Fashion and apparel dominates India’s real estate leasing with 35% share
26 December 2025, Mumbai
The fashion and apparel segment dominates with nearly 35 per cent to 50 per cent of India’s total retail real estate leasing.
In 2025, retail real estate leasing in India is projected to reach a historic post-pandemic peak of 9 million sq ft, a significant 15 per cent rise from the 7.8 million sq ft recorded in 2024.
This growth is not merely a rebound but a ‘flight to quality,’ as retailers shift their focus from pure expansion to high-performance, experience-led spaces.
Fashion and apparel anchor the premiumization wave
Demand is particularly aggressive among D2C brands, sustainable fashion labels, and global luxury giants.
Luxury leasing alone witnessed a 19 per cent Y-o-Y rise, as international brands increasingly view India as a primary growth market.
We are seeing a clear trend of premiumization; malls are no longer just shopping centers but lifestyle destinations anchored by curated fashion formats, notes Gautam Saraf, Executive Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefield.
Mall supply unlocks pent-up expansion plans
A critical bottleneck was cleared in late 2025 as Grade A mall supply rose to 4.3 million sq ft, compared to a meager 0.9 million sq ft in 2024.
This influx of fresh inventory in cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Hyderabad has allowed retailers to execute long-pending ‘click-and-mortar’ strategies.
While high streets remain dominant - holding a 52 per Cd2c ent share of activity- the tightening vacancy in superior malls (dropping to as low as 2.27 per cent) is pushing rental benchmarks higher.
The challenge for 2026 remains the supply-demand imbalance, with the industry projecting an even higher absorption of 10-11 million sq ft as infrastructure improvements further integrate Tier-II cities into the organized retail fold.
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