The Hindu Business Line : `India ready for Dior'

The LVMH Group has quite a number of other luxury watch brands, such as Tag Heuer. Do you consider them competition? At least in the Indian market? Also now that Tag Heuer has also launched its women's collection here?

Valerie: The LVMH Group does have many brands within the same segment. But our mission in the watch and jewellery division of the Group is to have a wide and large portfolio of products like Chanel, Zenith, FRED and Dior, ranging from lifestyle to creativity to comfortable fashion. Each of these brands has its own positioning and we try not to overlap. There is already very tough competition in the world of luxury watches, and we also have some of our customers going from one of our brands to the other.

Shantanu: Though Tag Heuer has launched a women's collection, the look and feel is very different. Though it has diamonds, it's not a timeless jewellery piece. It has a very professional watch look.

What's your client base like in India?

Shantanu: We target the modern, rich and upper-class woman. Some of them may or may not work, but they are women who want to be modern. We are targeting those who understand luxury. These women want to differentiate themselves from the others not by wearing expensive saris or jewellery but through their spirit. And that category of women is growing.

Given the lifestyles here today, how do you think the perception of this category of women has changed over time?

Shantanu: The biggest change, I think, has been that more and more women are moving away from the conventional forms of dressing to newer and trendier styles that are in tune with global trends. Earlier, luxury for women was gold jewellery; in fact, India has the highest consumer base for gold, or expensive saris. Today, clearly, accessories or ready-to-wear watches are becoming the trends. The woman who buys a Christal today might have bought a diamond bracelet five years ago.

In the South-East Asian region, Japan and China are both very developed markets and still growing at very healthy rates. Where is India placed in comparison?

Valerie: Japan is a very developed market. China is opening and registering phenomenal growth for the past few years. India also has strong prospects. It is difficult to foresee the future. Today we are sure that the consumer here is ready for our brand and luxury, in terms of purchasing power. The biggest issue is finding suitable retail locations since space is a major constraint. What we need is qualitative retail outlets. Second is the issue of heavy import duties. We have decided to absorb these duties and not pass it on to the consumers. We've decided to price our products at par with international rates of our products. I would have liked it better if we could spend more money on advertising. In spite of that, the potential of India is very strong. We believe that India will be amongst the top three countries in South Asia and among the top seven worldwide in five years.

Shantanu: Though there is a lot of change and a lot of luxury malls are said to be coming up, they are still not there. And, though we are present through multi-brand outlets and certain high street locations, we need to have more, like 30 or 40 of them across the country. We can't just be present at five-star hotels otherwise our category will get stifled. Currently we are in 18 locations across seven cities and are also present through Dior boutiques. Our projection is that within the next three years we will have around 34 doors of sale in this country. In fact, we will be a key player in the watch market ranging between Rs 70,000 to Rs 1.20 lakh. We hope to capture 10-12 per cent market share in this area.

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