After a decade in the business, Cecilia Morelli-Parikh, believes she has figured out that rare species – the Indian luxury consumer. The co-founder of Le Mill, one of the first concept stores in India, Parikh came to India for a year-long assignment in 2007, and ended up settling in Mumbai. Today, she’s one of the mainstays of India’s fashion scene and is in the news for everything from her personal style to her taste in contemporary Indian art.
But what she has gained most in the last decade of working in the country is some great insight into the mind of the average luxury consumer here. “Today’s consumer is definitely much more sophisticated and much more aware of brands and seasons – and I think social media has a big role to play in keeping customers updated about seasons and relevance – and this benefits us,” says Parikh.
Why then have brands hesitated to make official forays into the Indian market? The answer, she says, is two fold. For one, the pool of luxury buyers in India is extremely small.
“It’s a very small community of about 20,000 to, at the most, 1,00,000 people who can afford and really understand luxury, which is a very small pool if you look at the size of the country.” And then, of course, there’s the old infrastructure issue, which keeps brands from looking towards India as an option.
Retail study
So what is the average luxury shopper like? According to Parikh, women in India tend to buy dresses for special occasions, so that is their best-selling category. Women also recycle their pants and tend to buy a lot of new tops, which is why brands that make seperates seem to do really well.
The average Indian customer is sophisticated, well-travelled and practical. She decides how her clothes fit the day she has planned. “Today I think more women tend to plan for looks that take them from meetings to school pickups and more,” says Parikh.
Have there been brands that didn’t work as well as planned? “We love Erdem, and about five years ago we started stocking them in store for a few seasons, but the Indian customer wasn’t gravitating towards their pieces. Erdem is less sexy than other brands at a certain price range, and women here didn’t pick it up,” she says. What does work is Saint Laurent under Anthony Vacarello, and Loewe bags, which do really well , she adds.
Back to boutique
One trend that Parikh has noticed globally is the return to boutiques. “In America, department stores are struggling, mostly because a sophisticated customer doesn’t need 1,00,000 random things to choose from, but 100 of the right kind of curated things and that’s why boutiques like us do well.”
But now that international stores in the US as well as the UK ship foreign brands to India, they’re the competition for standalone stores. “Net-a-porter, Matches.com – these are our competitors because all our clients shop online, but where we have an advantage over them is the expense of shipping,” says Morelli-Parikh. Clothes at Le Mill are never more 10% above the price in Europe and it’s at least 20% cheaper than the stores in Dubai or Hong Kong. “If you’re going to ship something in from abroad, you’re paying 30 to 40% import duty on retail price and we think we can be competitive with that.”
Another factor that Parikh believes will work in her favour, logistics. “If you’re going to try and return something you’ve bought online, you’re not going to get the duty back, so that does give us a sort of edge,” she admits, although she quickly adds, “But not forever, I’m sure.”
Quick questions:
Best part of living in India?
I never thought I’d like jewellery until I moved to India! Gem Palace is my favourite. One local clothing brand that I just love is Eka, and an Indian designer who I think can be really big internationally is Anamika Khanna. Her clothes translate really well into a western aesthetic.
Who do you think has great style?
Celebrities who I think have a great sense of style are Sonam Kapoor, she’s here often to shop with us, and Jacqueline Fernandes, who has a great urban, street vibe to what she wears. Internationally, I think Michelle Williams and Alicia Vikander (both Louis Vuitton girls) are great.
What are your favourite concept stores?
Three concept stores that inspired me back when we were launching Le Mill were Colette, Paris, Dover Street Market and Merci, again in Paris.
