Published
Oct 19, 2016
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DLF Brands to bid adieu to luxury business

Published
Oct 19, 2016

DLF Brands, the retail arm of real estate company DLF, which runs one of India's largest high-street fashion brand malls Emporio, will exit the luxury business.

The group has just shut down two DKNY stores, after parting ways with premium brands such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Giorgio Armani and Sephora earlier, according to a Times of India report.


DKNY - Spring-Summer2017 - Womenswear - New York - © PixelFormula


“Out of seven stores, five are still operational,” said Timmy Sarna, MD of DLF Brands.

“We don’t have any plans of opening new DKNY stores. And we don’t want to be in the high-fashion business. It’s difficult to scale that business up because there aren’t too many locations in the country where you can sell luxury,” he said.

 “We have profitable businesses in Mothercare, Sunglass Hut and Kiko,” said Sarna.

“This year, Mothercare will touch a top line of Rs 300 crore and we want to scale it up to Rs 1,000 crore in three years. Apart from this, our other brands such as Sunglass Hut, Claire’s and make-up brand Kiko are doing extremely well and are profitable”, Sarna added.

The company started showing signs of discomfort with luxury and premium brands from 2012, when it exited its joint ventures with Giorgio Armani and Ferragamo.

In 2014, it shut down stores for Italian menswear brand Boggi Milano. Then last year, it parted with LVMH Moet Hennessey, Louis Vuitton’s make-up and skincare brand Sephora, which was subsequently taken over by Arvind Lifestyle Brands.
 

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