Galeries Lafayette makes its India debut in Mumbai

On Wednesday night, Parisian aptitude married Mumbai glamour in one of the hotly anticipated luxurious occasions this Diwali season. In honour of Galeries Lafayette’s a lot anticipated India debut, I used to be swept up in true Riviera type. With a fairly hand fan pressed into my hand, I used to be whisked by golf cart from the Royal Bombay Yacht Membership to the jetty throughout from the Taj Resort. From right here, I hopped onto a ready velocity boat, which ferried me throughout the glittering waters to the elegant yacht Allegra.

With the town’s iconic Colaba harbour as its cinematic backdrop, the storied 130-year-old French luxurious division retailer floated large red-and-white balloons above the Arabian Sea, whereas sailboats with its signature crimson flags drifted throughout the water. From the yachts moored offshore, an viewers of editors, stylists, designers, and French and Indian executives regarded on as the town witnessed a second of pure Parisian spectacle — tying the town’s maritime legacy neatly right into a historic second for luxurious retail in India.

Some of the hotly anticipated debuts, it took virtually eight years after their preliminary courtship for Aditya Birla Trend & Retail Ltd (ABFRL) and Galeries Lafayette to open its doorways in Kala Ghoda. Virtually two years went in the direction of painstaking constructing renovation. “We’re purported to be retailers, as a substitute we turned structural engineers and designers,” joked Ashish Dikshit, managing director of ABFRL, whereas having fun with a sundown cocktail on one of many boats. He added that he felt tremendously happy with the repurposing of two historic buildings, Turner Morrison and the neighbouring Voltas Home.

Parisian type meets Indian craftsmanship

The 90,000 sq. ft. area, unfold throughout 5 flooring, is designed by London-based architectural agency Virgile + Companions, and blends Parisian sophistication with Mumbai’s architectural heritage. Assume great inside particulars comparable to monochromatic black-and-white tiles bordered by gold, a lotus-motif parchinkari on the atrium ground, and welcoming pastel pink sofas and chairs. And, after all, the cupola impressed by l’Intrépide, the French hydrogen remark balloon utilized by the navy in 1796, that the division retailer is thought for internationally. Inside, consumers will encounter over 250 manufacturers, each Indian and worldwide — comparable to La Prairie, Guerlain, Hermès Magnificence, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Jacquemus, Dhruv Kapoor, Kartik Analysis, and Hemant & Nandita — throughout 5 flooring.

The shop will home over 250 manufacturers

Whereas the Turner Morrison constructing is ready up like a conventional division retailer, with a ground every for magnificence, leather-based items and equipment, girls’s luxurious and night put on, and the like (and one for food and drinks), Voltas Home will embody a gallery area for reveals, a present store, a private buying salon and males’s luxurious put on. Alexandra von Canisius, a seasoned vogue government with stints at Saks Fifth Avenue in Bahrain and Holt Renfrew in Canada, has been introduced in to go retail operations.

The shop just isn’t totally stocked but — doorways will formally open within the first week of November — however amongst the manufacturers I noticed have been Patou, which makes its India debut. Comme des Garçons and Phoebe Philo are additionally within the combine. The meals part will solely seem subsequent 12 months, however the firm is betting it to be a driver of footfalls.

Patou makes its India debut
| Picture Credit score:
Gayatri Rangachari Shah

Begin of a consumption growth

On the preview, Kumar Mangalam Birla and his household have been noticed mingling with the visitors — Neerja Birla in an elegant black Patou pants swimsuit, whereas matriarch Rajshree Birla was resplendent in a vibrant silk sari. A momentary blip of rain had everybody gathered on the rooftop diving for canopy, but it surely additionally resulted in them taking a leisurely stroll by way of the assorted flooring of the Turner Morrison.

As soon as the climate settled, visitors have been ushered again onto the roof, the place Okay.M. Birla and Nicolas Houze, government chairman of the Galeries Lafeyette group, spoke about India’s luxurious sector being poised for transformation — with the rising variety of prosperous, aspirational customers. The nation’s luxurious market will hit $85 billion by 2030, in line with Kotak Securities, whereas Mercedes-Benz Hurun India Wealth Report 2025 said that India has 8,71,000 greenback millionaire households in the present day.

At a time when shops are languishing within the West, new markets like India present hope to retailers. “You’ll be able to’t evaluate India in 2025 with the U.S. in 2025,” defined Dikshit. “We’re going to see a consumption growth over the following 20 years. Bear in mind, our inhabitants is so giant that even when a small sliver of it strikes up, anyone should service that aspiration.”

“You’ll be able to’t evaluate India in 2025 with the U.S. in 2025”

Heritage properties for luxurious

Whereas luxurious retail in India is principally present in malls in the present day, ABFRL appears to have made a acutely aware option to buck the development, offering manufacturers underneath their roster heritage areas as a substitute. Whether or not it’s Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s celebrated Horniman Circle retailer, now only a stone’s throw from Galeries Lafayette, or Tarun Tahiliani’s superbly appointed Ballard Property retailer, these nurture the sense of a extra personalised, elevated buying expertise.

For Galeries Lafayette, a carefully held household enterprise, a heritage property was essential provided that its Paris flagship is in a landmark 1912 Artwork Nouveau constructing with the well-known glass dome.

The glass dome at Galeries Lafayette in Paris

Mumbai is the model’s tenth worldwide location. “These sorts of initiatives are wonderful as a result of it exhibits even the federal government that should you save these previous buildings quite than tear them down, there may be a lot potential,” concluded Dikshit.

The author is a Mumbai-based journalist and writer.

Printed – October 16, 2025 06:19 pm IST