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India News |
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 Thailand Spas coming to India
Harnn, a Thailand based spa and aromatherapy firm is in plans to set up shop in India by the end of this year. The three centers across metros will be opened in collaboration with Spa Group, which will have exclusive distribution rights in India. Paul Harnn, co-managing director said, “We are looking at establishing our presence in all metros in next three years. We would like to set up stores in Mumbai, Bangalore and Gurgaon by the end of this year. ” The Indian wellness sector is projected as worth Rs 11,000cr and more action is expected in the near future with other aspirants to this booty. |
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The migratory patterns of the Indian Artists
The Indian artists well near begin to wilt in the Northern summer, which is why most of them are seen heading out to better climates abroad with their art works in tow. The economic recession has slammed the brakes on art purchases is general, but the Indian artist is finding a spot under the global sunshine and receiving due accolades. La Biennale di Venezia 2009, which wrapped up its 53rd International Art Exhibition on 6th June, saw the two Mumbai based participating artists, Nikhil chopra and Anju Dodiya, in Venice. Reena Saini held her solo show in Milan at the Marella Gallery and post that travels to Zurich and London with Jitish Kallat who is articipating in a Art show at Gemeentemuseum Den Haag in Hague along with Mumbai based Riyas Komu and Sudarshan Shetty. The duo recently exhibited in the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea, in an exhibition titled ‘Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art’ that featured works by 27 artists including NS Harsha, Pushpamala N, Atul Dodiya and Subodh Gupta. Gigi Scaria, the Delhi-based Kerela artist was in Berlin last month for his solo exhibition of his works titled ‘Settlement’ at the Christian Hosp gallery. The local art galleries begin to buzz only in winters.
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Louis Vuitton pops the bubbly at first anniversary bash
Luxury Brand Louis Vuitton celebrated the first anniversary of its store at DLF Emporio in Vasant Kunj with Champagne and all. The event, which took place at the atrium of the Emporio Mall, was well attended by celebrities like Abhishek Bachhan, Peter Punj, Nikhil Nanda, Mohammed Azharuddin with wife sangeeta Bijlani, Sanjay Kapoor etc.
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India to have three new upscale Westin Hotels
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, in a move to make their brand the most recognizable in India, has plans to open three of their upscale Westin hotels in India in Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkota. The Westin Hyderaba, Mindspace, with 428 rooms, is part of ‘The Mindspace Cyberabad Project’, a mixed use development venture with plans for offices and a 700,000 sq-foot mega mall and multiplex. The other two hotels – The Westin Pune at Koregaon Park in Maharashtra state, and The Westin Kolkata, Rajarhat will also be part of similar mixed-use development projects. While the Hyderabad and Pune Westin Hotels are scheduled to open this year, Westin Kolkota, Rajarhat will open in 2010.
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Indian’s now have more sophisticated wines to choose from
Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle, founder of Grand Marnier liquers flew into Delhi on the occasion of the introduction of Reserve category wines comprising Cuvee Alexandre Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Clo Apalta. Speaking at the launch held at the Imperial hotel Lapostolle said, “People are ready for sophistication and these wines are suited for the Indian market. The Cuvee Merlot, for instance, is fruitier, with a touch of spiciness that blends well with a few north Indian dishes.” All the wines come from the Casa Lapostolle winery in Santiago, Chile, and will retail between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000.
Grand Marnier was introducing new products after almost five years after it had brought in its three wines. |
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International News |
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Prada’s Transformer Project kicks off in Korea
The luxury brand Prada has spent nearly $ 10 million to set up its Transformers project that will host an art exhibition, film festival, fashion shows et al in Seoul in Korea. The tetrahedron shaped architecture marvel is a 160 tons steel structure wrapped in a highly elastic polyvinyl chloride membrane that was sprayed on as a liquid and is set as a layer that ripples in the wind like a sail or tent fabric. The structure can be lifted and rotated in an hour to morph different shapes for different events. For the current exhibition ‘Waist Down-Skirts by Miuccia Prada’ due to last until 24th May, the structure is in the form of a hexagon. It will take on a rectangular shape for the movie season from June 26 to July 12 where films selected by the Mexican film director Alejandro González Iñárritu will be screened. The art shows will see a floor plan in the form of a cross and a circle shape will finally be put up for a fashion show. This is the result of a collaboration between Miuccia Prada and Rem Koolhaas’ firm, Office for Metropolitan Architecture. All show are free and open to all. Not so long ago Chanel had to discontinue its mobile exhibition that was set to tour the world, due to the impact of the recession.
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 Luxury brands train eyes on tier 2 towns in China
The hunger for luxury brands has seeped into to the smaller cities where the net personal wealth of the citizens has grown many fold as revealed by a study published by Hurun Report. A report published by Management consultants McKinsey too states that ‘In Beijing, the biggest brand names often have several retail outlets, but many go unrepresented in Chengdu or Wenzhou, even though Chengdu has more wealthy households than Detroit, and Wenzhou as many as Atlanta.’ The study is supported by China Merchants Bank and consultants Bain and Company. Luxury brands now have greener pastures to poach on. |
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Sotheby’s jewels auction in Geneva draws Indian clients
Sotheby’s recently held its jewelry auction in Geneva, which saw many an Indian clients participating via the telephone or written bids. Recent years have seen a general broadening of interests of Indians in various categories of art to include western contemporary art, modern art and impressionist art as well as watches and jewelry. As reported in the ET, Maithili Parekh, Sotheby’s deputy director said, “We are delighted that many of our Indian clients participated in the jewels auction. This strong interest from the subcontinent is very encouraging as we continue to serve our South Asian clientele worldwide.” A total of $35.76mil were realized by the evening sale, the major contribution of $9.5mil coming from the flawless cushion-shaped blue diamond weighing 7.03 carats, from Petra Diamond’s historic Cullian mine. This third sale of Noble Jewels exceeded its best pre-sale estimates. Ms Parekh said, “The collection on offer was a combination of very rare gems and superb designs at attractive estimates which prompted clients to bid on various pieces. The Nobel Jewels section received particular attention from our Indian buyers because of the royal histories and provenance associated with each piece. Indian collectors have been broadening their collecting categories.”
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Luxury Goods sale on EBay allowed as per new EU Rules
 The European Commission, which works as the antitrust regulator for the 27 EU nations, is working out plans to sort out the issues about trade restriction on internet sales by authorized dealers. As per a report carried in WWD, the draft plan explains how the regulator will apply the competition rules to agreements between producers and sellers. All authorized distributors will be permitted to conduct Web-based sales as a result of disallowing the Luxury-goods makers from imposing quantity limits. EBay will be the one to benefit the most from this move, it being the most visited US e-commerce site. The draft rules say,“The commission regards as a hardcore restriction any obligation which dissuades appointed dealers from using the Internet by imposing criteria for online sales which are more onerous than the criteria imposed for the sales from the brick and mortar shop.” Luxury brand owners, specially the cosmetics and perfume makers are worried that the removal of the restriction would impact sales and product imgage.
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Bulgari’s 125th anniversary celebrations in Rome
 Bulgari, the Italian house of luxury is holding a unique retrospective exhibition entitled "Between Eternity and History: 1884-2009" as part of celebrations of its 125 years of existence. Milestones of Bulgari’s history are being showcased at this exhibition which is being held from 22nd May to 13th September in Rome. The inaugural event was hosted by Paulo and Nicola, the President and Vice President of Bulgari and Francesco Trapani, Managing Director of Bulgari; at Rome's prestigious Exposition Palace and was attended by the glitterati from the entertainment industry and entrepreneurs. At the same time Bulgari is launching a ‘Rewrite the Future’ campaign wherein a specially assembled collection of exceptional watches and jewelry will be utilised to raise funds for the education of children in countries ravaged by war. The collection, valued at about € 3mil comprises eleven couture jewelry pieces and seven timepieces that will be auctioned off at a special Christie's New York sale on December 8th, 2009.
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Chinese splurge on exquisite L’Or de Jean Martell cognac
 The Chinese are obviously not daunted by the financial crisis as Pernord Ricard SA’s Martell found out when their L’Or cognac worth $3,600 was sold out along with some of the blend’s brandies dated 1871. There is a waiting list in China for the rare vintages and the most expensive of spirits. As the West reels under the onslaught of a shrinking Dollar, the Chinese buyer’s spending power is a source of much relief to the luxury brands. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA’s Maurice Hennessy reportedly said that China overtook the U.S. as the brand’s biggest source of revenue and profit in 2008 and sales in China will grow faster than 10% in 2009. To cater to the status conscious Asian buyer, who buys only the best, it became important to package the product in fancy bottles. Martell’s L’Or bottle is a hand-worked gold-rimmed crystal bottle. Hennessy’s Richard, blended form brandies aged 40-200 years, costs $2,500 and have decanters made by French crystal producer Baccarat.
H&M ropes in Jimmy Choo to design new line
 The plunging graph of shoe sales had not deterred the Swedish fast-fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) from signing up Jimmy Choo, the British shoe-designing house that is a cult favorite in Hollywood, to create a limited edition line of shoes and handbags. Tamara Mellon, Jimmy Choo’s founder and president, promised ‘perfect party pieces to buy now and than wear out that night.’ In a reverse trend, a clothing line will also be created by Jimmy Choo to compliment the accessory range. H&M has disclosed that the line will have twelve shoe designs for women and four for men priced from $50 to $140, lot more affordable than the usual Choo shoe which starts at $500. The collection will be unveiled on November 14th at 200 H&M stores worldwide.
Saudi Princess taken to court over unpaid bills in Paris
 Saudi princess Maha-al-Sudairi, wife of Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, a Saudi Interior Minister is reported to owe several million Euros to a string of luxury stores around Paris. After almost a year of unpaid bills one such luxury store, which had dues to the tune of € 89,000, is taking the princess to court to settle accounts. There are other stores too which are claiming unpaid bills. Jacky Giami of Key Largo claimed that the Princess’ daughter and her entourage shopped without paying and a luxury lingerie shop "Aux caprices de Lily" has a unpaid bill for €70,000. Many have started legal proceedings to seize assets but she might be able to get away by claiming diplomatic immunity. Saudairi, allegedly staying at the luxury George V hotel, owned by her nephew Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, was not available for comment.
Kenzo auctions his personal art collection
 The famous Japanese fashion icon Kenzo Takada has auctioned his personal art collection at his home in Paris. All of 1,043 art items are up for sale. The collection that was amassed over two decades from across the world, comprises rare 2,000 year old Chinese statues, Japanese negoro lacquer pieces from the 1500s, Hopi Indian’s Kachina dolls, Han wooden horse estimated at €100,000, a Thai statue made of pure gold from the 7th century, Tang statuettes, Australian Aboriginal artifacts, African masks, rare kimonos etc. Kenzo had handed over his fashion empire to the French luxury house LVMH and retired almost a decade ago. He is now moving out of his sprawling 12,915 sqft home into a smaller 200 sq m flat in the heart of Paris.
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