New Delhi, Feb 25 Holi may be the festival of colours, but white is what rules the day, as far as clothes go. Shop owners say the demand for white garments — even branded ones — shoots up ahead of the festival.

"The sale of white kurtas certainly increases just before and around Holi. In the women's category, the sales of white kurtas go up almost three times, while for men, the increase is four times what we usually sell," Prableen Sabhaney, head of communications of Fabindia Overseas Pvt Ltd, said.

"Customers usually prefer white cotton kurtas for one-time wear on Holi. Apart from cotton, we also use khadi, mangalgiri and hand-woven cotton," she added.

Anil Arora, director of Sabhyata, said: "Yes, definitely the sale of white increases during Holi. We receive 25-30 percent increment in our sales during this period. Our target group is nearly 15-35 years old."

Holi is celebrated with gusto across the country and in most parts, white outfits become hot favourites as all the colours are visible on it.

For instance, in Bihar, people play Holi with mud in the morning and in the evening, they clean up and change into white clothes and go out to splash coloured powder and water on each other.

"The sale of white cotton kurtas shoots during Holi. For us, there is around a 25 percent demand increase. So we cut down a little on the prices. Normally, our price varies from Rs.250 to Rs.300, which we bring down to Rs.150 to Rs.200 as the festival approaches," said Nathulal, a sales incharge at Khadi Gram Udyog.

Even exporters go through the same pressure to provide their clients with 'white'.

"We receive a hike of 15-20 percent in demand by our clients. White has always been a colour that is accepted very well in India, especially because of the hot climate and as it is a neutral colour," said Vaibhav Verma, marketing head of Previse (garment designer, exporter).

"It's a colour for all seasons and it's for all moods. Yes, for the Holi season it's one of the best bets as it's best suited to add more colour to it."