ONLY is a Danish womenswear label — denim above all, then dresses, tops and shirts — owned by the BESTSELLER group and sold in India since 2010. On Myntra on 11 September 2026 it carried 3,378 listings, and the typical price actually charged was ₹1,924.
The thing worth knowing before you buy is what ONLY is on this side of the world: a Danish brand, sold by an Indian company, with most of the clothes we checked declared as made in India.
ONLY is sold here by Only Retail Private Limited, a wholly owned Indian subsidiary of the Danish group, approved by the Ministry of Finance on 14 October 2014 and incorporated on 19 October 2015 — not a franchise, not a joint venture. Of forty product declarations read on Myntra on 11 September 2026, 29 named India as the country of origin. A 100-listing sounding the same day found 71 reduced, the shelf collecting 64.8% of MRP, at a median of ₹1,924.
Who owns ONLY, and who sells it here
Foreign brands reach an Indian high street in four shapes — a joint venture, a franchise, a wholly owned subsidiary, or no Indian entity at all — and the shopfront gives nothing away. ONLY is the third kind, on the government’s own record.
- Brand founded
- 1995, in Denmark, per the brand’s own Indian site
- Parent group
- BESTSELLER, founded 1975 in Ringkøbing, Denmark, by Troels Holch Povlsen and Merete Bech Povlsen
- Group owner
- HEARTLAND A/S, which states it owns 100% of BESTSELLER, and which BESTSELLER describes as the private holding company of its owner and chief executive, Anders Holch Povlsen
- Sold in India by
- Only Retail Private Limited, CIN U52100MH2015FTC269374, incorporated 19 October 2015, registered office at The Lalit Residency, Andheri East, Mumbai
- The shape
- Wholly owned subsidiary for single-brand retail, approved 14 October 2014
- Category
- Apparel — womenswear
- Typical price charged
- ₹1,924 median across a 100-listing sounding on Myntra, against 3,378 listings on the brand facet
- In India since
- 2010, when the first store opened in Mumbai
- Checked on
- 11 September 2026
A Press Information Bureau release from the Ministry of Finance, dated 14 October 2014, lists twenty-five approved foreign investment proposals. Proposal 1/SIA/RT/2014 records that Bestseller United (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. sought approval “to set up a wholly owned subsidiary for undertaking single brand retail trading of products under the brand name ‘Only'”, at ₹90.39 crore. Proposal 2 is the same for Vero Moda.
Nothing was licensed out. The applicant asked for a wholly owned retail subsidiary and got one, and Only Retail Private Limited was incorporated a year and five days later. Its register entry uses the same words — a “subsidiary of company incorporated outside India” — which is why its CIN carries the FTC class, not PTC. One detail shifts the shape: the applicant was a Singapore company, and a register mirror describes Only Retail as a subsidiary of Bestseller United Singapore Pte. Limited. Denmark owns it, through Singapore.
- HEARTLAND A/SAnders Holch Povlsen’s private holding company; says it owns 100% of BESTSELLER
- BESTSELLER A/SDanish, family-owned since 1975; more than 20 brands, ONLY among them
- Bestseller United (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.The company that applied to India in 2014
- Only Retail Private LimitedMumbai, from 19 October 2015; seller of record on 27 of 40 listings read
Four companies sit between the Danish group and the Indian seller.
Anders Holch Povlsen has sat on the Indian board since the day the company was incorporated — every register mirror read on 11 September 2026 agrees on that, whatever else they disagree about.
The other Bestseller company is not the same animal
A second Indian company carries the group’s name and is easily confused with the first. Bestseller Retail India Private Limited, CIN U52390MH2009PTC190721, was incorporated on 5 March 2009 — six years before Only Retail — and sits one floor down in the same building.
It is a different kind of company. Its CIN carries PTC, not FTC; the register classes it as a non-government company, not the subsidiary of a foreign one; a mirror describes it as held by Bestseller Ventures Private Limited, an Indian company; and the two boards do not overlap at all. It was seller of record on one of the forty ONLY listings. Check which company a bill names.
What ONLY costs in India
A sounding of 100 ONLY listings was taken on Myntra on 11 September 2026, against a catalogue of 3,378. Seventy-one were reduced, the shelf collected 64.8% of MRP, and the median paid was ₹1,924.
- Share of MRP actually charged
- 64.8%
- Median price charged
- ₹1,924
- Listings reduced below MRP
- 71 of 100
- Checked on
- 11 September 2026
The printed price is a starting position. Those 71 reductions spread across only 20 MRPs and resolved into 12 discount rungs — a markdown grid applied down a range, not pricing garment by garment.
The comparison worth having is with the brand next door. Vero Moda belongs to the same group, was approved in the same release on the same day, and is run from the same Mumbai building. On the same sounding it collected 75.0% of MRP. Whatever sets a price here is not set at group level.
Why import duty is not the answer
No garment-for-garment comparison between ONLY’s Indian and European prices appears here, because the same item could not be matched on both sides on one day. Converting a euro price and calling it what a dress ought to cost in Mumbai would be a guess dressed up as arithmetic.
What can be read is where the clothes come from. Forty declarations were read in full on 11 September 2026.
| Country of origin declared | Records, of 40 |
|---|---|
| India | 29 |
| Bangladesh | 8 |
| Hong Kong | 3 |
Nearly three-quarters of what was sampled was declared as made in India, and the manufacturers named on those records are Indian garment exporters. Customs duty is charged on the landed value of imported goods, so it does not apply to garments made in India, and it is not the main factor in the price of those pieces.
The brand’s own site says the same thing. Of three ONLY products read on only.in that day, two declared “Made in India” and named manufacturers in Faridabad and Noida with full addresses. The third declared “Made in Hong Kong”, as did three of the forty marketplace records.
Of forty ONLY declarations read on 11 September 2026, 29 named India as the country of origin.
Who makes the clothes, and what the group publishes
The packaged commodities rules made under the Legal Metrology Act require every pack to carry the name and address of the manufacturer — or of the importer, where the goods are imported — with the country of origin and the net quantity. Rule 10(2) asks for the actual corporate name. That line names the company answerable for what you bought.
Across the forty ONLY records, 23 different manufacturer strings appeared and not one of those fields was blank. Net quantity was declared on 31 of the 40, and six sellers carried the listings, with Only Retail Pvt Ltd named on 27.
Twenty-three manufacturers for one womenswear label is a wide spread, and the group publishes who its suppliers are. BESTSELLER maintains a public factory list covering its tier 0 suppliers and tier 1 factories, and says in its own words that “the list is updated six times a year”. A copy was read in full on 11 September 2026, and all four manufacturers named in the marketplace reading are on it — Shell Apparels in Bangalore, Messianic Clothing in Noida, Indaco Jeans in Boisar and N.S. Exports in Noida, each with a full address. The Messianic address on the brand’s own product page matches its factory-list row down to the postal code. The copy carries roughly 80 Indian rows across eight states.
That is real disclosure, and few brands at this price publish anything like it.
What the factory list does not tell you
The list gives a product type and never says which of the group’s twenty-odd brands a factory makes for, so a shopper can confirm a factory supplies BESTSELLER but cannot tie one to ONLY. The Indian site’s footer carries four “about” links — an about-us page, a privacy policy, terms and conditions, and the BESTSELLER homepage — and the factory list itself sits on the group’s corporate site.
Set that against the smaller names on the same shelf. Three little-known Indian labels read the same day each named one company on all forty records, nothing blank, while Marks & Spencer produced thirty strings and six empty fields.
The claims, and what stands behind them
ONLY’s Indian site does one thing better than the marketplace: every product page states the fibre composition. The three read on 11 September 2026 declared “100% Cotton”, “100% Cotton” and “98% Polyester-Recycled,2% Elastane”.
The product page for the third does not name a certification scheme, such as the Global Recycled Standard, for the recycled content, and the cotton pages do not name a mill or certification.
A shopper for whom certified recycled content matters can ask the brand for its certification. Beyond the fibre lines the Indian shopfront makes no material claim at all — its about-us page offers “high quality and great value”, which has nothing in it to test.
What the numbers show, and what nobody has printed
Only Retail Private Limited reported revenue of ₹380.85 crore for the financial year ending 31 March 2025, up 73% on the year before, per a register mirror read on 11 September 2026. A second mirror places the same year in a ₹100–500 crore band at the same growth rate. That is the one clean figure for this business. Profit is another matter: no source read that day publishes a profit or loss figure for the company for any year, so none appears here.
One year of Indian revenue is published and no profit figure for any year. Judge this business by the shelf and the declarations, not by a bottom line nobody has printed.
Where the registers disagree
Two disagreements are worth printing rather than smoothing over.
The first is the board. One register mirror lists Anders Holch Povlsen, Vineet Gautam and Thomas Borglum Jensen, with Jensen appointed on 31 January 2019. A second lists Povlsen and Jensen alongside Lise Kaae, Sumit Dhingra and Sandip Shankarrao Kute, all appointed on 19 August 2025, dates Jensen to 8 August 2018, and shows no Vineet Gautam at all. They disagree on the current board and on Jensen’s date. Separately, Vineet Gautam stepped down as chief executive and country head of Bestseller India from the end of December 2024.
The second is the financial year. Two mirrors state a year ending 31 March and report accounts filed to 31 March 2025. A third shows a last balance sheet dated 31 July 2023 and an annual general meeting on 31 January 2024 — and 31 July is the Danish group’s own year end. They disagree; no year-end history is asserted here.
- 1975BESTSELLER founded in Ringkøbing, Denmark
- 1995The ONLY label starts, per the brand’s Indian site
- 2010First Indian store opens in Mumbai
- 14 Oct 2014India approves a wholly owned retail subsidiary for the brand
- 19 Oct 2015Only Retail Private Limited incorporated
- FY to 31 Mar 2025Revenue ₹380.85 crore, up 73%
Five years of selling here before the company that sells it existed.
We found no decided regulatory action, product recall or consumer commission order against Only Retail Private Limited, and nobody has ruled on the way the brand is sold here.
Who ONLY is actually for
ONLY sells western womenswear to a shopper in her twenties or thirties who wants a recognisable international label without premium money. At a median of ₹1,924 that is a reasonable proposition, and at 3,378 listings size and fit are rarely the problem.
It is a weaker fit for anyone specifically wanting European-made clothes: 29 of 40 declarations read named India as the country of origin, from factories on the group’s own list.
On the same street, H&M also runs its Indian shops through a wholly owned subsidiary, and Zara sits a step higher through a joint venture with an Indian listed company. Anyone wanting this price band with a listed Indian parent that publishes its numbers in full has Zudio — less international, considerably more disclosed.
Buying ONLY in India
Read the country of origin before paying a foreign premium
Of forty records read, 29 declared India. If where a garment is made matters to you, the declaration on the listing and the tag tells you.
Look the manufacturer up on the group’s factory list
The manufacturer named on the pack can be looked up in BESTSELLER’s public factory list, updated six times a year. All four found here are on it, with addresses — though it never says which brand a factory makes for.
Check which company is selling
Six sellers carried the forty listings, Only Retail Pvt Ltd on 27. The group has several Indian companies with similar names — Bestseller Retail India Private Limited is a separate entity with a separate board. The seller on the invoice answers for the goods.
Wait for the rung
Seventy-one of a hundred listings were reduced, on twelve rungs across twenty MRPs. Full MRP is the exception, so an item at its printed price is worth waiting on unless your size is running out.
Treat a recycled-fibre line as a claim
One product declared 98% recycled polyester, and the page did not name a certification scheme. If recycled content is why you are buying, ask the brand for the certification.
Common questions
Is ONLY an Indian brand?
No, but the company selling it is. ONLY is a Danish label belonging to the BESTSELLER group, sold here by Only Retail Private Limited, an Indian company incorporated in Mumbai on 19 October 2015 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the group’s Singapore holding company. Most of the clothes checked were made in India too: 29 of 40 declarations read on 11 September 2026 named India.
Who owns ONLY?
The BESTSELLER group, founded in Ringkøbing, Denmark in 1975 by Troels Holch Povlsen and Merete Bech Povlsen. BESTSELLER says it is owned entirely by HEARTLAND A/S, the private holding company of its owner and chief executive, Anders Holch Povlsen. He has personally sat on the Indian company’s board since the day it was incorporated.
Is ONLY clothing made in India?
Mostly, on the records read. Of forty product declarations read on Myntra on 11 September 2026, 29 named India as the country of origin, against 8 for Bangladesh and 3 for Hong Kong. The brand’s own site named Indian manufacturers in Faridabad and Noida on two of three products read the same day.
Why is ONLY always discounted on Myntra?
Because the printed price is a starting position. A sounding of 100 listings on 11 September 2026 found 71 reduced, with the shelf collecting 64.8% of MRP and a median price of ₹1,924. The reductions ran across twelve discount rungs on twenty distinct MRPs, which points to markdowns set by tier rather than by garment.
Are ONLY and Vero Moda the same company in India?
They are sister brands in the same group with separate Indian companies. Both were approved in the same government release of 14 October 2014 as wholly owned single-brand retail subsidiaries, and Vero Moda Retail Private Limited is a distinct entity from Only Retail Private Limited. They also price differently: on the same 100-listing sounding, Vero Moda collected 75.0% of MRP against ONLY’s 64.8%.
How we research and verify brand audits: our methodology.
References
- Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Finance, 14 October 2014 — the approved proposal by Bestseller United (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. to set up a wholly owned subsidiary for single brand retail trading of “Only”, at ₹90.39 crore, and the identical proposal for Vero Moda.
- ZaubaCorp, a mirror of the corporate register, read 11 September 2026 — Only Retail Private Limited: CIN, incorporation on 19 October 2015, the “subsidiary of company incorporated outside India” classification, the Andheri East registered office, the first director list, and the 31 July 2023 balance-sheet date.
- The Company Check, a mirror of the corporate register, read 11 September 2026 — Only Retail as “a subsidiary of Bestseller United Singapore Pte. Limited”, revenue of ₹380.85 crore for the year to 31 March 2025 up 73%, and the second, later director list.
- Tofler, a mirror of the corporate register, read 11 September 2026 — Only Retail’s capital and a third director list.
- Tracxn legal entity profile, read 11 September 2026 — the ₹100–500 crore revenue band for the year ending 31 March 2025 and the 73% growth rate.
- ZaubaCorp, read 11 September 2026 — Bestseller Retail India Private Limited: CIN, incorporation on 5 March 2009, non-government company classification, the same building on a different floor, and its two directors.
- The Company Check, read 11 September 2026 — Bestseller Retail India described as a subsidiary of Bestseller Ventures Private Limited.
- ZaubaCorp, read 11 September 2026 — Bestseller Ventures Private Limited: incorporation on 20 September 2018, ₹4 lakh paid-up capital, and its directors.
- BESTSELLER, our company, read 11 September 2026 — founded in 1975 in Ringkøbing by Troels Holch Povlsen and Merete Bech Povlsen, and more than 20 brands including ONLY and VERO MODA.
- BESTSELLER, facts and figures, read 11 September 2026 — HEARTLAND described as the private holding company of BESTSELLER’s owner and chief executive, Anders Holch Povlsen.
- HEARTLAND A/S, financial report 2025, read 11 September 2026 — the statement that HEARTLAND owns 100 percent of BESTSELLER, and the financial year running from 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025.
- BESTSELLER, public factory list page, read 11 September 2026 — the list covering tier 0 suppliers, tier 1 factories and some tier 2 materials suppliers, and the statement that it is updated six times a year.
- BESTSELLER factory list, copy read in full on 11 September 2026 — the rows for Shell Apparels in Bangalore, Messianic Clothing in Noida, Indaco Jeans in Boisar and N.S. Exports in Noida, and roughly 80 Indian rows in total. The copy read carries no date of its own.
- ONLY India, about us, read 11 September 2026 — operations starting in Denmark in 1995, the first Indian store in Mumbai in 2010, the undated “53 Exclusive Brand Outlets, and 140 Shop in Shops till date” count, and the “high quality and great value” line.
- ONLY India product page, read 11 September 2026 — “100% Cotton”, “Made in India”, and Nordic Bazaar (India) Private Limited of Faridabad named as manufacturer, with Only Retail Pvt Ltd as importer and packer.
- ONLY India product page, read 11 September 2026 — “100% Cotton”, “Made in India”, and Messianic Clothing Pvt. Ltd. of Noida 201305 named as manufacturer, matching the factory-list row.
- ONLY India product page, read 11 September 2026 — “98% Polyester-Recycled,2% Elastane” with no standard, scheme or certificate named on the page, and “Made in Hong Kong”.
- ONLY India, footer link list, read 11 September 2026 — the four “about” links, one of them bestseller.com, and no supplier, factory, responsibility or code-of-conduct link.
- Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, rule 6 and rule 10(2) — the requirement to declare the manufacturer or importer with address, the country of origin and the net quantity, and to use the actual corporate name.
- Inside Retail Asia, 25 November 2024 — Vineet Gautam stepping down as chief executive and country head with effect from the end of December.
- Messianic Clothing, about us, read 11 September 2026 — the Noida manufacturer’s own statement that it is a supplier for BESTSELLER and makes licensee products for Vero Moda, ONLY and Jack & Jones.
ONLY is a straightforward buy at a median of ₹1,924, and the ownership is cleaner than most foreign names on an Indian high street. Not a franchise, not a joint venture: the government approved a wholly owned retail subsidiary on 14 October 2014, the company was incorporated a year later, and the group’s owner has sat on its Indian board ever since. On sourcing it does something rare — it publishes a factory list six times a year, and all four manufacturers found on ONLY’s listings are on it.
Two things to know before you buy. The factory list sits on the group’s corporate site and does not say which brand a factory makes for, and the recycled-polyester product page read did not name a certification scheme. And 29 of 40 declarations read named India as the country of origin, so this is a Danish-designed label largely made in India.
Buy it as what it is — well-priced Indian-made denim with a Danish name — and never at full MRP, because seven listings in ten were not.
