The twain shall meet

RETAIL

The bags and accessories brand Kipling is on its way to India.

At London's Regent Street, inside Kipling store, a group of college girls are arguing excitedly as they help a friend decide on which bag she should choose.

Meanwhile, another couple is checking out Kipling luggage that rests in one corner in bright fluorescent colours.

From the look of it, they seem to have eyes for a trolley and large wheeled duffle in bright pink, a luggage set that we will later see in the special Spring 2006 Kipling catalogue that makes its presence felt prominently at the store's counter.

"See the Indian connection?" smiles the sales girl as we flip pages of the catalogue that has on its cover, a photograph of a model sitting in an Ambassador car and smiling cheerfully even as the luggage stands reassuringly on the tarmac.

Shot in different Indian states including Rajasthan in August 2005 by Dutch photographer Marc de Groot, perhaps the catalogue also showcases what will be in store for Indians in 2006.

What's more, there are Indian names given to some of the products showcased in the new collection. So you have Jaipur, a purple-colour shoulder bag, and Rama, a small clutch bag in bright green. There's also Mudra, a pleated duffle in green, and bags called Goa. Surya and Gopi as well.

"Gaining inroads into the Indian market is like reaching our last frontier," says Richard Macey, vice-president, GM, Kipling who discloses that Kipling will launch its first store in India within the "first half of 2006".

Was the catalogue part of a well-researched strategy? "Not really, but I must say it has worked in our favour, as we have been able to show an Indian connection at a time when we are planning to launch in India," he says.

The brand will be introduced in India by Arvind Mills, that obviously wishes to broaden its product profile into the non-apparel categories by striking a partnership with Kipling, a Belgian bags and accessories brand that started operations way back in 1987 and eventually spread to over 40 countries.

Though he is not telling us where the Kipling store will be opened in India, Macey says that the standalone stores will be opened in New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata by 2006.

Probe a little further and he hints, "The purchasing power of people in New Delhi looks very good and I'm also impressed with the customers' attitude in Bangalore."

He says the company has a gameplan ready and "hopefully within a couple of months our first standalone store will hit at least one of the cities that we have marked in India."

In New Delhi, Kipling will look at 70 sq m of space, and according to Macey, "the store will be quite similar to the one located in London".

The prices of Kipling products will start anywhere from Rs 4,000 and scale upwards for luggage and premium products.

"Our collection is really for the urban working woman who is young at heart and not too formal in her approach," says Macey. Regency fashion adapted to the modern age, one might say. But now in India.