Parisian luxury brand Hermes opens in DelhiPatrick Thomas may sound Irish but the CEO of Hermes currently in India for the launch of their flagship store at the Oberoi Hotel reassures us that he is “very French”. The Hermes Indian chapter was scripted by Neelam Khanna, of the Oberoi group and the operations began in May, but it is only now that the store has formally gone in for a launch. “The objective is to become Indian in India. We are here to sell objects, not fashion,” shares Thomas, 61, explaining why, despite two ongoing fashion weeks and a global recession there is no clash of interest with the timing of their launch. The store is attractively packaged with a representative presence of all that the brand is renowned for. There are items from their designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s spring summer collection as well as pieces from their autumn winter collection. Luxurious cashmere shawls, priced at Rs 72,000 rub shoulders with their famed Birkins (approximate price, Rs 4 lakhs), Kelly bags (Rs 3 lakhs), fine china, watches and perfumes and accessories like ties (Rs 8,800) and silk scarves (approximately Rs 17,500). “Every scarf has its own story to tell and we have about 18 to 20 designers and four Indian designers who bring in a dash of Indian sensibility,” smiles Patrick. Incidentally, the tariff rates on the imported products vary from 5 to 15 per cent.The global financial meltdown has become a cause of worry in the luxury industry, but Christian Blanckaert, Executive Vice President, International Affairs for the brand, assures that it will not affect their market in India. “Right now we are focusing on familiarising Indians with the brand and also it’s a chance to understand the Indian market. We are looking more to register our presence at the moment,” he explains. In fact, that was one of the reasons, he adds, that the brand gave malls a miss and settled for the Oberoi Hotel. “Luxury shopping needs an atmosphere of intimacy and familiarity, which is not possible in a mall,” he says.Orders, however, have already started coming in, with a waitlist for the Birkin already in place. Ten percent of the brand’s sales worldwide come from specially commissioned items.Like they do in other parts of the world, Hermes India, also has plans to organize exhibitions and communication shows shortly. “There are more than 250 ways to tie a scarf rather than just around the neck. We want to share that with our niche customers by holding communication shows to talk about the new styles,” says Thomas. There are also plans to open stand alones in Bangalore and Kolkata in future.
