‘The Whole World Is Watching’

How have you seen the Indian luxury market evolve in the past five years?
Until five years ago the markets were closed. Today there is a middle class, which is aspiring and wants to be recognized, and there is an extremely wealthy class. There are Bollywood stars, young politicians, tycoons—different segments in society that have achieved great success. And many of these people grew up with stories of the great maharajahs who patronized these brands, so the modern generation in India has been exposed to these brands indirectly for a longer time than, say, the Chinese market. The potential five years from now is enormous. The only thing holding us back right now is that luxury infrastructure is so bad, in terms of a retail environment.

How did people access luxury brands before the companies set up shop here?
Luxury has always been ingrained in us, so it's not something alien. Most affluent people would travel and see what was happening and pick things up. It was difficult to bring things back, because there was a limited foreign exchange and customs was hard on people. But now it's all different. Three hundred private jets were ordered by Indian customers last year. Perhaps the golden years are yet to come, but we are building a foundation.

What do you feel constitutes a particularly Indian idea of luxury?
I think something which is timeless. A piece of jewelry or a piece of luggage which my great-grandfather used, and now I use. Wonderful things that can be passed on to future generations. Western luxury companies became successful because of Indian patronage from the rulers that revived them after they had collapsed after the Great Depression. A lot of credit must be given to the maharajahs. They also built the reputation of these companies because of the extravagant pieces they commissioned. India is the last frontier in which you still have these kinds of luxury products.

Where do you think the luxury market is headed in the next five to 10 years in India?
Look at the automobile market. Growing up there were these awful small cars, uncomfortable, badly made. Today if you go to a party at someone's home you'll see Bentleys, Jaguars, Porsches. If you go out in the evening, women are carrying the latest bags, the newest watches. They want the best and they have the money. We just haven't been able to deliver our goods to them. I see a radical change in the landscape coming. Developers are beginning to understand what luxury retail is all about, and they are starting to create the right environment, a destination where people can come and spend money.

Traditionally, luxury has been a category that could be enjoyed by only a tiny percentage of the Indian population, but today that is shifting. What kind of effect do you see this democratization having on the kinds of goods and services offered?
Well, there is a price point for everything, and at the highest levels the exclusivity is still intact. If you're a tycoon you might have everything custom-made, whereas someone with less funds might just be buying a wallet or a belt, then might move on to buying a bag or a watch. There are thousands of products at different price points. In this sense, luxury is accessible to everybody who is interested and can afford it.

What is the difference between the way imported vs. national brands are perceived in India?
We don't really have what we would consider our own big luxury brands in India today. We have master craftsmen, but for some reason we don't have the brands. Perhaps it's because we never marketed our products. The master tailor who made my shervanis remained small, but in the West he might have been packaged and sold to the public and could have become a huge brand. It's also a different psyche—the individual wasn't as important. History doesn't know who cut the Koh-i-Noor diamond, but we do know who recut it and remounted it after the British took it.