Craft, capital and Chanel: Inside the gilded ambitions of India’s luxury boom
Rising income levels and growing interest in premium fashion has placed the south Asian country on every designer brand’s radar
India is a curious holdout when it comes to traditional dress: take any street in Mumbai or any train in New Delhi and you’ll see draped sarees, three-piece salwar sets and Madras-checked dhotis fluttering in the breeze, far outnumbering jeans and t-shirts. Homegrown luxury brands have long traded on this pride with the likes of Sabyasachi and Tarun Tahiliani’s ornate lehengas and gilded occasion accessories, but tastes are evolving: the style set is now mixing Anite Dongre and Dior and tying Hermès silk scarves over Raw Mango shifts. India’s cachet is on the rise and the luxury market is watching closely.
Western brands have been eyeing the subcontinent for some time but many have seemed unsure on how exactly to go all in. Regulation is one reason: tight restrictions on foreign ownership means luxury houses must team up with local partners to enter the market. Reliance Retail, headed up by Mukesh Ambani, has come out on top: its Mumbai mall, Jio World Plaza, opened in 2023 and introduced Balenciaga and Dior Mens to the country while expanding the footprint of houses such as Valentino, Versace and Louis Vuitton. Meanwhile, French multi-brand retailer Galeries Lafayette will launch in India in 2025 via a partnership with Aditya Birla Group.
Some brands have already made inroads. For years, Jimmy Choo has crafted Diwali-specific capsule collections. “India has a deep-rooted appreciation for luxury, craftsmanship and glamour,” says the shoe label’s creative director Sandra Choi.
Namrat Klair, the marketing consultant behind LVMH’s presence in the country, has had a front-row seat to India’s growing appetite for luxury. “Over the last decade and particularly post Covid-19, we’ve seen a major shift,” she tells Monocle. When travel was restricted, consumers began shopping domestically – and brands rose to the occasion by upping their in-person presence. They finessed their in-store offerings and pushed for access to collections in step with the global market. Chanel’s managing director of India, Amit Goyal, agrees: Chanel customers are now seeking “exceptional client experiences” at home as well as abroad.
Since Chanel’s entry into the Indian market in 2005, the luxury landscape has shifted significantly. Goyal is optimistic and says he has observed “promising trends” and “consistent growth” for the French maison over the last five years. E-commerce is also promising: the launch of Chanel’s online beauty offering in 2024 was “met with enthusiasm, notably from tier-two and tier-three cities,” he adds. Goyal also teases the arrival of a new Mumbai outpost, which would mark the house’s 10th retail point in the country. In the wake of China’s slowdown and India’s rising purchasing power – the percentage of ultra high-networth individuals in the country is set to balloon by 50 per cent by 2028 – this is a market worth keeping an eye on.
