Rahul Mishra’s store nestling in a narrow Kalaghoda lane in Mumbai is one I often walk past on my way to work, and there is always a moment to peek in and see the clothes on display. The designer is known not only for his exquisite workmanship and details, but also for his cuts and silhouettes. It is only pleasurable window-shopping as far as I am concerned - Mishra is a bit out of my league.
So, the recent news that Reliance Retail would partner with the designer for a ready-to-wear collection is a welcome one. While a ready-to-wear designer collection is not priced at high street prices, it certainly becomes more accessible to a larger swathe of consumers.
Rahul Mishra is not the first designer to sign up with Reliance. The retail giant has earlier joint ventures with Anamika Khanna, Ritu Kumar and Manish Malhotra. All three are very established designers, with loyal customers season after season. Meanwhile, Aditya Birla Fashions, another big player in the retail fashion space, has signed on fashion heavyweights Sabyasachi and Tarun Tahiliani as well as the very popular Masaba Gupta, who is both a designer and a lifestyle icon.
FEEDING A DEMAND
Fuelled by a growing NRI and domestic market for luxury fashion, Indian designers are a good investment opportunity for retail companies looking to expand their fashion and lifestyle reach. Younger fashion consumers - much more aware of fashion and trends - represent a market waiting to explode; so, it is a good time to enter. Post-pandemic wardrobe resetting and revenge shopping are not a fantasy.
How does this work out from a designer’s perspective? Freedom at one level. A partnership/JV ensures the designer has access to capital, to experienced marketing teams, logistics and warehousing management and retail teams to ensure store openings nationally and internationally. I am sure it is sheer relief if you are a creative person to know that someone is handling that part of the business, leaving you to do what you do best – design.
One only has to look at luxury conglomerate LVMH to see how deep this could stretch. Besides its own iconic and eponymous Louis Vuitton label, the company has 75 ‘houses’ under its portfolio. While the portfolio covers six classic luxury heads including watches and wines, fashion and leather goods have 14 ‘houses’. Names include Loewe, Dior, Givenchy and Fendi. Each one as much in the exclusive high-end luxury fashion space as the other, often catering to the same high-end consumer, but their individual identities and brand core are distinct and kept that way. If you weren’t looking, you wouldn’t know they were owned by the same company.
PROS AND CONS
We are going to see more focussed partnerships or buy-outs in the next few years and it will help designers and the fashion industry to grow. It looks like a win-win and it makes so much business sense, but there is always the human cost of brand expansion. There is the danger of creative burnout when designers are under pressure to produce collections and ready-to-wear and jewellery and whatever else the contract stipulates within the agreed timeline. And then there is the danger of losing your own brand name if you don’t deliver.
(Geeta Rao has been Regional Creative Director, Ogilvy and has devoted many column inches and years to advertising and brands.)
