The fashion business SMCP, which owns the French fashion labels Maje and Sandro, said that it has reached an agreement with Reliance to grow into India. It will also be joining other luxury European companies that are setting up shop in Mumbai's Jio World Plaza mall.
“There aren’t a lot of accessible luxury fashion labels in India so we think it’s time to be pioneering,” said SMCP CEO Isabelle Guichot, citing India’s wealth and growing population of younger generations among reasons for entering the country.
High-end European brands are looking to increase their retail presence in India after years of testing the market with stores in opulent hotels in an attempt to capitalise on the country's robust economic growth and quickly increasing number of millionaires.
The financial details of SMCP's collaboration with Reliance Brands, which will serve as Sandro and Maje only distributor in India, were not disclosed. In the next three to five years, Reliance intends to establish roughly ten stores carrying the SMCP brands, starting with the Mumbai mall built by Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani, according to Guichot.
Reliance Brands, a subsidiary of Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ventures, has partnership deals with dozens of high-end European and American labels, including Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Valentino and Tiffany.