‘THIS WAS A MATCH JUST WAITING TO HAPPEN’
Designer Manish Malhotra and MD & CEO Reliance Brands Limited, Darshan Mehta, talk exclusively to HT City about the strategic partnership that may just be India’s definitive answer to global couture
I n what is perhaps the biggest recent collaboration in the luxury-lifestyle segment, Reliance Brands Limited (RBL) has acquired a 40% minority stake in couturier Manish Malhotra’s 16year-old luxury label. Malhotra will continue to be the managing and creative head of the label that runs three stand-alone stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, in addition to the country’s first 360 degree virtual store. The announcement comes days after Malhotra’s inroad into the crypto world with the launch of a non-fungible tokens (NFT) collection that became the fastest selling of its kind in India. In a joint interview, Darshan Mehta and Manish Malhotra elaborate on the deal that could well charter a new growth dimension for Indian luxury.
RBL already has a bevy of International luxury labels in its fold. What led to this new collaboration with Manish Malhotra?
Darshan: In the last few years, we’ve seen a shift in the luxury market from the West to the East. Till a few years ago, the consumers, even from India, were mostly wearing brands with western logos. But as their sensibilities changed, a new confidence in their own emerged. The new base of luxury consumers are younger, more agile and are coming from this part of the world. A few years ago, I used to say in jest that the next Georgio Armani or the next Calvin Klein would come out of India or China. It’s all turning out true over the last few years. Also, for more than a year, Isha (Ambani) has been at the helm of our retail business. She’s deeply connected with art, culture and design and has been quite a crusader for these. Her belief was that while we have a beautiful bouquet of brands from the West, we must now have great luxury brands from our part of the world. And when it comes to that, the Holy Grail ends at Manish Malhotra. There are fashion brands and there are entertainment brands. But someone who beautifully sits at the intersection is Manish. He had to be the obvious answer. This was a match just waiting to happen.
Your label is ruling couture for years. Why did you feel
Manish: I never thought of it for the longest time. I felt I would always continue to build the brand on my own. But in the last one year, I saw a huge change. Technology and sustainability became big driving forces in fashion. This opened doors to a lot more verticals. When you want to tap into newer challenging avenues, a good partnership is critical. Today, collaboration is the key. If I wanted to make my brand truly global and diversified, I had to collaborate. I was getting several offers from all over, but with Reliance, I felt complete faith and alignment. I’ve been a great admirer of the organisation’s thought process and way of working. They are passionate about art, culture and are the only ones to have the entire spectrum — from high-street to absolute luxury brands. For me, it was clear that if there was to be a partner, it would be them. Otherwise, I would not get into a collaboration at all.