The Devil wears Prada but God wears Gucci!!

"Do you wanna know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing."—this iconic line by a teenager named Brooke Shield catapulted her into instant fame and the rest as they say is history.

A few days back I was browsing through the perfume section of The Landmark store in Bangalore which was choc-a-bloc with high profile brands like Hugo Boss, Davidoff, and Chanel. Although it seems strange now but a few years back the typical well-heeled Indian had to wait to travel abroad to buy their favorite designer wears, perfumes and accessories or ask their NRI friends to grab the stuffs from Duty-Free stores in the airports. With the opening up of the Indian economy and a higher disposable income Indians are welcoming the most sought after brands and labels with great fervor. With greater FDIs in retail we might many other brands coming to cash in on the great Indian retail story which is expected to see boom time in the coming years. Retail space is a great concern in the Indian metros and many of the brands prefers high streets for their outlets or in the 5-star hotels, and it will take some time to iron out some of these pain points.

I saw a Reebok T-shirt proclaiming that there are two people in one and my materialistic side is eyeing a nice haute couture Hugo Boss suit, Davidoff CoolWater Perfume, Shoes by Clarks, and a sleek watch by Omega :-) Down with increasing consumerism and materialism... but atleast let me try for once...

I browsed the web and made a list of all the luxury brands that have opened shops in India, although they are still limited to the metros.

Tommy Hilfiger
• India Operation: Tommy Hilfiger has-
– 9 free standing stores across 7 cities
– Licensed products are available in over 300 selected retail stores across the country.

GUCCI
• Line of Business— women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, fine jewelry, furniture, and more.
• Gucci operates 425 stores worldwide and it wholesales its products through franchisees and upscale department stores
• Revenues of €8.7 billion
• India Operation: One store in The Galleria, Mumbai
• Gucci is the second biggest selling fashion brand after LVMH .
• AC Nielsen has rated GUCCI as India's most desirable brand.

Bottega Veneta
• Line of Business— men's and women's ready-to-wear clothing, small leather goods, and exclusive home items
• Revenues of €267 million in 2007
• The company merged with Gucci Group in July 2001.
• India Operation:
– One store in The Galleria, Mumbai

MOSCHINO
• Line of Business— women's and men's fashion, accessories, perfumes
• It has 4 stores and 31 in-store boutique operations around the world
• Revenues of $284 million (2001)
• India Operation: 2 stores
– New Delhi, a 140 sq.m boutique at One Style Mile
– Mumbai at the Taj Mahal Palace & Towers.

ROBERTO CAVALLI
• Line of Business— women's clothing, sunglasses, men's clothing, women's & men's shoes, handbags, timepieces, underwear, beachwear, eyewear, kid’s line.
• It has 200 stores around the world
• Revenues of €700 million in 2007 (doesn’t report its earnings )
• India Operation:
– 2 stores in Mumbai and New Delhi are in the pipeline

Marks and Spencers
• Line of Business— largest clothing retailer in the country, as well as being a multi-billion pound food retailer
• Revenues of £7.798billion of –worldwide
• 760 stores world wide in 30 countries

Indian Operation: M&S has 12 stores in India across-
• Bangalore
• Chennai
• Gurgaon
• Hyderabad
• Lucknow
• Mumbai (3)
• New Delhi (2)
• Pune
• Kolkata

MANGO
• Line of Business— luxury leather goods, fragrances and clothing,
• Revenues of €1.1 billion (2002)worldwide
• Mango has 850 stores in 81 countries around the world
• Indian Operation: Mango has 4 stores in-
– Bangalore
– Mumbai (2)
– Gurgaon
– New Delhi (Opening shortly in Select City Walk)

FCUK
• Line of Business— Western formals to casuals for men and women and Accessories
• Revenues of £265.7 million in 2005
• FCUK operates in over 25 nations with 1500+ outlets
• India Operation: 5 outlets in India (as of Oct, 2007)
– Mumbai (3
– Delhi
– Pune

Calvin Klein
• Line of Business— jeans, coats, underwear, fragrances and home decor to watches
• 760 stores world wide in 30 countries
• Revenues of £7.798 billion worldwide
• Indian Operation: Calvin Klein hopes to have
– at least 20 to 25 points of sale in the 1st year in-
• Mumbai
• Delhi
• Chennai
• Bangalore
• Hyderabad
• Kolkata

HUGO BOSS
• Line of Business- high-end apparel, accessories, perfumes
• Hugo Boss brands are available 103 countries and more than 5,002 retail stores.
• The brands are Boss, Hugo, and Baldessarini.
• Revenues of € 1.270 billion (2006)
• India operation: Hugo Boss has 4 stores in India
– Delhi (2)
• [Recorded sales worth Rs 10 crore in 2005]
– Mumbai
• [Recorded sales worth Rs 7 crore in 2005]
– Bangalore [The Leela Palace]
– In the pipeline are stores in Chennai and Hyderabad

ARMANI
• Line of Business- accessories, apparel, cosmetics, fragrances, home interiors, jewelry, eyewear and watches
• Armani sells under the various labels including-
– Giorgio Armani
– Armani Collezioni
– Emporio Armani
– Armani Jeans
– Armani Junior
– Armani Exchange AX
– Armani Casa
• Armani has nearly 300 stores in 36 countries around the world
• Revenues of $1.69 billion (2005)
• Indian Operation: Armani has 4 stores in India in-
– Mumbai
– New Delhi

COCO CHANEL
• Line of Business— cosmetics and accessories and prêt-a-porter (ready-to-wear)
• Revenues of €15.3 billion worldwide
• 1,800 stores across the world
• India Operation: Coco Chanel has-
– 1 outlet at Imperial Hotel in New Delhi
– The Chanel store in Imperial Hotel in New Delhi has the brand's range of cosmetics and accessories, and the prêt line.

ESPRIT
• Line of Business— manufacturer of apparel, footwear, accessories, jewelry, and house- wares.
• Revenues of $5 billion worldwide
• 640 directly-managed retail outlets and 12000+ wholesale outlets in 44 countries.
• India Operation: Esprit has 28 outlets in India
• 16 exclusive stores
• 12 shop-in-shops
• Bangalore
• Delhi
• Mumbai
• Chennai
• Chandigarh
• Pune
• Ahmedabad
• Ludhiana
• Jalandhar
• Gurgaon
• Noida

LACOSTE
• Line of Business— high-end clothing, footwear, perfume, leather goods, watches, eyewear, tennis shirts.
• Revenues of €1.5 billion in 2007
• 640 directly-managed retail outlets and 12000+ wholesale outlets in 44 countries.
• India Operation:
– 3 flagship stores in-
• Bangalore
• New Delhi
• Chennai
• 5-7 such stores are scheduled to be operational by 2010.
– 30 small stores at present
• In the pipeline, 50 more small stores by 2010

VERSACE
• Line of Business— Apparel clothing, Accessories, Watches
• Revenues of € 288 million (2006)
• Franchised brands in India include-
• Corneliani
• Versace Collections
• Gianni Versace
• Versace Jeans Couture.
• India Operation:
– 1 store in JW Mariott, Mumbai (being closed down to lack of sales)
– 1st store in Delhi coming up in March 2008
– Expansion to a 5-store network
• Projected turnover of around Rs 25 crore for financial year 2008 and Rs 40 crore for 2009 in India

CLARKS
• Line of Business— women's and men's casual and dress casual shoes, outdoor boots
• Revenues of £830 million in 2000
• Clarks is the #1 non-sports shoe brand in the world
• India Operation: Clarks has stores in-
– Ahmedabad
– Mumbai
– Bangalore
– Expansion plans: 1 new store every month
• C&J Clarks has tied up with lifestyle retail company Lifestyle Asia in India
• Clarks will currently offer only ladies and men's shoes in India

DEBENHAMS
• Line of Business— Clothing, cosmetics, house wares
• Revenues of £2,090 million GBP (2005)
• Debenhams the leading department store group in the Middle East Master and #2 in UK.
• Franchisee for Debenhams in India: Planet Retail Holdings.
• India Operation: Debenhams has-
– 1 store in Gurgaon
– 2 stores in New Delhi
– In the pipeline, 15 more stores in the next 3-5 years in
• Mumbai
• Bangalore
• Kolkata
• Chennai
• Hyderabad
• Ludhiana

Burberry
• Line of Business— clothing and other apparel, bags, leather goods, accessories
• Revenues of $1.61 billion in 2006
• Available in 130 stores worldwide
• India Operation: Burberry has an outlet in-
– Mumbai, The Taj Palace

TRUSSARDI
• Line of Business— manufacturer and retailer of men's, women's and children's ready-to-wear clothing, accessories and jewelry , perfume.
• Revenues of $500 million in 1998 (latest figures not available)
• Trussardi has-
– 100 boutiques around the world
– 7 stores selling clothes and accessories designed for young urban customers
• India Operation: Trussardi has an outlet in-
– Bangalore, The Leela Palace

DAKS

Line of Business— manufactures and retail of tailored garments and accessories for men and women
• Revenues of £500 million in 2007
• DAKS has-
– 2,000 specialty shops, major stores and concessions in 30 countries
• India Operation: DAKS has a store in-
– 1 store in Bangalore, The Leela Palace
– 3 stores in Mumbai
– In the pipeline, 25 outlets across India
• DAKS is brought into India by the Forbes Gokak group

GAS
• Line of Business— Jeanswear, casual wear, footwear, beachwear and accessories
• Revenues of €150 million worldwide
• India Operation: Grotto SpA’s GAS has—
– 5 flagship stores in-
• New Delhi (2)
• Mumbai (3)
– Departmental Stores in-
• Mumbai
• Bangalore
• Hyderabad
• Kolkata
• Pune
– Premium Multi-brand Outlets (MBOs)
• Ahmedabad
• Bangalore
• Pondicherry
– In the pipeline, 4 more stores and 14 franchisee stores by 2008
• Raymond Ltd launched GAS with a 50:0 JV with the Italian company Grotto SpA
• By 2010, GAS aims to have 600 retail points-
– including flagship stores, exclusive franchise stores, large format stores, MBOs

Dolce&Gabbana
• Line of Business— manufacturer and retailer of men's, women's and children's ready-to-wear clothing, accessories and jewelry, perfume.
• Revenues of €1.05 billion in 2006
• Dolce&Gabbana has-
– 90 directly-operated stores worldwide.
• Tie-up with real estate developer DLF Group in India
• India Operation: Dolce&Gabbana plans to open 2 stores in-
– Emporio Mall, New Delhi

Jimmy Choo
• Line of Business— Luxury Shoes, Accessories
• Revenues of $1.69 billion (2005)
• Jimmy Choo has 60 stores worldwide
• India Operation: In India, Jimmy Choo has-
– 1 store in The Galleria, Mumbai

TUMI
• Line of Business— suitcases and bags for travel
• Tumi has 56 stores around the world and are also sold in Departmental stores
• India Operation:
– Tumi has a store in The Galleria, Mumbai
• The Murjani Group plans to open 10 freestanding Tumi stores in India by 2010, with the first store opening planned for in Delhi or Mumbai

Dunhill
• Line of Business— luxury leather goods, fragrances and clothing
• Alfred Dunhill is part of the Richemont luxury group,
• Revenues of $1.69 billion (2005)
• 158 stores worldwide
• English luxury menswear brand Dunhill will make its debut in India through a deal with local fashion company Brand House Retail.
• Dunhill expects India to account for 10-20% of its global revenues.
• Indian Operation:
– 1 store in New Delhi, Shangri-La Hotel
– 4 stores will open in the next two years
– A total of 8-10 stores are planned in the next five years in major cities like Bombay and Bangalore.

FENDI
• Line of Business— handbags, apparels, footwear, eyewear and watches
• Part of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) Group
• Revenues: LVMH does not break out Fendi's sales and earnings
– 1.89 million Euros in the first half of 2003 (estimate)
• India Operation: Fendi has-
– One outlet at The Taj in Mumbai
– In the pipeline, 6 stores in the next 5 years

LOUIS VUITTON
• Line of Business— luxury leather goods, fashion accessories, prêt-a-porter and jewelry
• Revenues of €15.3 billion worldwide
• 1,800 stores across the world.
• India Operation: Louis Vuitton has-
– 2 outlets in Mumbai and New Delhi
– In the pipeline: Upcoming retail project, UB City -The Collection in Bangalore ]

Christian Dior
• Line of Business— shoes, leather bags, costume jewelry and dresses
• Revenues of $20,094.5 million in 2007
• 1,800 stores across the world
• 760 stores world wide in 30 countries
• India Operation: Christian Dior has-
– 1 outlet in New Delhi at The Oberoi Hotel

GUESS?
• Line of Business- the brand includes clothing and accessories for men, women and children, as well as home collections.
• Guess? has-
– 184 retail stores in the US
– 213 international franchises around the world
– 1,135 shop-within-shops around the world
• Revenues of $936.06 million (2005)
• India Operation: Guess has 16 stores in India across the various cities mentioned below:
– Bangalore-2
– Mumbai-3
– Lucknow
– Ahmedabad
– Gurgaon
– New Delhi-2
– Hyderabad
– Chennai
– Pune
– Ludhiana
– Noida
– Kolkata

AIGNER
• Line of Business— high-end leather, clothing and accessories
• Revenues of $77.8M in 2006
• Available in 151 stores in 40 countries
• Sports Station India Pvt Ltd is the exclusive distributor for Aigner in India
• India Operation: Etienne Aigner AG has stores in-
– New Delhi
– Mumbai
– In the pipeline, new stores in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore

BVLGARI (Bulgari)
• Line of Business— Italian jeweler and luxury goods retailer(watches, handbags, fragrances)
• Revenues of €1010.4 million in 2006
• Available in 150 stores worldwide
• India Operation: Bvlgari has stores in-
– New Delhi
– In the pipeline, new stores in Mumbai and New Delhi

Ed Hardy & Christian Audigier
• Line of Business—
– The Ed Hardy line caters to men's, women's & kids wear and stocks drinking flasks, Sunglasses, Key Chains, Watches, Air Fresheners, Energy drink, Shoes, Bags and Accessories.
– Christian Audigier sells the entire line of Bags, Hoodies, Accessories, Belts, T-shirts, Shoes and Lowers embellished with gold prints and sequined stone detailing
• 760 stores world wide in 30 countries
• Revenues of £7.798billion of –worldwide
• Ed Hardy & Christian Audigier has 2 stores in India in-
– Mumbai
– New Delhi

Other notable foreign brands in India
• Mother Care
• Royal Sporting House
• Austin Reed
• Levis
• Pepe
• Lee
• Nike
• Reebok
• Adidas
• Arrow
• Wrangler
• La Perla

The day the Aussies won and Cricket lost…

For any cricketer playing the best team in the world Down Under is the pinnacle of their career… something that is matched only by a World Cup victory perhaps. The sheer drama, excitement and effort it takes to perform there in bouncy pitches and quality bowlers makes Test match a memorable experience. The fact that no one has been able to dominate them at their own backyard stands testimony to the immense talent of the Aussie team.

The 2007-08 India’s tour of Australia was memorable in many ways than one… it was Captain Kumble’s first overseas assignment, The Big Four’s last tour down under (perhaps), Australia without the likes of Warnie and McGrath but with a new look Lee.

India fancied their chance against the Australia since they have such a strong batting line-up and the only team which has managed to trouble the Aussies in their quest for world domination.

After the drubbing in the first Test at MCG India bounced back in the Second test with a string of good performance from VVS Laxman and Tendulkar and good support from the other players. They should have gained a 1st innings lead in excess of 150 had the umpires lived up to their reputation. Glaring omissions from the umpires and somewhat unfair tactics of the Oz team left India high and dry and eventually they were set a target of 333 in 72 overs. In tight matches such as these one or two bad decisions can alter the equilibrium of the match and after Rahul and Sourav were sent back by the conniving duo of Bucknor and Benson it wasn’t hard to see the writing on the wall… India were denied a fair chance to redeem themselves and Aussies equaled their World record of 16 consecutive test wins but I guess that victory is soaked with the blood from Cricket’s murder.

Whatever transpired between the umpires to make such glaring mistakes? Or, was there something else that dictated the movements of their fingers upwards every time an Indians walked into the field? My guess will be as good as yours.

A point of view that has come up was that the Umpires were overawed by the greatness of the Aussies team (atleast in the record books) and they felt pangs of guilt giving them out while they were batting and were merrily giving the mediocre Indians out while the Aussies were bowling. They thought the Indians can make do with a few losses in their kitty without much ado. Can we call it the ‘reverse Stockholm Syndrome’? Psychologically this series can be analyzed from many points of reference. Was Bucknor taking ‘revenge’ due to the constant negative reports filed by the Indians?

Another aspect that became evident was the sportsmanship of the current Aussie team… Since when did winning became the one and only motive of a game of cricket and that too for a team that has a 70% winning record against all the teams in the world. Why did they stood their ground when they nicked the ball and were clearly out? The statistical fact that Symonds went on to score a match winning knock stands testimony to the fact that something very intrinsic to the game of cricket was missing… a sense of old world fairness that is perhaps too idealistic for the present times.

Even self proclaimed ‘walker’ Adam Gilchrist couldn’t resist the temptation to play it dirty when the stakes went a tad higher for them. Nothing succeeds like success but the game of Cricket that I knew should have remained one of those glorious exceptions far from the vulgar emotions. It reminded me of some gully cricket that we played during our younger days when we gave some balls as wides and some touch-and-go run-outs but in retrospect those were laced with childhood innocence and much less intense than a Test match down under against the ‘World Champions’. Maybe, we should wake up to the fact that the Aussies are bad losers and they haven’t digested the loss to Indians in the recent times as well as the T20 World Cup.

Where did the Indians go wrong and the way forward?
1. The openers failed to give the team a decent start in the 4 innings that India played.
2. Yuvi and Dhoni failed to deliver when they mattered. The OSO hangover must have been a constant distraction and the new found T20 winner’s tag must have lent a sense of complacency and arrogance that has hampered their performance.
3. All said and done Sehwag is a Sehwag… either you pick him in the team to play or just leave him out of the squad. It’s a vulgar option to let him wait and wait for him term and I would rather have him open the innings alongwith Dravid than the out-of-sorts-in-Australia Jaffer
4. The loss of Zaheer to injury has harmed India’s cause for sure and the absence of a quality bowling spearhead has been felt like never before. The frequent injury to the likes of Sree, Zaheer, Munaf is somewhat disturbing and it makes us to question the training set-up for the faster bowlers or can we blame it on our genetic structure or maybe the packed cricket schedule.

As I pen down the last few lines I can feel for the Indian team who are disconsolate after the loss and also the 3 match ban handed over to Bhajji due to alleged ‘racist’ remark against Andrew Symonds. The Symonds saga is a continuation of the Mumbai test match where he was gestured and jeered by a few spectators (who were rightly removed from the stadium afterwards) and the latest spat was a logical extension and part of Australia’s Plan B… Plan B= Full fledged psychological attack against the Indians if they appear to be dominating the test match and taking it away. Agreed that the Indians and specially Bhajji and Sreesanth are no Saints but to accuse them of racial abuse is like taking things too far out into the realms of fantasy and fiction. Normally one doesn’t see a well set batsman starting a verbal spat with a fielder/bowler since he has got better things to do (read: concentrate on batting) and what Symonds did was to instigate Bhajji who isn’t well known for his cool temperament and he also gave him a mouthful of sweet nothings. His ban for 3 matches by the match referee Mike Proctor was also mired in controversy since the law of natural justice was not adhered to… he believed in the verbal testimonies of the Aussie trio of Clarke, Hayden and Symonds and chose to ignore the testimony of Sachin. No proof, no evidence but still held guilty of a serious charge… Isn't this some kind of racism against the Indians as well?

Why only racism be dealt with seriously? Why not take action on any kind of demeaning insults meted out to the Indians that the Aussies are so good at? In my opinion a little bit of sledging is good for the game and it brings out the colorful side of the cricketers and makes a good read… afterall, a bowler should be given some freedom to vent his anger albeit in a restraint manner if things are not going his way. That’s normal and that’s part of cricket…

To cut a long story short… The Indians must have felt a sense of being undone by dubious circumstances and history will remember this Test match for all the wrong reasons.

Alas! Australia and the Umpires won but the game of Cricket lost its fairness and sportsmanship.