I attended a cousin’s wedding this year. Tucked into the usual wedding favours was a hand-written thank you card that mentioned everyone in my immediate family who had attended. When we found the card, we dropped the gifts and gathered around my mother to read what the cousin had written. Now months later, the gifts have been forgotten, but that card, written in her signature, neat calligraphy, has been kept safely and continues to make us smile.
Feeding an art
For the nostalgic, there’s nothing quite like knowing that someone took the time to send you a special physical note. On the other hand, pen nerds online — say on forums on Reddit, the social news website — are constantly fuelling fountain pen discussions and conspiracies around product launches. Instagram’s army of illustrators, with their beautifully-shot videos of work with fountain pens, have revived interest in nibs and unusual inks with romantic names. Add to this the growing bullet journal culture (where to-do lists showcase creativity), and you have many reasons for the luxury pen industry to perk up. This is something cricketer-turned-entrepreneur Dilip Doshi is banking on. As CEO of the Ambiar Group, he is the exclusive retail partner in India for Lamy, the German writing instrument brand. “Even in the digital age, is anyone going to stop writing? No. Writing is second nature to everyone. If you are a person who has ideas to express, there is no better way than to write it yourself. A note on paper has far greater value than an email or SMS. It shows you care,” he says.
Writing implements are seeing renewed interest in this impersonal, WhatsApp-powered age, but the romantic version of the business is backed by numbers, too. The branded writing instruments’ market in India is estimated at ₹2,200-₹3,000 crore. The ballpoint pen segment constitutes the largest chunk, at 70%, followed by gel pens at 20% and fountain pens at 4%. The balance 6% is taken up by luxury pens. The consumer that falls in this category is the one who opts for a Lamy or similar writing instrument. India is often seen as one of the last frontiers of luxury purchasing. The market offers great untapped potential for all kinds of businesses, thanks to growing household incomes. But as many international brands will attest, the luxury sector is underdeveloped in India. Indian consumers have their own tastes and buying habits, largely determined by value for money and affordability. “And there are infrastructural reasons, such as a lack of suitable retail space for luxury brands,” says Doshi.
The clean approach
The trick to entering and surviving in India then is to have a product that has a story to tell — a story that shares the values of the buyer and makes him feel proud and happy to own a piece of the brand’s collection, luxury or otherwise. “Lamy is a product of the Bauhaus movement, which stood for a minimalistic approach in design and materials. It is characterised by economic sensibility and simplicity. That is why Lamy is a lifestyle brand, not necessarily a luxury one,” says Thomas Trapp, managing director (international sales) for Lamy.
“Luxury is a state of mind,” continues Doshi. Despite Indian royalty’s tryst with luxury for centuries, the aspirational consumer comes with a different perspective – and an alternative, experiential approach helps. “Luxury in India is only a price-related tag and not necessarily related to quality. Expensive things are termed as luxury but they are just objects. Luxury, for me, means being able to do what you want to do and having the will to do it,” says Doshi.
Perhaps the willingness to create a counter-culture, with online followers and the creative tribe, is the mainstay of the luxury stationery market in India? At a time of Amazon’s unnerving domination, Facebook’s alleged mockery of democracy and childhood’s fast fade into screens, this disruption of the stationery market provides a soothing escape.
Prices up to ₹40,000. Details: lamyshop.in
