Robb Report Luxury Summit - India's aesthetic quality goes global
After being the underdogs for the longest time, India is finally getting its due with the aesthetic quality of its goods being appreciated and admired world over.
In Short
- Authentic Ayurvedic products are artificial fragrance-free and have a peculiar odour.
- Indians don't need to change their brand story or compromise in any way, world now appreciating them.
- India has the best embroidery and handloom, hand-crafted goods made here are exotic.
After being the underdogs for the longest time, India is finally getting its due with the aesthetic quality of its goods being appreciated and admired world over.
As Kama Ayurveda Director Vivek Sahni, Da Milano MD Sahil Malik, FDCI (Fashion Design Council of India) President Sunil Sethi and Siddharth Kasliwal of Gem Palace speak about the aesthetic quality in India-made goods going global, it becomes very evident that exoticism, which is innately Indian, is finally being beautifully presented to the world, without being compromised in any way.
"I am in the business of selling beauty. But I prefer sticking to my Indian roots. I prefer the pure and clean Ayurvedic remedies, no matter how aesthetically unappealing they might seem to many," says Sahni, referring to the fact that authentic Ayurvedic products are artificial fragrance-free and have a peculiar odour. "However, the Japanese love our products because they care only about results, he adds.
LEATHER BRAND DA MILANO LAUNCHED IN EUROPE
Interestingly, Malik reveals that he launched the leather brand Da Milano in Europe and wanted to expand there before taking it the world over. However, he discovered that India had much more opportunity for growth and settled down in his homeland. "So we have the finest Italian leather, affordable fine Indian craftsmanship to create leather accessories that can be reasonably priced for the luxury consumer," he says.
Kasliwal goes back in time, sharing how the director of the Museum of Metropolitan Art (MET), New York, invited his father Munnu Kasliwal to design a special collection to sell at the 2001 exhibition - Treasury of the World: Jeweled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals. "That participation in the exhibition is enough proof, I feel, that the aesthetic nature of the products made in India is appreciated the world over," says Kasliwal.
INDIANS UNDERDOGS IN AESTHETICS WORLD FOR LONG
Sethi adds, "We as Indians don't need to change our brand story or compromise in any way anymore. We have been underdogs for so long. And now that the world is finally appreciating us, why compromise? Why not give only what's authentic, rather than appeasing the western tastes?" he asks.
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"We have what they don't possess. Handcrafted goods are exotic, bespoke and luxury. We have the best embroidery and handloom. Manish Arora was a success because he brought the Indian kitsch to the Parisian table. Rahul Mishra took the West by storm with his embroidery. I think we have now rediscovered the fact that we should market and sell what we have," says Sethi.
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