Luxury gets affordable

Luxury. It is no longer inaccessible to the middle class man. Earlier, the snob quality used to be a big deal. Luxury brands, expensive branded clothes and accessories would imply the status symbol of that person. Now, however, to woo the new rich emerging from India’s middle class and of course, to push sales of luxury brands, companies are willing to compromise in terms of price points and brand image.

Burberry, the luxury brand of UK is selling dresses worth lakhs with a price tag of Rs.20, 000-30,000. Moet Hennessy, the biggest International wine maker is selling their sparkling wines for just Rs.1200 with a ‘Made in India’ tag. Even Dom Perignon is priced at around Rs.20, 000. Yes, the prices may still sound steep but for the brands that they represent, these prices are definitely far more affordable now.

Today, luxury brands no longer want to be inaccessible. They don’t mind setting up shop in high footfall malls. The brands are repositioning themselves to appeal to the middle class. A clear shift is clearly taking place in the Indian luxury market.