The Rise and Rise of Luxury Brands

The who’s who of fashion industry gazed into the crystal ball and made their predictions at The Future of Fashion Forum. This one of a kind platform was created by Whistling Woods Neeta Lulla School of Fashion and held on 25^th January 2014. The fashion forum saw a diverse array of events covering myriad themes related to the fashion industry being addressed.

Some of the themes that were debated on were the Growth of the Fashion Retail Business, Trends and Insights and so on. The forum was commenced with an insight on the Emergence of Luxury Brands in India. Lulu Raghvan, Managing Director of Landor Associates and Shrenik Khasgiwala, Director of Brand Capital, shared their expert views on the topic.

The new generation of young consumers is the main driver of demand for luxury products and experiences that are all the rage right now. As renowned international brands start to become increasingly available, attitudes of the Indian Consumers too are changing. IMRB, a research agency, has noted four attitudes of the Indian Consumer towards the luxury brands, namely Experimentalist, Connoisseurs, Aesthetics and Flaunters.

Lulu Raghvan spoke about the growth of the global luxury market space in India that is growing at a rate of 20% annually. The opportunities for global luxury brands to thrive in India are increasing year on year. Thus, it is very important for brands to know their segment and consumers intimately and increase their connection with them. She describes the four stages at which the brands can connect to the consumers:

• Awareness
•  Exploration and Consideration
• Purchase
• Post Purchase

Shrenik M Khasgiwala, another prominent figure in this field, shared his views. According to him, self- expression should reflect in the design of the products and it is important for the brand to have a sense of empathy for its client. For any brand, it is important to win the home market. India being such a huge market, it offers a huge challenge even for the savvy marketer. He predicts that in 10 -15 years from now, global trends will originate from India.

The session ended with young participants acquiring immense knowledge on the Emergence of Luxury Brands in India and also with the knowledge that there is a lot of shopping to do in the near and distant future!