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Balenciaga to enter India with Reliance Brands

Posted On August 4, 2022 CPP-LUXURY 0

On August 4, Reliance Brands Limited of India announced it has signed a strategic deal with Balenciaga, the “hottest global luxury brand” to bring it to the Indian market. With this long-term franchise agreement, RBL will be Balenciaga’s sole India partner. It will be RBL’s second link to Kering with the firm also handling Bottega Veneta.

“Few brands have actually embraced the opportunity for creative reinterpretation and reinvention quite like Balenciaga,” said RBL’s Managing Director said Darshan Mehta. The first Balenciaga store may open in India as early as April 2023

RBL is a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd and began operations in 2007 with a mandate to “launch and build global brands in luxury to premium segments across fashion and lifestyle”. In the past five years, it has also invested in building and operating homegrown Indian designer brands.

Its current line-up of brand partnerships includes Armani (except main label Giorgio Armani) , Bally, Burberry, Clarks, Coach, Diesel, G-Star Raw, Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, Mothercare, Superdry, Scotch & Soda, Tiffany and Tod’s, to name only a few. It operates 2,084 doors split into 821 stores and 1,263 shop-in-shops in India.The company also owns British toy retailer Hamleys and has equity investments in Indian brands Manish Malhotra and Raghavendra Rathore.

Kering‘s other brand Gucci has had a rocky entry in India with a very fluctuant evolution in India for almost a decade now. India remains a limited potential luxury market especially for international luxury fashion brands.