Fast track fashion

A chat with Tikka Shatrujit Singh, brand advisor, Louis Vuitton India, on the value of hosting a luxury conference in India

What is the importance of hosting a luxury conference in India?

The India of today hardly reflects the glorious heritage of our past. Look at our housing colonies today. Kapil Sibal says 80 per cent of Delhi is illegally constructed. And you can't even hope to take an afternoon stroll anywhere; you take your first step and have your LV heel stuck in a crack in the pavement.

Policies have been dictated to us by people who didn't care about standards; that has to change, and will change. Tarun Tahiliani put it best when he said that we are now in a position to be inspired by the past and yet integrate it with a new generation of people who won't take shoddiness for an answer.

The idea of the conference was to show the global community how far removed we now are from the closed-door policy of the past, how India is prepared to set new benchmarks of quality standards, whether in fashion, food, or services, in order to be compared with the best.

What will be the fallout of the conference?

The biggest fallout of the conference, by far, is that luxury is suddenly no longer a taboo subject. It used to be considered inappropriate to flaunt your luxury purchases.

Also, the government is now keen to reap the benefits of a luxury boom. They see that there is a potential of great employment generation.

Handmade haute couture is getting prohibitively expensive in Europe, so I think once we establish our stringency of quality standards, there will be more and more brands that divert their high value workmanship here. That will be our chance to showcase India as a world class supply base.

I also imagine that the formation of an Indian luxury council will follow.

How "luxury ready" is India?

The consumers are ready, the volumes are there, and there is far greater awareness that has come through media and travel. But how does one deliver as a luxury brand?

No luxury brand will compromise on the standards of delivery. We now need fast track infrastructure development projects. The issue of FDI comes second only to infrastructure, as far as luxury brands are concerned.

What are LV Trading India's expansion plans?

We are considering expanding to Calcutta, Bangalore and Chennai over the next two years, along with starting a second store in both Mumbai and Delhi.