Brands
Aditya Birla Fashion embarks on national expansion
MUMBAI: Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.’s Van Heusen Innerwear & Athleisure business has announced a pan-India growth plan in this emerging segment. Since its foray last year, Van Heusen Innerwear & Athleisure has created a strong presence across 1700+ outlets across 80+ towns in South India, with its premium and innovative collection.
As a part of its expansion plans, Van Heusen’s Innerwear and Athleisure business is poised for a strong growth, with National presence across 7000+ MBOs and 30+ exclusive business outlets by 2017-18. Moreover, the range will be available across 250 Van Heusen exclusive stores, 300 Planet Fashion stores and leading departmental outlets across India.
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail COO – innerwear business Puneet Kumar Malik said, “Van Heusen’s Innerwear and Athleisure business follows a localized distribution model, which has been well received by our business partners across South India and has created a strong value proposition for the brand.”
Brands
Godrej clarifies ‘GI’ identifier after logo similarity debate
Says GI is not a logo, will not replace Godrej signature across products.
MUMBAI: In a branding storm where shapes did the talking, Godrej is now spelling things out. Godrej Industries Group (GIG) has issued a clarification on its newly introduced ‘GI’ identifier, addressing questions around its purpose and design following a wave of online criticism. At the centre of the debate were two concerns: whether the new mark replaces the long-standing Godrej logo, and whether its geometric design mirrors other corporate identities.
The company has drawn a clear line. The Godrej signature logo, it said, remains unchanged and continues to be the sole logo across all consumer-facing products and services. The ‘GI’ mark, by contrast, is not a logo but a corporate group identifier intended for use alongside the Godrej signature or company name, and aimed at stakeholders such as investors, media and talent rather than consumers.
The need for such a distinction stems from the 2024 restructuring of the broader Godrej Group into two separate business entities. With both continuing to operate under the same Godrej name and signature, the identifier is positioned as a way to differentiate the Godrej Industries Group at a corporate level.
The rollout, however, triggered a broader conversation on design originality. Critics pointed to similarities between the GI mark’s geometric composition and logos used by companies globally, raising questions about distinctiveness.
Responding to this, GIG said its intellectual property and legal review found that such overlaps are common in minimalist, geometry-led design systems. Basic forms such as circles and rectangles appear across dozens of brand identities worldwide, the company noted.
It added that the identifier emerged from an extensive design process and was chosen for its simplicity, allowing it to sit alongside the Godrej signature without competing visually. While acknowledging that elemental shapes may appear less distinctive in isolation, the group emphasised that the mark is part of a broader identity system that includes a custom typeface, sonic branding and other proprietary elements.
Following legal and ethical assessments, the company said it found no impediment to using the identifier, reiterating that the GI mark is a corporate tool not a consumer-facing symbol.
In short, the logo isn’t changing but the conversation around it certainly has.
