BENGALURU: Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL) is stepping up investments in TMRW, its fast-growing portfolio of digital-first lifestyle brands, prioritising scale over near-term profitability.
TMRW sees the next two years as “foundation-setting years” as it scales brands, categories, and channels ahead of a larger profitability push by FY30, Prashanth Aluru, co-founder and chief executive of TMRW, told Mint in an interview.
The strategy comes even as TMRW continues to remain loss-making despite rapid growth. The business registered a 29% year-on-year increase in revenue to ₹242 crore in the December quarter, while Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) losses narrowed marginally to ₹57 crore from ₹62 crore a year earlier.
“We continue to invest in new channels and new categories,” Aluru said. “We are investing some of our profitability improvement back into the business.”
For the nine months through December, TMRW’s revenue rose 31% from a year prior to ₹662 crore, although Ebitda losses widened to ₹182 crore. In its December quarter investor presentation, ABFRL said TMRW’s losses have “now peaked”, with margins improving nearly 900 basis points year-on-year. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
The company is aggressively expanding its omnichannel presence through exclusive brand outlets, direct-to-consumer platforms and newer distribution experiments such as quick commerce. Four TMRW brands – Bewakoof, Wrogn, The Indian Garage Co and Nobero – have already entered offline retail, with the company ending FY26 with about 125 stores across brands, Aluru said.
The Mumbai-based fashion retail chain reported a consolidated net loss of ₹137 crore in the December quarter, rising from ₹103 crore a year earlier, weighed down by TMRW’s losses.
ABFRL’s push for TMRW is significant as the broader house-of-brands model – once seen as the next big wave in consumer startups – is now facing increasing scrutiny globally and in India.
“The model itself has been a zero-sum game,” said Ankur Bisen, senior partner at retail consultancy The Knowledge Company. “There is no definite example so far to show the model has worked.” ABFRL itself noted in its latest earnings presentation that the overall demand environment was weak during the period while quick commerce and omnichannel retail were emerging as key growth drivers.
At 1:08 PM on Tuesday, shares of ABFRL traded at at ₹62.79 apiece, up 1.3%, on the BSE.
Omnichannel approach
TMRW argues that its strategy differs fundamentally from earlier brand aggregators because it is focused entirely on and is building long-term operating capabilities rather than simply rolling up brands.
“We were always of the belief that a few, big brands would create enduring value,” Aluru said.
The company currently has three brands in the ₹300-crore range and another three in the ₹75-200 crore bracket, according to Aluru. Its core thesis is that young, digital-first brands often struggle to scale beyond a certain point because they lack the operational muscle required for expansion.
TMRW believes it can solve that problem through centralised investments in technology, artificial intelligence (AI), supply chain, product development and omnichannel distribution. It raised ₹437 crore from ServiceNow Ventures in August 2025 to scale its technology capabilities.
“We felt there was always merit in investing horizontally across multiple brands versus a single brand being able to get there,” Aluru added.
The company is increasingly prioritising direct-to-consumer channels and exclusive brand outlets over marketplace-led growth. Aluru said marketplaces remain important, but the focus is on building stronger consumer loyalty and repeat purchases through owned channels.
About 70% of Bewakoof’s business now comes through its app, while several other brands are rapidly scaling their app-led businesses, he said.
Community-led engagement has also become central to TMRW’s strategy. Bewakoof leans heavily into fandom and pop culture, Nobero focuses on travel and athleisure communities, while Wrogn is positioning itself around sports, fitness and youth identity beyond cricketer Virat Kohli’s celebrity appeal.
The company is also identifying newer growth opportunities within fashion. Aluru pointed to activewear and “minimalistic mainstream fashion” as key growth opportunities, especially for consumers seeking affordable alternatives between global premium brands and mass-market players.
is another major focus area. Aluru said AI is increasingly shaping everything, from demand-sensing and product launches to marketing, coding and operational automation. “We want to be the leading-edge player in fashion tech,” he said.
Growing scepticism
Even as TMRW expands, industry experts remain unconvinced about whether the house-of-brands model can sustainably work at scale in India.
The Knowledge Company’s Bisen argued that most successful house-of-brands businesses have historically emerged from digital-first ecosystems with strong online consumer acquisition engines, giving them a structural advantage over legacy offline retailers entering the space later.
“If you are an offline-first player, then you are starting with a handicap,” he said.
He also questioned whether has clearly demonstrated a differentiated “right to win” in the category, especially as competition intensifies from platforms such as Myntra, Nykaa Fashion, and Reliance Retail.
The larger challenge, according to Bisen, is consumer stickiness. “The most important metric will be repeatability,” he said. “Are consumers coming back?”
That challenge is particularly acute in youth fashion, where trends move rapidly and loyalty remains weak. At the same time, macroeconomic uncertainty and pressure on discretionary spending could make scaling premium fashion businesses even harder over the next few years, Bisen added.