becoming trendsetters in so many ways, not only with their own consumption, but with their voice”. Increasingly, even gen X and older millennials are taking cues from how gen Z dresses, behaves and signals identity.
The Indian fashion industry, Chandrasekhar believes, is simultaneously anchoring itself in the past while sharply accelerating into the future. On one hand, there is a clear consolidation underway around heritage, arts and cultural narratives, driven by a renewed and intentional focus on preservation and revival. On the other, the contemporary business of fashion is firmly in a growth and innovation phase, marked by rising ambition and a desire to lead rather than follow global cues.
“We are very ambitious on setting the tone, not just following what is happening around the world, but setting our own benchmarks for the world,” she notes. This dual momentum signals an industry that sees itself as equal to global peers and increasingly comfortable shaping its own path forward.
ICH Next And Peclers Paris Collaboration
“India is one of the most influential consumer markets globally today. Its cultural depth, creativity and confidence demand a different approach to forecasting. Through this collaboration, we are excited to combine our global perspective with ICH Next’s deep local understanding to create intelligence that is both visionary and truly relevant for Indian brands,” Anne Etienne-Reboul, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Peclers Paris, highlights.
Despite the market being projected to cross USD 240 billion and growing at over 10 per cent annually, much of the industry still depends on global trend reports with limited relevance to India’s cultural diversity, climate, craft traditions and consumption cycles. By combining global foresight with deep, on-ground Indian research, the collaboration seeks to equip brands with a more contextual, actionable lens to anticipate demand and build for the Indian consumer with greater accuracy.
