Chennai: Next luxury destination for global biggies

Chennai, the city that did not believe in flaunting its wealth

has fast moved to grab eyeballs of some of the biggest international luxury brands venturing into India. From BMW, Ducati, Honda to Louis Vuitton, Canali, Paul Smith and Etro. The rapid growth of the city is said to be triggered mainly by factors like people migrating from other parts of India which has exposed the traditionally conservative metro to an upmarket and swanky luxury lifestyle. And it’s not surprising that high-end car and bike makers, luxury hotels and a host of premium brands like Louis Vuitton and Armani want to make the most of this impending opportunity.

Home to over 4.6 million population, Chennai is welcoming every change with open arms. For example, when French luxury brand Louis Vuitton, whose products sell between Rs 10,000 and Rs 7.5 lakh, opened its store in Chennai-it’s fifth in India-there was an unexpected rush of shoppers. The brand also expects shoppers from other cities of the state like Salem, Coimbatore and Madurai to visit its new store. What’s more, luxury destination ‘Bergamo’ that houses the Louis Vuitton store, will soon have exclusive outlets of Bottega Venetta, Cartier watches and Jimmy Choo shoes.

Earlier this year, bike brand Harley-Davidson launched a store seeing buyers’ going all the way to Bangalore to get hold of the superbike. Even Genesis Luxury, which markets several big luxury brands in India, operates a format called Luxxe Box in Chennai that houses brands like Canali, Paul Smith and Etro. Evoluzione, a multi-brand retailer of designer outfits, with whom L Capital has tied up to launch LVMH like model in India has decided to launch another store in the city.

According to the Forbes list, Chennai is one of ten fastest growing cities in the world, though the luxury goods consumption is still small compared to Delhi and Mumbai.