At the end of the 19th century, India's maharajahs discovered a Parisian designer called Louis Vuitton and flooded his small factory with orders for custom-made Rolls-Royce interiors, leather picnic hampers and modish polo-club bags. But after independence, when India's princes lost much of their wealth, the orders dried up. Then in 2002 LVMH, the world's largest luxury-goods group, made a triumphant return to India, opening a boutique in Delhi and another in Mumbai in 2004. Its target was the new breed of maharajah produced by India's liberalised economy: flush, flash, and growing in number.
Other purveyors of opulence followed, from Chanel to Bulgari. In recent months a multitude of swanky brands have announced plans to set up shop in India, including Dolce & Gabbana, Hermès, Jimmy Choo and Gucci. And Indian women will soon be invited to spend over $100 on bras made by La Perla, an Italian lingerie firm. Only a tiny fraction, of course, will do so. But it is India's future prospects that have excited the luxury behemoths.
India has fewer than 100,000 dollar millionaires among its one billion-plus population, according to American Express, a financial-services firm. It predicts that this number will grow by 12.8% a year for the next three years. The longer-term ascendance of India's middle class, meanwhile, has been charted by the McKinsey Global Institute, which predicts that average incomes will have tripled by 2025, lifting nearly 300m Indians out of poverty and causing the middle class to grow more than tenfold, to 583m.
Demand for all kinds of consumer products is about to surge, in short. And although restrictions on foreign investment prevent retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Tesco from entering India directly, different rules apply to companies that sell their own products under a single brand, as luxury-goods firms tend to. Since January 2006 they have been allowed to take up to 51% in Indian joint ventures. India is also an attractive market for luxury goods because, unlike China, it does not have a flourishing counterfeit industry. Credit is becoming more easily available. And later this year Vogue, a fashion magazine, will launch an Indian edition.
Barriers to growth remain, however. High import duties make luxury goods expensive. Rich Indians tend to travel widely and may simply buy elsewhere. Finding suitable retail space is also proving a headache. So far most designer boutiques are situated in five star hotels.
But things are changing. Later this year Emporio, a new luxury-goods mall, will open in a prosperous neighbourhood in the south of Delhi.
Though the world economy as a whole has grown in recent years, a factor that is not taken into account is that the number “of the poor in the world has increased by 100 million” (Roy 3). In other words, the gap between rich and poor is widening. For India, this has startling implications. Though it is a nation that is developing in many ways, it also is a nation blessed with over one billion citizens, a population tally that continues to grow at a rapid rate. This population increase will greatly tax resources, which can create a setback in the development process. The tragedy, of course, is that the world is full of resources and wealth. In fact, Roy quotes a statistic showing that corporations, and not even just countries, represent 51 of the 100 largest economies in the world (Roy 3). For a country struggling to develop, such information is disheartening. However, there is also a more nefarious consequence of the growing disparity between rich and poor, and power and money being concentrated in the hands of multinational corporations: war is propagated in the name of resource acquisition, and corruption can reign as multinationals seek confederates in developing countries that will help companies drive through their plans, resulting in not only environmental destruction but also the subversion of democracy (Roy 3).
She transformed traditional, functional country garments into new luxury items, all beautifully tailored and beautifully made in the finest fabrics.
Louis Vuitton, a French designer and entrepreneur quickly made a name for himself in the fashion industry by becoming Napoleon’s wife “personal box-maker and packer.” At the age of sixteen, Vuitton and his family started the legendary workshop by creating travel trunks and the famous unpickable locks in 1859 (Louis Vuitton, 2015). As the legendary brand continues to remarkably exceed both sales and expectations, Louis Vuitton as a brand strives for pure distinction and exclusivity.
Kapferer and Bastien urge fashion luxury companies to not given in to the temptation and pressure to outsource production. “A relocated product is a soulless product, it has no identity, even if it is not actually anonymous as it still bears the brand name; it no longer has any business in the world of luxury. A major difference between a luxury product and a premium product: it is perfectly legitimate for a ‘premium’ product to seek out the most suitable and most economical manufacturing location possible .” Outsourcing for luxury companies only decreases the brand image and quality in the eyes of the consumer. While it might be cost effective and work for premium and mass market companies, Kapferer and Bastien believe this is a colossal downfall for luxury companies.
... anything throughout his life, he worked so hard from the start of a young age by starting when he ran away from home and by soon starting his new life chapter for himself as the designer he turned out to be. Today the Louis Vuitton emblem (LV) that we see has advanced, but the style and glamour of Louis Vuitton has remained at the top in the industry. Many celebrities carry and own Louis Vuitton’s too. One can also buy Louis Vuitton products for their children and pets. Lastly, Louis Vuitton has been around for a very long time in history with their beautiful purses and accessories making not every woman in the world wanting to own one in their life time now, but also every man wanting to own a Louis Vuitton of some sort also. All of this success will allow all of Louis Vuitton’s work to be around and even more successful for many more years to come in the future.
...specific, the prices of leather goods, accessories, watches, jewelry, shoes and ready-to-wear of Louis Vuitton dropped by seven percent in 2008. Besides, Fujii takes some actions to face the challenges. For example, he sets an Internet business to follow the world trend and to enlarge the distribution channel. Also, he increases the product line to cover the children clothes and enlarges the market by opening stores in mid-size and small cities. Since Japan is still a developed country with wealthy families, the Japanese luxury market would still be a healthy and attractive market for Louis Vuitton and these challenges could be overcome in large extent.
The fashion industry has changed over a period of time due to the growth of boundaries. This is attributed to the varying dynamics of the industry; declining mass production, altered structural aspects in the supply chain, need for more affordable cost and quality. This shows that fashion retailers are able to acquire a competitive power in the market through making sure through which they get their products to the market for the consumers (McAfee, Dessain, & Sjoman, 2007). Consumers are hence able to get product easy and of high quality. Fast fashion has been able to meet the needs of consumers while trying to acquire major merchandize turnover to retailers than local rivals. The Zara case study reported sales $8.15 billion to its competitors Hennes & Mauritz 0f $7.87 billion (Dutta, 2002). This was the consumer’s one stop shop due to the quality products offered both globally and locally.
However, when looking to create a luxury brand, one must go beyond what is required of an ordinary brand, to create something of high value and therefore high prices. So instead of just having brand values, it should have brand beliefs, as this will create a stronger emotional connection with its customers. It should aim to go beyond having a logo, but rather a set of distinguishable icons and the brand’s points of sale needs to be somewhere that connects with its customers and becomes something of a pantheon among other retail outlets. Similarly the customer segmentation should have role reversal, so the customers want to buy their products. Luxury brands should instead of actively promoting their advantages over their competitors, never push the customers into buying their products, thereby offering mystique and letting the customers make the value creation. Lastly, a true luxury brand not only offers products but rather a way of life, allowing them to branch out over several product categories, into every aspect of their customer’s
...an HDI of 0.36. These discrepancies in levels of development have led to an exodus of people, from less developed areas to the areas that have been benefitted by development. This situation seems to depict that predicted by the Dependency theory in which the developed countries progressed due to the exploitation of peripheral nations; the same seems to be happening in India. The states that are wealthier are exploiting the poorer states. It would be difficult to imagine India having the economic status that it now has, if it was not for the terrible working conditions and wages at which the Indians are willing to work and the massive work force available in the country. Now that India has seen economic growth the government should start taking care of its citizens by implementing policies that protect the labor rights of the workforce.
Market Size- India’s retail market is expected to nearly double to US$ 1 trillion by 2020 from US$ 600 billion in 2015, driven by income growth, urbanisation and attitudinal shifts. While the overall retail market is expected to grow at 12 per cent per annum, modern trade would expand twice as fast at 20 per cent per annum and traditional trade at 10 per cent.
Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest – ashtagindia. Aashika’s inspiration and the objective behind establishing this company is the desire to offer high street fashion which is made in India to at an affordable price and in the most convenient way possible. She also wants Mumbai to grow as a fashion city and make its mark in the world.
Fashion has been around ever since ancient times, since the time of the Romans, it survived the world wars and is yet today a business with rapid changes. Fashion started off as an art form, a way for the riches to show their social status with unique and innovative designs that only they could afford. It was a way to separate the social classes of the society. In this paper I will include the creator of haute couture, and how the following designers developed couture, as well as having leading names in today’s ready-to-wear industry. The list is long, but I chose to focus on the three most important designers of the modern fashion industry.
By 2002, Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton was the world’s largest luxury products company, enjoying annual sales of 12.2 billion euros. LVMH carries the most prestigious brand names in wine, champagne, fashion, jewelry, and perfume. Upon entrance of this luxury product industry, LVMH was aware that they produced products that nobody needed, but that were desired by millions across the world. This desire in some way fulfills a fantasy, making consumers feel as though they must buy it, or else they will not be in the moment, and thus will be left behind.
“Despite worldwide softness in the sale of luxury goods, LVMH has cemented its position as the world’s largest and most profitable player in the category. To stay there it must keep its customers loyal and its brand strong and find new markets worldwide” (Hazlett C. 2004). That is why in its mission they state to represent the most refined qualities of Western “ art de vivre” all around the world. Their objective is to be the leader in the luxury market, continuing to transmit elegance and creativity. This poses some major challenges, the main one is to keep being the leader in the luxury market through a sustainable growth. The main problem to achieve it is the high dependency on three main countries, France, Japan and USA. This becomes a threat because if there is an economic downturn in one country it affects LVMH directly that is why.
Women’s apparel consists of many of opportunities for women retails. Social media, ethical opportunities for retailers and how the high end designers that are collaborating with different companies to make it affordable for consumer.