Europe comes calling

Design maisons from Europe are capitalising on the new wave of demand in luxury interiors as they open doors in India

- — By Payel Majumdar Upreti —

Luxury mall Chanakya Delhi's tony doors were privy to many new store fronts lit up this year. This isn’t any one-off occurrence, for a while now, the mall, which was known for designer labels proudly displaying haute couture from Indian designers to international luxury labels, has seen the arrival of heritage design maisons from all over the world, including Baccarat, Lladro and L’Objet.

A little further away, at The Oberoi New Delhi, Thomas Goode set up store, with a display wall highlighting crockery collections historically designed for the royalty, from the British monarchs to the Tzars of Russia.

Why does this have significance in the Indian context? While Hong Kong, China and Singapore have had access to the best of European design, it is only recently that Indians have opened up to the thought of spending on home decor, on a scale that makes it viable for European luxury brands to set up store in the country.

Shares Reshma Khatter Bhagat, the Director of Thomas Goode, “Our decision to bring the brand to India arose from a lack of options when it came to gifting for occasions. We wanted access to the same kind of chinaware which we were used to from across the world. But until recently, such options simply didn’t exist in India.” Bhagat was looking at the same kind of audience as herself when she decided to venture into the business. Elad Yifrach, CEO and Creative Director of L'Objet, echoes her experience, “I have felt for a while that India is going through such a growth phase. Besides, there's always been a deep appreciation of craft in India because it’s such a craft-centric culture. I think the market is now more and more open to the kind of design language that we create, and because of the synergies between the pillars of the brand, which is dining and entertaining, home decor, gifting, I felt there was a very deep connection between who we are and what we stand for, and the lifestyle, the way of life of the Indian culture.”