What is luxury? Is it a supercar that is half jet or is it an Ayurvedic cream packed in a jar? While luxury is clearly relative, the signs are loud and clear; the Indian luxury market is a force to reckon with.
At the Second Indian Luxury Summit, 2014, held in New Delhi, Joydeep Bhattacharya, Partner Bain & Co, summarised the session ‘Luxury retail in India; charting the new map of success’, saying that the world needs to realise that when it comes to India, “we are like that only.” Brands need to move away from a one-size-fits-all paradigm and cater to individual requirements. The need of the day is “patient capital and long-term investors.”
Speakers also highlighted what India can give the rest of the world. State Minister for Commerce and Industry EMS Natchiappan, who delivered the chief guest address at the Assocham event, said, “We’ve got a huge number of artisans who can adapt to any situation and can bring out any type of designs, with respect to various patterns of different countries, owing to their inherent capabilities.
“But they are not exposed to the international markets. They are available in every sector and we are bringing them from villages across India with the help of fashion designing institutes and national handicrafts institutes and we want them to address the needs of the international markets.” Shahnaz Husain, chairperson of Shahnaz Husain Group, said, “India is such a huge market. No country or firm can dare to ignore us. If they do, they will sink without a trace.”
Drawbacks
Even while the potential and demand for luxury in India get highlighted, speakers also touched upon the drawbacks. Francois Arpels, managing partner, IndEU Capital, said that India continued to be plagued by lack of infrastructure, funding and management opportunities.
Virendra Mittal, who hopes to bring the Spanish supercar Tramontana to India, said the Indian market still wants instant luxury over customised luxury. It takes six months to manufacture a single supercar, priced at ₹4 crore. But Indian buyers do not have the patience to wait that long.
Fashion designer Jatin Kochar said international brands need to pay heed to Indian demands, and just as they might create specific lines for the Japanese of Arab body type, they need to do the same for India. The paucity of super premium malls, the prevalence of the grey market and fake luxury goods, high custom duties and other charges were some of the other drawbacks that were highlighted.