Venture of versatility

FASHION: Versace opens a casualwear store in a mall to widen its influence.

Shoppers at Mumbai's CR2 mall in the heart of Nariman Point, the city's famed business district, were in for a surprise last week.

There stood the Versace Jeans Couture store, alongside brand stores like Swarovski and Hidesign. Luxury brand retail in India is evidently in the throes of transformation.

For years, high-end luxury stores dared not venture far from the arcades of five star hotels, and dared not dangle price tags too low "" petrified perhaps of the possibility of repeating Pierre Cardin's fatal errors in India (tacky clothes at none-too-high prices available at a pedestrian shop in a midmarket locality wrecked the brand in the 1990s).

Now, though, luxury labels seem keen to catch attention in places frequented by more than just the wealthy. To be sure, CR2 is an upmarket mall by common reckoning, and this is the second Versace store in India, the first being at Mumbai's J W Marriott, a luxury hotel.

But the big difference is in the product lineup. While the Marriott store has Versace's premium collections aimed at the wealthy, the Jeans Couture store sells the label's second line "" casualwear.

It does have some expensive formal wear (blazers upwards of Rs 40,000, for example), but the focus is clearly on sporty clothes you'd wear casually around the place.

Bright summer cottons, attractive linenwear and the like. A nice range of summer accessories too. And, rather alluringly, orange/pink flip-flops aplenty.

According to a recent survey by AC Nielsen on designer brands, Gucci, Versace and Giorgio Armani are held in the highest esteem by Indians.

"When it comes to the most coveted brand if money were no object, Gucci, Christian Dior and Versace take the lead amongst Indians," reports the survey, "These brands have strong growth potential in new emerging markets like India, possibly because of their 'I have arrived' appeal, combined with a 'glamorous life' celebrity image, particularly appealing to the upcoming nouveau riche."

That last particular Versace would like to contest, perhaps. The name is familiar to the urban sophisticate as the designer with an artfully expressed stance of his own, and one that cost him his life, perhaps (he was shot dead in 1997, in Miami). The question really is whether the subsequent designs live up to his idea of designerwear.

The mall itself, CR2, attracts the young, and lots of them. It houses a cinema multiplex, and also stores such as Revolutions, the footwear range from Liberty, and Aftershock.

Curiosity of foreign design labels ought to be high among this crowd, though whether this results in sales conversion cannot be predicted.

Gucci shall be watching closely. Word is out that it too wants to enter India for a somewhat larger opportunity than just the Indian elite.