Get ready to flaunt, La Perla is here

Italian lingerie maker to set up shop next month.

If the adage 'If you've got it, Flaunt it' is what drives the conspicuous spending in the luxury fashion segment, how do you explain spending Rs 55,000 on a pair of limited edition innerwear that will stay, well, Victoria's (for the sake of a name) Secret?

La Perla, an Italian fashion group, known best for its lavish lingerie, is slated to unveil its first Indian store next month.

And Andrea Bonardi, managing director, La Perla Asia, is confident the brand will be able to turn conventional consumer wisdom on its head and rake in annual sales of ¤ 1 million in India "very soon."

And far from taking prudent baby steps, the company has chosen to come in with La Perla, its premium label, instead of Malizia, its second line.

"We've found that in new markets consumers prefer not to be seen as 'compromising'. Besides, for a luxury brand, it's best not to be seen competing for the middle market," says Bonardi.

The ¤ 200 million company that has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with the Murjani group for the Indian market, hopes to have five points of sale by 2012. Directly owned stores via the FDI route is not on the agenda, says Bonardi.

"We just don't have the bandwidth to enter markets directly," he says. Nor does he foresee any strategic investment opportunities here, along the lines of setting up production capacity or acquiring local brands.

La Perla's reputation for innovation and craftsmanship, rooted in Bologna, is so rigorously guarded that outsourcing production will never be an option, according to Bonardi. "The 'Made in Italy' label is our prized asset," he explains.

As for the minor matter of not being able to brandish that same label, he says, "You're paying for technical expertise; getting lingerie right is like a mathematical formula."

That "perfected" formula will cost you anywhere between Rs 8000 - 55,000. But, oh, there is one inner that can become your outer. "The extensively embroidered La Perla bustier (upwards of Rs 60,000) will compliment the Indian sari beautifully," says Bonardi. Now "that" you can flaunt.