India in vogue for foreign brands amid global growth uncertainties

MUMBAI: It has been busy couple of months for global brands in India. Italian fashion retailer OVS made its debut in the country earlier in Oct, other global chiefs toured the region to introduce new launches and take stock of the market that has been growing even as prospects of global growth remain clouded with tariff-related uncertainty. For many brands, the slowdown in the US and China have been a major drag on growth. India's young population is a big pull for most lifestyle brands as the cohort is key to driving consumption, influencing household purchases and shaping brand narratives. For most companies, the market is also among the fastest-growing backed by higher disposable incomes and a new crop of rich who can afford to spend big."Europe is an important area for us but it is on an average, an older part of the world.

We cater to millennials and the perfect platform to do that is India. We are looking at India with a special eye as it is also the future of the brand," said Barbara De Rigo, owner at Italy's De Rigo Group which operates its eyewear and watch brand Police in India through retail partnership with players such as Titan. In an interaction with TOI here last month, she said that the US and China, among the firm's biggest markets are 'suffering,' after tariffs.

"India is outstanding given the worldwide situation," De Rigo said, hinting that the company is looking at the possibility of manufacturing locally. Even as the US consumer spending data for Aug has been better than expected, economists estimate spending to slow considerably by the end of the year due to high prices, international media reported. Be it an accessible luxury brand, a premium one such as Police or a mass player such as OVS that offers an average selling price of about Rs 2,200, companies are leveraging the scale and diversity of the Indian market to expand. In the last couple of years or so, there has been an influx of different tiers of global brands in India. Stephane Waser, MD at Swiss watch brand Maurice Lacroix said that consumer appetite for accessible luxury watches in India has been on the rise and very few global markets today are showing a similar traction. "We have seen an evolution of India which is incredible," said Waser, pointing to an expanding infrastructure and increasing spending power.

For the brand which forayed into the local market in 2019, India is already among its top ten markets globally and the "ambition is to get in top five in 2-3 years," said Waser. The brand has hit a "sweet spot" in terms of pricing in the region (starts at 1000-1300 Swiss Francs or a little over Rs 1 lakh) and widening its reach in India shouldn't be a challenge, Waser added. New entrant OVS typically operates in international markets through franchise partnerships but in India, it has entered directly given the country's high growth potential. "India is a very strategic country. We have built a local team here," said global chief retail officer Carmine Di Virgilio.