A cupboard full of beautiful clothes

Yet another publication is talking about the newest darling of the luxury goods industry. This time, it's the Economist that's raving about India's growing prosperity and propensity to spend the big bucks.

Like everyone else, the Economist too talks about the problems facing the luxury behemoths, but I find Luxury Marketing Council boss Devyani Raman's description of India's luxury market rather creative. Made me chuckle, really. But she does make a pertinent point about a very Indian 'value for money' trait.

Last October the Luxury Marketing Council, an international organisation of 675 luxury-goods firms, opened its India chapter. Its boss, Devyani Raman, described India's luxury-goods market as "a cupboard full of beautiful clothes with a new outfit arriving every day — it could start to look messy without the right care."

This, she said, included everything from teaching shop assistants appropriate manners to instilling in the Indian public a proper understanding of the concept of luxury. "How do you educate them," she asked, "about the difference between a designer bag that costs $400 and a much cheaper leather bag that functions perfectly well?"

How indeed.