Indian designer Manish Arora is planning 200 new standalone stores in Asia and Europe – yet he has no exclusive stores in his home market.

The designer is anchoring the expansion plans on a new diffusion brand Happy by Manish Arora.

Countries initially being targeted are China, Japan and Korea in Asia, Italy in Europe and the Middle East. As well as the 200 new stores, Manish Arora is eyeing a further 250 concessions, all within three years according to Fashion United.   

In China the brand will be represented by luxury brand specialist Intrend, with whom Manish Arora signed a distribution deal last December. Intrend has already opened three stores.

Manish Arora, now based in New Delhi, launched his namesake label in 1997 and followed it four years later with Fish Fry, a partnership with Reebok. He has participated in fashion weeks around the world and spent more than a year as creative director of the womenswear collection for French fashion house Paco Rabanne in 2011-12.