News from Luxeletter

As you all know, I co-edit a luxury newsletter for my company, and am pasting news from the December issue below. If you would like to receive the newsletter in your inbox, drop me an email and I'll add you to our subscriber's list.

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Breaking the ice
You no longer have to go to New York to enjoy a breakfast of diamonds at Tiffany, for the legendary American jeweller is ready to make its way to India in February 2008. Tiffany & Co.’s first India store will be housed at DLF Emporio in Delhi, with more stores in the offing post the launch.


Tailor-made for India
Italian luxury menswear retailer Ermenegildo Zegna is in expansion mode in India. The company is exploring the idea of bringing a small division that will sell fabric from its textile mill to local tailors. This will be in addition to off-the-shelf and custom-made shirts and suits it currently sells in India. Zegna has a stringent process to choose tailors who will get its fabric based on the quality of their tailoring, clientele and the space they can provide.


Elevated experience
Celebrating its much-awaiting opening in India, Jimmy Choo will host two back-to-back soirées in Mumbai. On December 6, the UK-based brand will host an English High Tea instead of the regular cocktail party at its store at The Galleria, Nariman Point. The following day, clients will be invited to the store for a day-long, in-store celebration to view the collection and experience the store. If you are in Mumbai on December 7, drop by for a glass of champagne.


Zooming ahead
After bringing luxury car maker Porsche to India, Ashish Chordia of Shreyans Motors now has plans of introducing the Italian bike company Ducati to the country. While Porsche made its debut in Mumbai and Delhi last month, Ducati is set to arrive early next year. Apart from automobiles, Chordia has also made a foray into luxury apparel and accessories with brands like Fendi and Etro.


Three’s a charm
Louis Vuitton will launch its third store in Bangalore at UB City - The Collection, the group’s luxury mall. Set to open by mid-2008, LV also has plans to open additional stores in Mumbai and New Delhi and expand into smaller cities like Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. Later this month, one of the hot tickets will be the LV-hosted polo event with Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra in attendance.

LV to open store in Bangalore

On Tuesday (November 6), Louis Vuitton announced the launch of its third store in India in the garden city of Bangalore. The store will be housed at UB City - The Collection, the UB Group's luxury mall set to open by mid-2008.

LV also has plans to open additional stores in Mumbai and New Delhi, and is considering making a foray into cities like Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

The French companym which produces luxury leather goods, fashion accessories, pret-a-porter and jewellery, is looking at India as a fast emerging market for luxury goods.

Source: The Hindu

UB City to house luxury mall in Bangalore

Hot on the heels of the story I wrote on Indian developers going on the fasttrack to luxury retail development recently, the UB Group has announced its plans to open UB City - The Collection in Bangalore by mid-2008.

A joint venture between UB Holding and the Prestige Group, UB City will house the 1.25 lakh sq. ft. luxury mall with international luxe labels like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Alfred Dunhill, Rolex, Omega, among others.

Apart from retail space, UB City, developed at over Rs 300 crore across 1.4 million sq. ft., also offers office space, service apartments (managed by Oakwood Premium) and a 250-room luxury hotel from J W Marriott.

Source: Sify.com

LV factory in India

French luxury label Louis Vuitton is looking to construct its first factory outside Europe and the US, near the Indian city of Pondicherry.

A person familiar with the company's plans said the factory would attach soles to the uppers of Louis Vuitton shoes, which sell for hundreds of pounds a pair. However, he added that the shoes would still bear the prestigious 'Made in Italy' label because the vast majority of work on them would continue to be carried out in Italy.

Source: MSNBC

LV's 'Vision'ary

Marc Jacobs really likes going that extra mile with his artistic vision, and so he's guest edited the 52nd installment of the fashion-forward quarterly magazine Visionaire. He has collaborated with photographers Mert Alas and MArcus Piggott as artistic director on a series of intimate portraits of celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johanssen, Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney, among others.

The 192-page collector's edition debuts in October and will be sold for a whopping $375. The price tag is because the magazine will come housed in a limited-edition Louis Vuitton gold-monogram Miroir case.

Strategic alliance

A little late in the day to post about this, but I've been meaning to write about what Louis Vuitton could gain by picking up a 20 per cent stake in the decidedly middle-range Indian leather hangbag and accessories brand Hidesign.

Now that I've given it some thought, I've realised this: In a market that is growing increasingly spendthrift (plenty of young, single men and women with high disposable income), it's nothing but good news for a conglomerate that manufactures luxury goods.



The way the Pondicherry-based Hidesign sees it, a high-end brand needs a touch of exclusivity. By offering LVMH a stake, the brand is seeking a greater understanding of manufacturing leather goods and a leg-up in new markets. With the might and prestige of LV behind it, this is a sureshot winner.

As for LV, Hidesign could be it's answer to the mass luxury brand (if there is such a paradoxical thing) Coach. The US-based brand has been making an increasing dent in LV's customer base and bottomline, considering its prices are far cheaper than both LV and other brands in LVMH's portfolio. Using Hidesign to combat competition from mass luxury brands by positioning it as one is indeed a clever strategy.

Someone remind me why I'm not working for LVMH please?

Image courtesy: Reuters

Luxury totes

I recently posted an entry about Anya Hindmarch's $15 'I'm Not A Plastic Bag' canvas tote and decided to check out how other luxury labels fared in this relatively affordable bag category. I'm an absolute sucker for canvas totes, so these designer ones really had me drooling. My favourite so far is the Jimmy Choo Keeya printed tote, with black leather trim. It's so colourful I'm perky just looking at it!



I also really like this Fendi tote. It's clean and sporty and I really like the brown cotton web handle detail.



Then there's the Louis Vuitton 'That's Love' tote, which has used the brand's signature monogram with a fun twist. Apparently, the monogram has been embroidered with 620 gold and silver threads. The Devil is in the details, eh?



Here's another stylish canvas tote from Louis Vuitton from the Damier collection with leather trimmings and golden brass hardware.



This one is not canvas, but I'm loving it nevertheless. The Bottega Veneta Ostrich tote in a gorgeous tan colour is supple, durable and oh-so-drool worthy. There's also a limited edition Python Tote of the brand's signature leather tote using the same Intrecciato weave. Now this is the one I want!

Luxury, less flashy

Here's a look at Catherine Deneuve posing for the new Louis Vuitton campaign that I'd previously written about here. Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have posed for this campaign too, but I haven't been able to find a picture of them yet.

Personally, I'm really liking this new campaign. From a consumer's point of view, it's helping LV shrug off its decadent image by using classy, real world people instead of airheaded models and/or flaky celebrities. Who doesn't want to be in the same league as them?

Clever. Very clever.

I want!

... an iPhone and a super luxurious case for it from Louis Vuitton. With the iPhone set to become the must-have gagdet of the century, it's no surprise that the luxury goods maker is one of the first to come out with a case to complement the phone.

The cases, priced between $225 to $1,120 (they actually cost more than the iPhone!), come in materials from the classic monogram canvas to real alligator skin and will be available exclusively at LV's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan from Monday (July 16).

Of course, those of us in parts of the world not called America will have to wait until next year to even get a glimpse of the phone, let alone these uber sexy cases.

Life's a bitch and all that.

Source: Outblush