The Luxury Symposium commenced yesterday with the Minister of Culture and External Affairs, Meenakshi Lekhi said this event was a curtain raiser to several events which would be held in the future. This curtain raiser she hoped would give an insight into what India had to offer. She said as a proud Indian she was very proud of what it all had to offer. She said there were very few countries with a six or seven thousand year old heritage. She asked if there was any country in the world which could claim that. The minister said India was the right place if one wanted to see diversity. There were people of every religion in every city and yet she said everyone was one. Citing the example of the aborigines who had lost their land and culture, she pointed out in India, they were protected by law. The prehistoric model is open to science and technology, open to co vaccines and it was obvious this culture had done it all. That she claimed was the strength of the country. She said for her the world was India whenever she travelled abroad; she always felt India was her home. She said despite the challenges and opposition faced and one side the country was a developing one and yet everyone celebrated life. She said no country could offer what India could in every sense of the world. The minister hoped India would not just be the manufacturing hub but the designing hub because India had the capacity. Brand India she said had to be taken forward since she claimed “we are the originals.” She said “Whether it is jewellery, garments, embroidery, handwork and one had witnessed on various ramps and since I am here, I will mention Paris an say that fashion repeats itself every decade and whether it was artistry or temple architecture, tribal clothing have all been used by big brands internationally but we have not been given credit. Let us put together all our efforts in branding India let this luxury symposium be a trailblazer. Every Indian national has the capacity to be a designer because at the time of making a garment they will offer suggestions like wanting a slit in a certain way or embroidery on a particular side. The only thing lacking is branding and I have all the hope and expectation from the people sitting here to take it forward”.
During a panel discussion when asked what luxury meant to her and how it could be used to preserve arts and crafts , Queen Diambi Kabatusuila of Congo thanked everyone for giving her an opportunity to visit India for the very first time. She said everyone knew of the beauty of Indian women, their grace, their refinement and the manner in which they portrayed themselves was a credit to themselves and their country. Their refinement showed not only in the way they dressed but also in their dance. India she said was important and very much noticed by everyone and she would be more than willing to help the country be the focus of the world. India, she said, had many masters over thousands of years who showed the way in spirituality. She said “As a African woman, African history was like a black spot, people did not know much and whatever they knew was negative. I believe it is time now to rebrand the continent and that will need friends and partners. Speaking about luxury, I feel it is the freedom to express yourself and to do what you have from your ancestors. Ancestors are very important in African culture. They pass on all the teachings that they have and we are bound to showcase what they have left us”. She talked about her apparel and the pearls she was wearing and said it was part of her culture. She said there was nothing to be apologetic about being African and for too long that was the case. All the wealth in Africa was taken away though there was a lot still under the ground and the continent had not received any credit.
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Speaking about the two things that happened due to Covid, Rinaa Shah, a designer who has been in the business for twenty years said everything moved online. In the first year of Covid everything slumped including the sale of luxury goods. It was a period of uncertainty. The second year was tough for luxury goods and everyone moved online. She said today thirty percent of all luxury sales took place in Europe but there was a lot of business happening in India. The forecast was that it would grow by thirty percent. This she said was due to huge pent up demand. Anyone earning fifty lakhs and above was buying luxury. The second development was that luxury could not afford to be wasteful anymore, it had to be sustainable.
Paulo Gomes who flew in from Portugal also spoke. He was the former Creative director of Lisbon Fashion Week; Founder and Curator of Green Circle – Sustainable Textile and Fashion, Portugal.
The symposium will end today. The Luxury League is a Not-for-Profit Foundation, India’s first most powerful & influential platform for branding culture as luxury engaged in branding India, globally. The foundation serves as a standard-bearer to promote Indian arts, craft and heritage and is a global ambassador for Indian culture. The foundation also aims to create an environment conducive to creative thinking through dialogue and exchange of ideas amongst like-minded people, purveyors of luxury, global decision-makers, and the Government.
A consortium of decision makers, artisans, craftsmen, corporate global brands, consumers as well as the Government come together on the same platform to re-imagine the connotations of luxury in a global context.
