Luxury Brands Want To Enter India Through Bollywood.

　　 "Jimmy Choo, Manolo, Prada, Galliano, I have all. But that's not enough. I want more... Louis Vuitton, Stella McCartney, Donatella Versace. The bag I use is Gucci. "

In 2012, the song in the Bollywood film "best student of the year" is a little reserved. It conveys a lot of interest in luxury goods in the India market.

This youth love comedy is full of luxury fashion brands: the heroine Shanaya, played by Alia Bhatt, the essential accessory is a Herm s platinum bag. In the sequel to be released in May, the protagonists wear Off-White and A Bathing Ape.

"Collaboration between films and luxury brands is effective in India," said Manish Malhotra, senior designer, who is the clothing director of the two films.

It is India, not Hollywood, that has the largest film industry in the world. According to DDT (Deloitte), it produces two thousand movies in 20 different languages every year, and its value is 146 billion 840 million rupees (about 2 billion 300 million US dollars) in 2017. It is expected to reach 20060 billion rupees (about US $3 billion 100 million) by 2022.

With the development of India's film industry, it has presented more and more opportunities to international fashion brands in terms of product layout, red carpet decoration and cooperation with fashion designers. But the disadvantage is that brands are still missing opportunities.

Contact difficulty limits potential.

In recent years, the growth of India's film industry is commendable. Ask India designer Rocky S (real name Rakesh Singhvi) that he has been involved in the production of more than 200 films since 1990s.

"When I started making drama costume designers, it was normal for the director to finish a group of costumes overnight," he recalls. "There was no plan and no budget. And after that, I had to recover the design fees."

Today, Bollywood producers allocate special budgets for clothing, creating opportunities for international luxury brands to display their goods in fast-growing markets in India. According to Kotak Mahindra Bank, luxury goods industry in India will reach $30 billion this year, up from 23 billion 800 million US dollars in 2017-2018 years.

But despite the huge potential of Bollywood as a fashion marketing carrier, movie stylists still find it difficult to reach top brands.

Aparna Ram is the image and clothing source of the Alia Bhatt designed by Kangana Ranaut and "the courtship of Shuangcheng" in "India Superman 3": "Bollywood logo clothing 100 cases".

"It's hard to get to them," says Rhea Kapoor, the film maker and India icon Anil Kapoor's daughter.

"If I have a character who is a girl from the rich district of South Delhi, I think she will wear a (top luxury brand) jacket, but I can hardly reach the brand," she explained.

Kapoor believes that luxury brands need to work more closely with the local team in India to reserve more samples for the India market, while authorizing the local public relations team to make bold decisions.

In the Kapoor experience, the whole process began with the fact that India filmmakers contacted an international brand, which took a long time. She believes that it is easier to cooperate with brands that have local partners or representatives in India than those in Europe and the United States.

For example, Tumi, a brand of luggage, has done product implants in my brother's wedding. They collaborate with Reliance Brands, which has more than 50 cooperative brands, including Jimmy Choo, BottegaVeneta and Coach.

But in general, there is a disconnect between top costume designers in India and international luxury brands. Because they do not think that movie stylists are valuable intermediaries, some brands have missed the potential profit opportunities provided by the India film industry. Anaita Shroff Adajania, the fashion director of the India edition of Vogue, said she might be easier than some movie industry peers. After all, these peers do not like the way she has been in the media for many years, and have been with celebrities for many years.

Cooperation space

It is obvious that brands need help to find the right ones from thousands of new movies every year. India's fashion industry leaders suggest that brands should seek inspiration from Hollywood for investment and cooperation.

For example, OMEGA (Omega) and James Bond series of millions of dollars trading, or Baz Luhrmann's "amazing Gatsby", in this movie, Miuccia Prada and dress designer Catherine Martin together modified Prada and MiuMiu 40 designs.

Even in Quentin Tarantino's new work Hollywood history, the close cooperation between Levi s and fashion designer Arianne Phillips has aroused widespread concern in the media.

Locals in Mumbai say that there is a similar opportunity in Bollywood, but most international brands haven't turned on radar for the India film industry. Bollywood films will not have the same global impact, but they will have great influence on the local market, which is the top priority of most brands.

Aparna Ram for the movie "love in the rain" in Bagwati and Priyanka Chopra design clothing source picture: "Bollywood logo clothing 100 cases".

"The appropriate production companies, stories, and behind the scenes talent mix can provide the highest penetration, the most effective promotion and brand awareness building for luxury brands in India and even in South Asia and the Middle East," said Deepika Gehani, senior vice president of public relations and marketing at Reliance Brands.

For example, stylist Arjun Bhasin is believed to bring new charm to India movies. The former India edition GQ fashion director has worked with Hollywood stars Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams to participate in Bollywood projects.

In the 2011 movie "life is no longer coming," Bhasin personified Pikeley Herm s ostrich, giving her personality. In the movie, one of the leading heroes was bought an orange Kylie bag under the insistence of her fiancee.

Then, the bag became a "character" in the movie. It was dressed up with hat and sunglasses. It was called "Bagwati" (Wati is a suffix of female Hindi, so it was translated as "Bag Lady"), which shows how the influx of foreign brands into India affects the upper class.

Cash Star Charm

According to several senior film industry personages, luxury brands have not made any effort to contact Bollywood stylists, except for a few of them who have worked in the western market.

This is not to say that international brands are immune to the charm of Bollywood. High street brand Vero Moda has asked actress Kangana Ranautand and film director Karan Johar to design capsule series for them. Recently, Sara Ali Khan signed a two-year contract with Puma to become the spokesperson of the brand. At the same time, the new Janhvi Kapoor endorsed Benetton Perfumes, and the recognized Bollywood powder Christian Louboutin named the iconic red shoe with the actress Deepika Padukone.

But such an example is not very common, Bhasin said. "Most Western celebrities have luxury brand endorsements, or are related to brands, but not in India," he said.

Luxury brands are more proactive in the red carpet costumes, at least in western countries. At the latest Cannes International Film Festival, at least eight actors from India went to the red carpet, and all of them wore international brands such as Fendi or Valentino.

Most Western celebrities have luxury brand endorsements, or are related to brands, but not in India.

Peter Dundas has made a black and white evening dress for Deepika Padukone, and Ralph & Russo has made a white tailed Tuxedo with a drag skirt for Sonam Kapoor Ahuja.

It's easy to understand why designers will make such efforts. Many Bollywood stars have a large number of fans in social media, which is almost the same as real gold and silver. Priyanka Chopra Jonas is currently leading by 43 million 700 thousand fans, Deepika Padukone has 38 million, more than Natalie Portman, Blake Lively and Reese Witherspoon and other American stars.

In December last year, Chopra and Nick Jonas married in Jodhpur's yamad palace. She was dressed in Ralph Lauren custom made Chantilly handmade lace dress. The dress was decorated with 32000 pearlescent sequins and 11632 SWAROVSKI crystals. The waterfall like veil was 22.8 meters long.

This is the first time that Ralph Lauren has designed wedding dress for India celebrities and paved the way for Ralph Lauren to take root in India. The brand opened its first store in Delhi in February this year, with only Chopra Jonas.

However, "considering that there are more people watching movies in India than in the magazine's red carpet, I'm surprised that luxury brands do not have much interest in using films as media," Bhasin said.

Kapoor agrees, "I know that India customs may be a problem (sample transport), and the brand does not know who is the right contact for the movie industry," she said. Although she admits, "if I need a dress to make a movie, I may spend two to three months, maybe that's one of the reasons why they prefer the red carpet to the movie."

Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas are wearing Sabysachi at the wedding ceremony in Jodhpur, India. Photo source: Getty Images

"Unfortunately, India has not yet reached the point where international brands can choose India actress to be a global spokesperson," said KalyaniSaha Chawla, an industry expert and Christian Dior, vice president of marketing and communications in India, in addition to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

In fact, although Bollywood has a large number of stars, international brands often choose Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone, which are internationally renowned.

Remarkable cooperation with studios and great figures

Local brands are much better at understanding the way of cooperation in the film industry. He mentioned the joint brand HRX-Kaabil fitness apparel series launched by actor Hritik Roshan and the 2017 movie omnipotent, which is an interesting business model for non luxury brands.

Zaidi believes that one aspect of luxury brands should be concerned with itinerant promotion activities. Before the film is released, actors will tour many cities in India, and even go overseas to Dubai and London.

"The problem is that India movies are considered a typical Bollywood song and dance drama. For those internationally recognized slum millionaires, luxury brands can't help anything," Saha Chawla said.

In fact, the reality of India's film industry is one of the most diversified in the world, but some fashionable luxury brand executives still seem to be stuck in the old impression. India's film industry is developing rapidly. Even in the west, its reputation has stagnated in the past.

This year alone, the India film industry has launched a movie about Mumbai hip-hop culture, India hip-hop, which premiered at Berlin International Film Festival in February. This year's film issue ended with superhero fantasy drama Brahmastra. In addition, this year's India film producer Guneet Monga has produced many non traditional films in Bollywood and won the Oscar prize for its documentary "monthly revolution".

India's film industry is developing rapidly. Even in the west, its reputation has stagnated in the past.

India's film industry is not only a wide variety of languages, but also a variety of languages and centers. International brands will be surprised to find that the Indian language film industry, known as Bollywood, is actually a large sector of the industry.

Although Bollywood receives the most attention, there are also Pollywood (Punjab language film industry), Tollywood (which refers to the Bengali language in Calcutta, or the Tamil film industry based in Chennai), Sandalwood (kadad film industry in Bangalore) and so on.

Strive for respect

How the international fashion brands used to cooperate with the India film industry and how they did not cooperate has provided valuable lessons for the future.

Although the brand may find the scale and complexity of the film industry daunting, in the final analysis, it is only a movie. "Never say goodbye" aroused the sympathy of India audiences with international vision. When it was released in 2006, the demand for international brands was raised.

The timing is perfect: Louis Vuitton landed in India the year before, and Christian Dior just opened its first store in Delhi. In the past ten years, Shah Rukh Khan, the highest paid actor in India, has been the protagonist of the film, and is also a brand ambassador for Tag Heuer of LVMH.

From the clothes rack to the shooting budget, I have to fight for everything.

"What Shah Rukh does for the watch brand is far more than those on the contract," recalled Saha Chawla, vice president of marketing and communications at India, then Dior. "The movie director Karan Johar has never been old before setting the India metropolis trend. His target audience may be very comprehensive, but the audience includes the elite who use luxury goods, "she added.

Although India was an emerging market at that time, it was considered to be the next China, but Saha Chawla recalls that it is not easy for European colleagues to believe that Bollywood is important. "From the clothes rack to the shooting budget, I have to work hard for everything," she said.

But considering that each movie star like Shah Rukh Khan has a contract worth about forty million rupees (about 600 thousand dollars) a year, compared to brand ambassadors, movies are more cost-effective for luxury brands.

"I am very lucky that Paris trusted me, and (Dior) became the number one brand in India, and defeated Louis Vuitton at the end of the year. I just want to thank Bollywood, "Chawla said.

"(from then on) I integrated the film industry into every step of the strategy."

After its first appearance in Bollywood, Dior continues to work with selected films, one of which is Essar, adapted by Jane Austen's Emma. This is the first work of the movie producer Rhea Kapoor, and is starred by her sister Sonam. The two women are regarded as fashion idols.

Aparna Ram is the source of Essar's "Sonam Kapoor" and "Indian style" Sridevi design, "Bollywood logo clothing 100 cases".

"For luxury brands, this Bollywood movie marks a historic moment," Saha Chawla said. The film has achieved synergy between film production and brand marketing: one scene was taken at Dior store in Delhi and a news interview was held in the store.

The movie made the Lady Dior handbag on the altar and sold it all over the country. "A girl who wants to buy a Dior bag at a luxury shopping mall should be very familiar with Sonam Kapoor (Ahuja)," explains Rhea Kapoor. She then CO produced and (together with the top fashion combination Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla) participated in the costume design of the 2018 movie "my brother's wedding". The fashion in the movie was very eye-catching and even compared with sex and the city.

Although many films and brands have been closely followed, few luxury brands are actively involved. Movie stylists are still struggling to design costumes for top performers.

"Most of the time, Hollywood stars and even Chinese stars will take precedence over frontline actors in India," Saha Chawla said.

This is the case. "Even if there is no better way to attract global audiences in India and enhance visibility in this group, they will not choose to cooperate with the India film industry."

If luxury brand executives want to get more profits in India, the first step they should take is pretty clear. As one insider suggests, it's time to go to the movie industry to expand its marketing strategy and transform more millions of Indians who are moving towards the upper class into consumers.