Time And Again

Luxury brand Versace was clear about not treading the beaten Bollywood path by having an actor endorse its products. So,when it introduced its watch collection in India on Tuesday,we expected a stroke of novelty at the launch. Paolo Marai,President and CEO,Vertime,which designs and distributes Versace watches,said,“Our ambassador is Donatella Versace,we do not need another personality endorsing us.” Imagine then,the surprise when B-town hotbod Bipasha Basu walked in,to flash the famous watches for the shutterbugs! Explanations were definitely due. “She personally adores Versace and has been closely associated with the brand,that’s why we got her to unveil the collection,” said VD Wadhwa,CEO,Timex Group,India,which has collaborated with Versace to launch the watches. With Tag Heuer and Longines,having depended on the star power of SRK and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan respectively to popularise their watch brands,guess Versace too needs celeb time.