EXCLUSIVE: Valentino Enters Indian Market With Reliance Brands Limited
MILAN — Valentino is entering India for the first time with two stores under a long-term distribution deal with Reliance Brands Limited.
A boutique will open in Delhi by the end of the summer, to be followed by a flagship store in Mumbai, unveiling a renewed blueprint.
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Valentino’s chief executive officer Jacopo Venturini underscored the status of Reliance Brands Ltd. as “India’s leader in luxury retail” and the importance of the Indian market, “rife with new opportunities.”
He said the agreement “represents a significant step in Valentino’s global strategy, and we are honored to be part of the country’s growing retail market, allowing the company and the Valentino community to grow in a solid way, according to our values and brand culture.”
Venturini pointed out that, “as per the new business model, we are leveraging the strong relationships between the brand, its sales force and the customers, hinged on our couture values — obsession for detail, creativity and client centricity — that together with human capital and teamwork are at the core of the company culture and the main drivers of its evolution.”
RBL is a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. and began operations in 2007 to launch and develop premium and luxury global brands in the country.
“Valentino needs no introduction in India,” said Darshan Mehta, managing director of Reliance Brands Ltd. “The brand’s infectious romanticism, signature codes and bold use of color has strong resonance in India. This partnership will help make the brand more accessible to its Indian customers and build a new tribe of Valentino connoisseurs.”
In Delhi, Valentino will open a 1,750-square-foot boutique in DLF Emporio, which will carry the brand’s women’s collections, starting with the fall 2022 season, and an edited selection of men’s accessories. The Mumbai flagship will carry a complete Valentino range of womenswear, menswear and Valentino Garavani accessories that include shoes, bags, small leather goods, scarves, ties and fragrances. The new eyewear line produced with Akoni Group will also be available.
Globally, the brand is present in more than 145 locations through 213 Valentino directly operated boutiques and more than 1,100 points of sale.
Venturini in 2021 carried out the repositioning of the Valentino brand, further elevating its couture status and returning the company to the black and to 2019 sales levels.
In the 12 months ended Dec. 31, revenues rose 39.6 percent to 1.23 billion euros, compared with 882 million euros in 2020, as reported.
In the fourth quarter of last year, sales grew 11 percent at constant exchange compared to the same period in 2019, and retail sales climbed 29 percent, driven by full-price sales, balancing the contraction of markdowns.
In 2021, retail sales were up two percentage points to represent 57 percent of total revenues compared with the previous year and Venturini is aiming for this channel to account for 70 percent of sales by 2024 or 2025.
Valentino opened six stores in South Korea last year and the company is planning in the fourth quarter of 2022 to open three stores in China, including a new unit in Shenzen and an expansion in Chengdu.
Boutiques in Geneva and Venice will open in 2023.
A new store concept will be unveiled in Jeddah in September, designed internally, Venturini told WWD in March, adding that a total of 21 openings were in the pipeline for the full year, six of which are new concessions with Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.
In the past five years, RBL has also invested in building and operating homegrown Indian designer brands. Its current portfolio of brand partnerships ranges from Giorgio Armani, Bottega Veneta and Burberry to Hugo Boss, Zegna, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Salvatore Ferragamo and Versace, to name a few.
RBL today operates 1,937 doors including 732 stores and 1,205 shops-in-shop in India. In 2019, RBL marked its first international foray by acquiring the British toy retailer Hamleys. Globally, Hamleys has 213 doors across 15 countries.
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