What does it take to be the next Ralph Lauren, Cartier or Chivas Regal from India? This question comes up often in my numerous interactions with luxury experts worldwide. So, when I was asked to list down India’s five best chances to be the next luxury power brands in New York, Berlin or Moscow, I couldn’t resist. At the outset, I must point out that this is not a financial evaluation of brands but a theoretical discussion based on brand promise and values.
What are the qualities that make a luxury brand unique and globally aspirational? Authenticity and craftsmanship, unique offering linked to the place of origin, sharp positioning, consistent storytelling and finally a global product appeal are key parameters that make a brand transcend boundaries.
The first point is self-explanatory: there aren’t any true luxury brands that are built without having a handcrafted, artisanal approach. In fact, that’s often the primary bragging right for brands to command those exorbitant premiums associated with rare luxury. Also, strong linkage with the place of origin makes a product and brand unique and relatable. Champagne, scotch and luxury watches quite naturally are appropriated by France, Scotland and Switzerland respectively. Much effort goes into telling their stories, underlining how others can’t quite match the quality of brands coming from these designated regions of excellence. Telling a story consistently is another quality intrinsic to luxury brands; changing brand value propositions every now and then is never a great idea. Breitling stands for aviation watches as strongly as Hermes stands for handcrafted French minimalism. And lastly, brands that are global in nature always address a global need. Otherwise, they remain brands catering to a particular diaspora. A saree or a kimono brand can be fabulous but will only cater to Indians and Japanese clientele respectively.
It is based on these qualities that I pick five Indian luxury offerings that can truly go global.
Raghavendra Rathore Jodhpur
In case Ermenegildo Zegna’s recent investment in Raghavendra Rathore’s company for a minority stake is any indication of the brand’s global ambition, it would be an understatement. Zegna knew he was buying into the Indian designer’s ability to take the bandhgala (the quintessential Indian close-collared jacket) global. And to make it a part of the wardrobe of the elite, just as the tuxedo did with glitzy red carpets around the world. The deal was also the first investment by a European luxury group in an Indian menswear brand.
Rathore is the descendant of Rao Jodha, the founder of Jodhpur. His royal lineage is subtly evident but not a dominating trait in his label’s luxurious fabrics, refined aesthetics, sophisticated sense of style and handcrafted workmanship — the reasons cited by Gildo Zegna for this unique partnership.
Ticking the box of getting endorsed by celebrity patrons is so critical for moving higher in the pecking order of luxury leaderboards. RR Jodhpur’s perfectly tailored outfits worn by A-listers like actors Amitabh Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan, industrialist Mukesh Ambani and Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, among others, helps.
Eagerly await Rathore to conquer the world of haute couture with his signature bandhgala, Jodhpur breeches, pocket squares and handcrafted leather shoes. Having a royal history linked with the glorious past of the city of Jodhpur adds authenticity and credibility to the brand to take it global.
Fabindia
This sixty-year-old brand, which has India in its name and wears Indian on its sleeve, is well-poised to go global. Founded as an export company for home furnishings in 1960 by John Bissell in New Delhi, Fabindia has come a long way since then. Bissell, a consultant for the Ford Foundation, believed in the emerging Indian textile industry and was determined to showcase Indian handloom textiles as a way to provide employment to traditional artisans.
John’s son William took over in 1998 after the death of his father. Working with rural artisans and crafts co-operatives across Rajasthan, William was instrumental in the formation of various weavers’ cooperatives. This was also the phase of shifting focus to domestic retail, and soon Fabindia had over 100 stores in India.
It’s only in 2000 that Fabindia added non-textile products to its offerings: organic foods in 2004, followed by personal care products in 2006, and finally its range of handcrafted jewellery in 2008. It now sells a variety of products ranging from textiles, garments, stationery, furniture, home accessories, ceramics, organic foods and bodycare, besides exporting home furnishings. As part its expansion plans, Fabindia sold 6 percent stake at an estimated $11 million to private equity firm Wolfensohn Capital Partners in 2007. Today, the company has retail outlets in all major cities of India, in addition to stores in Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar, Rome and Guangzhou.
With its product mix and founding ethos, Fabindia fits in with the values of the post-Covid age. There can’t be a better time for the world to adopt the brand.
Fabindia’s prices are low as it’s not as commercially driven as most traditional luxury brands. For the naysayers who feel it isn’t a luxury brand due to its rather affordable pricing strategy for most products, the answer lies in the mission statement of the brand that has remained unchanged over the past six decades: To empower rural artisans.
Hapusa Gin
Who would have assumed even seven years ago that India would make some of the finest gins in the world? In 2015, two bar owners in Delhi, Anand Virmani and Vaibhav Singh, spotted the gin revolution that was sweeping the world and started their journey in pursuit of that perfect gin. They went traditional with copper pot still and experimented with every spice, herb and fruit they could lay their hands on. Thus was born Greater Than, a brilliant copper pot-distilled London Dry Gin and Hapusa, the world’s first Himalayan Gin. Distinctly different in tasting notes, Hapusa offers pine forest on the nose and wildflowers on the palate.
Marketed by the Nao Spirits, Hapusa Gin is already exported to the US, UK, Italy, Russia, Norway, Hungary and Singapore. And my choice of Hapusa over Greater Than, which is a fabulous gin as well, is purely on the distinctiveness offered by the former, being the first Himalayan Gin in the world using only local botanicals.
Hidesign
Leather is a worldwide language and global luxury brands like Montblanc and Hermes are proof. Hidesign would have made it to the top of this list a decade ago but has lost a bit of its mojo from the mid-2000s. Sheer brand promise still makes me include it here as it is clearly India’s most stylish leather goods manufacturer. 2008 is when LVMH came looking for them for a minority stake, and the world was waiting for Hidesign to make the cut in the next decade or so. But that unfortunately hasn’t happened yet.
Based in Puducherry, with production facilities spread over five manufacturing units across India, the brand has operations in over 20 countries including markets like the US, UK, Australia, Spain, Portugal and New Zealand. Key products include handbags, briefcases, travel bags, wallets, belts, jackets, shoes and sunglasses.
The international look and feel of Hidesign originated when founder Dilip Kapur worked part-time in a leather factory while completing his studies at the famed Princeton University. After he came back to India, he started buying leather from Chennai to design bags in Auroville. The brand made its foray into the international market first. Hidesign reached Germany, Australia, England and USA and scaling up happened. It started producing for India much later.
Part of Hidesign’s success in the global market was also due to Kapur’s effort in going back to the roots and deciding to work with high-quality vegetable-tanned East India (E.I.) leather, available close to Puducherry itself. The technique was exhaustive and it involved keeping the hides soaked for 40 days in a combination of wattle bark and myrobalan seeds. The hides were then rubbed with pungam oil, a local oil that made leather more supple. Kapur continued to innovate further for ecological tanning, a cause greatly appreciated by an aware global clientele. Each Hidesign bag since the first day of export to the US and Europe was ecologically tanned and natural and reflected craftsmanship, essential criteria for a luxury lifestyle brand to succeed on the world stage. The current challenge for the leadership at Hidesign is to bring back the mojo it possessed in the 2000s.
Amrapali
Amrapali, the famous royal courtesan said to have lived around 500BC in India, represents timeless beauty and grace by offering inspiration, intuition and vision. The timelessness of the legend and her immediate association to feminine beauty and Indian heritage set the vision of the jewellery brand from Jaipur.
The passion of founders Rajiv Arora and Rajesh Ajmera, two history students and custodians of ancient Indian heritage, is reflected in each exquisite jewellery piece made by the House of Amrapali.
The world of luxury values tradition, craftsmanship, uniqueness and modern interpretation of ancient aesthetic and technique, all abundantly available in each Amrapali creation.
Already available in luxury hotspots in the US, UK and China as well as neighbouring Sri Lanka and Nepal, Amrapali can write a new chapter as the jewellery of the world alongside the likes of Harry Winston, Chopard and Mikimoto.