Top luxury conference comes to Delhi

FASHION: Confirms India’s growing importance in the luxury market.

India’s position as a growing market for luxury labels will be strengthened when the high-profile luxury conference of the International Herald Tribune (IHT) comes to New Delhi’s Imperial Hotel in December this year.

Hosted every year in different locations by Suzy Menkes, the paper’s famous fashion editor, this year the venue will be New Delhi. Knowledgable sources say the choice was between Dubai and New Delhi, before the organisers settled on the Indian capital city. Titled “IHT’s Sustainable Luxury Conference 2008”, the conference is expected to see the biggest and the brightest from the luxury business to converge in New Delhi on December 3 and 4 .

Globally, the recession has given anxious moments to most luxury brands. But all of them see great opportunity in emerging markets like India where the luxury market is reported to be growing around 35 per cent per annum. The growing list of Indian millionaires has attracted several luxury brands to the country, high real estate prices notwithstanding. Top names like Hermes, Chanel, Hugo Boss, Cartier, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana have already set up shop in various cities.

India has the fastest-growing population of high net worth individuals in the world. The income level of consumers is expected to triple by 2025, and the active age group of 25-45 is set to rise to a third of the population by then.

According to a Ficci-Yes Bank report on luxury brands, India is all set to become a manufacturing hub for global luxury brands in the next four to five years. The report adds that the manufacturing business of luxury items in India could grow to $500 million.

The IHT conference is an acknowledgement of the growing importance of India in the world luxury market.

If the past conferences are anything to go by, several big names could be seen and heard at the Indian edition too. Bernard Arnault, the chairman and chief executive of LVMH and one of the most powerful men in this business, spoke at the conference in 2004 and 2006. Fashion designer Giorgio Armani addressed the conference in 2003 and 2005, while Ralph Lauren spoke in 2002.

Fashion designer Tom Ford, whose model good looks had made him make it to the cover of a leading fashion magazine, spoke at the conference in 2001 and 2007. The conference has also had supermodels address the delegates.

The conference, which has been in existence for the last seven years, has previously been hosted in countries like Dubai, Turkey and Russia. It has in the past attracted over 450 delegates from over 30 countries. Though the content of the conference promises to be thrilling, there will also be some great clothes to look at.

Some visitors might also find the answer to the question: How do the people who control/work for/model for some of the world’s biggest luxury labels, and therefore have access to presumably the smartest and the most glamorous clothes, dress when they work and party together?