Defence Colony gets the high street tag

A street in New Delhi’s Defence Colony area is fast emerging as a

high street address that houses some big ticket stores including a Stella McCartney runway costume for Rs 14 lakh or a crystal chandelier costing over Rs 50 lakh. Most stores here are in the luxe category. From a Kitsch to Moonriver, Nirav Modi, Swarovski, Tarun Tahliani to Rohit Bal, all have found a new destination attracting higher number of footfalls compared to elite malls.

The occupants of this street agree that though the place cannot be compared to the likes of the Bond Street or Madison Avenue of the West, but it is surely creating a buzz in the high end fashion and accessories players’ circuit. The best example of how the street is gaining momentum is of Kitsch, a high-end store that retails brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, which recently pulled shutters of its 2,000 square foot store at the Emporio mall to shift to an old bungalow in D block of the Defence Colony.

Low rentals compared to malls and better accessibility as well as visibility are also the reasons why brands, designers and fashion houses are prefering this location. For instance, rentals in the street range between Rs 150 and Rs 250 per square foot per month compared to DLF Emporio's Rs 500-1,500 per square foot range.

India's luxury market is expected to reach 14.73 billion dollars (about Rs 90,000 crores), by 2015 from an estimated 8.21 billion dollars (about Rs 52,000 crores) this year, with about 30 percent of the customers coming from smaller cities, according to a recent report by Assocham and Yes Bank. But high rentals and lack of good locations have hampered the entry of big labels into the country.