Toasting luxury

Luxury fashion brand Burberry from London sets up shop in India

It's twice the celebration for the British luxury fashion brand Burberry. Year 2006 marks 150 years of production of fine clothing and also marks the brand's official foray into what's widely seen as the most exciting emerging market for luxury goods.

"Sure, some others have had a headstart, but the important thing is that we are here now," says Gangu Batra, CEO of Jashanmal National Company, a Dubai-based retail major and master franchisee for the brand in the Gulf and India.

The question that everybody was asking was why one of the hottest names in fashion wasn't represented here. But Burberry hasn't always been the hottest name in fashion.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the brand witnessed lacklustre sales on account of complaints that its designs were getting repetitive and relying too much on heritage.

Its been smooth sailing since 2001, and the much talked about brand resuscitation from staid to hip, bordering on cult, headed by a dynamic new president (now vice-chairman) Rose Marie Bravo (former president Saks Inc), and head designer Christopher Bailey (formerly under revamp maestro Tom Ford at Gucci).

"It is now a high fashion brand, instead of a classic brand," states Batra.

What Bravo and her new management team also did was realise the opportunities in the high-margin accessories, fragrances and kidswear segments.

Late 2005, Burberry announced a license agreement with Luxottica, a leader in the eyewear sector, for the production and distribution of eyewear under the Burberry name.

For a start, only the Burberry London division of clothing and some accessories are available at the brand's Taj Mahal Hotel store. The offerings will be scaled up soon.

According to Ravi Lalwani, managing director, Media Star, the brand's local franchisee, the store will also stock up on Burberry Prosum, the brand's new high-fashion division, and the eyewear collection later this year.

Lalwani's Media Star has the India sub-franchise for the brand that's distributed through a diversified network of retail, wholesale and franchise channels. The sales team from Burberry is currently in Delhi scouting around for potential premises to set up shop in early 2007.

"The fact that we're present in the Taj Mahal may actually be preferable to being on a high street, since initially we expect 50 per cent of our customer base to be tourists."

Shakil Chaudhry, general manager, retail, Jashanmal National, says, "Burberry is bound to do well because it is the perfect bridge brand, with products that even an up-and-coming young professional can afford." (It is said that Kate Moss posing in a Burberry bikini was enough to halve the average age of customers.) But would Indian luxury patrons go equally ga-ga over its clean lines and classic British sensibility?