The Biggest Fashion Extravaganza of the Country

Recently, Delhi experienced the perfect combination of light, glamour and fashion folk held at the Amazon India Fashion Week spring/summer 2017 showcase. As the part of LCBS, we got the chance to see this extravagant show and glimpses of fashion world. Untitled-5 copyThe collection showcased was deeply influenced by the traditional vibes of continental, with a sense of current style, transforming old look into stunning styles.

Various news reporters and bloggers made their presence in the show as well as celebrities were present endorsing the dresses of the designers. They were handed over PR Kit to make a positive influence.

We got to know about many new brands coming in the fashion world about which we were not aware of in the past. The show involved the fabulous designs of latest collection by:

 Ashish N Soni (His collection focused on mainly in shades of black and white & Grey), Rajesh Pratap Singh, Anavila (who brought the sari brigade back to the ramp and she did it so gracefully! White being the most predominant shade, clubbed with kolhapuris and stylish top blouses), Virtues by Viral, Ashish and Vikrant, and last but not the least, virtues of Pinnacle Shruti.Untitled-4 copy

The cherry on the cake was Singer Sona Mohapatra who walked down the ramp humming the lines of her famous songs. She was promoting the rich culture and Art of our country  by wearing a bright orange layered pleated dress made of natural dye design by the designer Shruti.

The trip to amazon fashion India proved to be helpful for us to know a lot about the various new fashion designer brands, and determining PR activities done in the show by the designers such as endorsements, inviting prominent personalities from media to cover the Print world etc.

By-: Sonali Khanna

PGDLM 2016-17

Kanchi’s Opinion About Good Earth Store Visit

LCBS arranged a visit for our batch PGDLM 2016-17 to Good Earth- a place of true Luxury of Everyday Living. As I walked inside the store I was so mesmerized to see the surroundings of store. Store was surrounded by the things that were Natural and Hand-crafted with designs that delight the senses and elevate the soul. The aura of the store felt like meditation center to me. Energy and the peace, which is required to meditate was there inside the store. 5I met Mrs. Saswati Roy, VP Wholesale and Export, she told us about the Anita Lal (Founder & Creative Director) and how she got inspired and started her journey to give joy everyday to people by her products, Design and values. She spoke to us in detail about the brand.

I visited the store on the day of launch of their new product Wall coverings with the collaboration of Asian Paints in London. Launch was organized in one of their store Raghuvanshi Mill in Mumbai.

Good Earth comes out every year with one new theme in October for season and every products are based on the theme. And this year they launched Sambhala theme, which covered every product including the Wall coverings. Sambhala is considered as Majestic Kingdom in Indonesia. It is the symbol of relationship and friendship between India and China.

I had a visit to store for real life experience for the Retail Store Design project. The layout and atmosphere of the store was designed in a very Indian classical way, which carried the Indian heritage culture. Store was lit up very beautifully with chandeliers and aromatic candles, which gave a soothing effect. To add more value to the store ambience Folk and Classical music was being played which was absolutely doing the justice with brand values. Apart from Retail Store Design, we also learn many things about the brand. Good Earth Employees and customers get a feeling like store is their home. Brand teaches Art of Style, they make them see how beautiful their life is and how can they make their life more beautiful with the Good Earth Products. 2Good Earth is school for their employees, where they groom their employees also. Good Earth also involves their customer through social media and organize Social Events and celebrate for each and every small addition to their products. They always engage their customers, they do not call socialist instead they call their loyal customers for the events. Some time they also organize open events in which they invite every customer. They give privilege and special services to their customer because they feel the relationship with the customer is for lifetime. Mrs. Roy told us about one of their customer who is from France and she visits store every time she visits India. She also told us about one of her customer who visit store every day, it’s a kind of addiction for her and she feels like home there.

If I want I can write numerous things on my experience to visit Good Earth. In all it was a great, beautiful and memorable visit which I will never forget throughout my life. I will always keep thanking LCBS for this visit.

By-: Kanchi Kesarwani

PGDLM 2016-17

Dussehra Celebration on Campus

Everyday the sun rises to give us a message that light will always IMG_6816overcome the darkness. And that’s exactly why we celebrate dussehra festival, which celebrates the win of good over evil.

The entire academics, operations and student department came together to celebrate this auspicious day on 7th October, 2016. Like every year, the students did the plan and organising of the event. In order to promote team building and interact while have fun, we organised two competitions between the teams.

The first was the Rangoli Making competition and the other was Best Out of Waste. It was nice to see the creative side of every department. coming out aloud. The winning team for rangoli made an elusive rangoli giving away the message for ‘Save the girl child’. And the winning team for best out of waste designed a table mat, intricately made out of the waste jeans cloth.IMG_6848 A scrumptious meal and songs to accompany us followed the competition. Post the lunch, all the teams came together and had a merry time while playing games and enjoying the performances put up by the students.

Besides, having a nice time together with our colleagues and staff on the campus, LCBS is inculcating skills like organizing, team building and leadership qualities by giving us the responsibility to take charge of such events. Grateful to our teachers and staff for being a part of our endeavor, participating in high spirits and encouraging us in every step.

By-: Mehak Sareen

PGDLM 2016-17

The Changing Face of Luxury In India

In the past few years, luxury in India has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 25 per cent. As per a report by Assocham, the market is expected to exceed $18.6 billion by 2016-17. Interestingly, as per Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, the luxury industry in India has the potential to grow 10-fold from its current size and reach a topline of $180 billion by 2025.The Indian luxury landscape is clearly experiencing strong evolutionary undercurrents that are redefining the consumer profile and also how luxury players need to operate in this domain.

Service areas such as fine dining, electronics, luxury travel, luxury personal care and jewellery have seen increasing revenues and are expected to grow 30-35 per cent over the next three years. Audi 8Spending on luxury cars continues to rise growing upwards of 18-20 per cent. As the purchasing power of women is rising in India, luxury beauty products market is witnessing a fast-paced growth. According to Euromonitor International, the luxury product categories that have recorded considerable growth are luxury jewellery as well as timepieces, luxury writing instruments/stationery; super premium beauty/personal care products, luxury electronic gadgets and luxury tobacco.

Besides, the Indian luxury market is developing many facets. Luxury is no longer restricted to the rich and famous alone; the new age consumers, who do not typically fit into the boardroom definition of luxury consumers, are staking claims to luxury products, brands and services, but on their own terms.

Luxury is no longer the privilege of the few who were born into wealth. There is now a larger consumer base, which has the money to splurge but want a real value proposition. Going forward, this will be the biggest challenge faced by luxury brands this year.

It is against this backdrop that one needs to study the key challenges presented by the changing face of luxury in India:

• Value proposition: One of the key challenges for luxury industry is to establish a right “value” equation in the Indian consumer minds. Commensurate value — given the craftsmanship of the product , the brand pedigree and heritage, and therefore its impact on their status — professionally in business and in society. In a country obsessed with ‘quantity over quality’ — the ‘kitna deti hai’ syndrome cannot be ignored.

• Targeting a first-time buyer: India throws up surprises to one and all. McDonald has to invent a McAloo tikki burger priced at Rs 25 and created especially for India. BMW, Audi, and Mercedes Benz have all realised the potential of this ‘first-time luxury buyer’. It cannot be ignored and yet needs to be treated well like any other luxury consumer. Rolls royceThe definition of luxury consumer is changing rapidly in India. Intimidation created by the aura of the brand, lack of brand knowledge, enthusiasm to obtain a social status symbol are key elements that a brand needs to cater to.

• Mental barrier to conspicuous consumption: While a set of customers wants to flaunt its luxury purchase, there is another which is vary of conspicuous consumption. The ‘nazar lag jayegi’ syndrome drives away many a shy customer. This is a mindset issue which the brands/franchisee need to tackle. Rewarding oneself for success achieved after hard work needs to be celebrated — the Cadbury ‘kuch meetha ho jaye’ campaign says it all.

Welcome this shy, first-time buyer with grace, dignity and respect.

• Retail environment: More brands, more services, more customers — they all need the right retail environment. Luxury retail infrastructure is nonexistent and street level environments are often unkempt. This forces luxury brands to generally launch boutiques in luxury malls or hotels. ‘Hybrid malls’ — the Select City Walk in New Delhi and The Palladium in Mumbai are the best examples of transitional customer behaviour when the customer moves up the value chain.

• Talent: With so many varied customers shopping luxury, a key challenge is talent. Cannot be too sophisticated to scare away the new customer, at the same time cannot be too ordinary to make an aristocratic customer shy away. Driving this balance in line with the brand’s cultural customer experience is perhaps the biggest operational challenge for any franchisee or brand. Train, educate, invest and believe in your staff — this could be the best way to empower your talent.

• Regulatory Cholesterol : (a) Foreign direct investment restrictions are keeping brands out of India, 51 per cent foreign ownership is the limit; 100 per cent is allowed but only with 30 per cent local sourcing which many brands find difficult to comply with. Recent amendment of elongated relaxations of initial period is confusing and unclear to most. Brands fear for dilution of their name and harm to their business models.

(b) Import tariffs are high at an average 30-40 per cent, which causes simple price parity and margin issues for retailers. It is hence often cheaper for Indians to buy abroad.

(c) The presence of “knock off” products in the local market. The local market is much more open/susceptible to trade in fake goods. As per Assocham, the size of the counterfeit luxury goods market in India was estimated to be a whopping Rs 5,600 crore in 2015.

(d) Multiple taxes across the country maintaining a single MRP with differential taxes across states has been a challenge till date. Recent GST rollout is, however, expected to ease this by April 2017

(e) Crackdown on big ticket purchases by the IT department. Revision of cash transaction limits to Rs 2 lakh from the earlier Rs 50,000 could help the luxury sectors like fashion, footwear, low-end jewellery/watches; bags and accessories, etc.

However, recent reports about legitimate big ticket purchase items being targeted by IT officials is expected to affect sales. Customers just want to avoid the harassment value and prefer to shop abroad.

(f) Ease of doing business, including general infrastructure of roads, airports, warehouses, add further to the challenges. Besides, real estate is heavily regulated for a brand to want to build ground up.

As the disposable income of the aspiring consumers in India rises, and the share of men and women as a separate category keeps further increasing, luxury and bridge brands will continue to outperform.

Brands and businesses need a conducive environment from all fronts to help create a presence and maintain personal touch with customers across platforms. Focus on maximising the efficiency of supply chain and human capital by training their associates will be the ones to increase conversion and retention.

The journey has just begun!

Good Earth

This time we got a chance to visit the pioneers of handcrafted luxury goods of India, The Good Earth. Mrs. Saswati Roy, VP wholesale and exports guided us through the whole visit. She shared her experience with the brand and how Mrs. Anita Lal, the founder of Good Earth started with the brand in India. Overall experience with Good Earth was very knowledgeable and beneficial. As soon as we entered the store it had a sense of peace, the atmosphere inside the store was very positive. Maybe the store was designed in such a way, or the products were reflecting their brand’s identity, or the music was the reason, or the fragrance it had made the overall environment peaceful. We were very lucky because the day we were visiting the store, Good Earth was launching its new range of wall coverings. The thing I really liked about Good Earth was that, they have designed the stores with their own range of products which is really creative and commendable. I am really thankful to LCBS for organizing such a beneficial store visit and to Mrs. Roy for sharing her experience and sparing her valuable time talking to us.  Looking forward to many more visits like this. 

                                                                        - By Gitansh Kumar

                                                                                                 Luxury Professional Student
                                                                                                 PGDLM (2016-2017)  

LEADERSHIP SKILLS IN BUSINESS

Customer, the king of business game. Just like in a chess game, kill the king and the game is over. In business also kill the customer and the business over, you are finished. Honing leadership skill in business is very vital. Every sale is a business deal at the micro level. Each sale together makes the big deal. Unless the salesperson leads the negotiation between the seller and buyer sale is not possible. This leading capacity has to be developed by grooming and training and teaching the strategy. The good business schools strictly see to it that Leadership Skills training is specially given in the course of diploma in customer service. Since the customer is the king in any business diploma in customer service teaches one how to care for the customers.

If one goes through the List of High paying courses India, one is likely to find persons with a diploma in customer service from a reputed business school are among them. Diploma in customer service and Leadership Skills training become all the more important when you deal with high profile customers like the one you will find in Luxury brand business. So getting the training and diploma from a luxury brand MBA college is a wise decision. The best and pioneer business school for luxury brand business is Luxury Connect Business School of Gurgaon. Admission is in July-August. Apply online or directly submit a hard copy along with a letter of the statement of purpose. A copy of the certificate of the Exam passed. You will have to appear for an aptitude test or interview. If you are selected, celebrate, you have enough reasons. You are going to enter the world of Luxury. And a profession which is in the List of High paying courses India.  Luxury Connect Business School is going to change your lifestyle for the better.