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Luxury, it seems, has finally arrived in India. Prada is reportedly in talks to enter the country with its line of shoes, accessories, and apparel. Alexander McQueen, Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney, and Christian Louboutin are all gearing up to open stores. And Louis Vuitton, already at its ten-­‐year anniversary, is looking to expand.

And where exactly are all these luxury stores going to be housed? In the country’s malls.

Unlike in the West, where malls are the familiar domain of the young, malls in India are still aspirational. High-­‐class residents shop there and the middle-­‐ classes aspire to. It’s not just the teens and the college students who hang out at the mall’s food courts, it’s the young married couples on dates in the swanky (and expensive) bars, the families out to dinner at some of the finest restaurants. In a hot, crowded country where local markets are an exercise in pushing, shoving, and negotiating to the last penny, the high-­‐priced stores of the malls provide air-­‐conditioned piece. Home to cuisine from around the world as well as food courts that boast masala dosa and McDonald’s next to each other, the malls of India are a strange space that inhabit two different worlds, a unique blend of the East and the West.

Walk down any mall in the city and stories with labels and high fashion jump out at you. India has awoken to luxury, its middle and high-­‐class residents, many of whom have lived or studied in the West (or aspire to), have more disposable income than ever before in the history of the country.

According to Indian Luxury Review 2011, a report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and consultancy AT Kearney, the local luxury market saw a 20% growth, touching $5.8 billion. India was, in fact, expected to overtake China in 2012 as the world’s fastest growing market for luxury goods, said an October report by Euromonitor.

What happened? There weren’t enough malls to house these brands that are eager to make an entry into the country.

According to newspaper reports, the critical issue right now is the lack of right retail spaces and environment. Last year, Prada was unable to open stores because of this problem as was Hermès, the French brand known for its Birkin bags. To meet this surge in demand for real estate for luxury retail, several well-­‐ known developers have now come up with new projects for malls in many first-­‐ tier and second-­‐tier cities in the country in the next 18-­‐24 months, two of them in the nation’s capital.

Mridu Khullar Relph

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