ADVERTISEMENT

Reliance Brands To Bring Balenciaga To India

Reliance Brands will be Balenciaga’s sole partner in India.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>RBL will be Balenciaga’s sole India partner to launch the brand in the country. </p></div>
RBL will be Balenciaga’s sole India partner to launch the brand in the country.

Reliance Brands Ltd. is set to bring Spanish fashion house Balenciaga to India.

The unit of Reliance Industries that sells luxury labels has signed a long-term franchise deal with Balenciaga, owned by luxury group Kering Luxury Group Co., according to its exchange filing.

"With this long-term franchise agreement, RBL will be Balenciaga’s sole India partner to launch the brand in the country," RBL said in the statement.

This will be RBL’s second partnership with Kering after it had earlier signed a similar license agreement with Bottega Veneta.

"It’s the most opportune time to introduce the brand to the country as the Indian luxury customer has matured and using fashion as a form of creative expression of their individuality,” said Darshan Mehta, managing director of Reliance Brands Limited. "Few brands have actually embraced the opportunity for creative reinterpretation and reinvention quite like Balenciaga.”

Balenciaga was founded by Spanish-born Cristóbal Balenciaga in 1917 and established in Paris in 1937. It was later acquired by Kering in 2001. The brand has stores across the world including Spain, the U.K., Japan, China, Greece, and Australia, among others.

In August 2021, Justin Bieber was announced as the new face of Balenciaga. Besides Balenciaga and Bottega, other brands in Kering's portfolio include Gucci, Saint Laurent, Alexander Mcqueen, Ulysse Nardin, Boucheron and Brioni.

The iconic brand is known for shaping global fashion though its haute couture creations and modernistic silhouettes. Its product lines ranges from handbags and shoes to ready-to-wear accessories.

Reliance Brands, according to the statement, has a portfolio of 47 global brands including Armani Exchange, Burberry, Hugo Boss, Tiffany & Co., Michael Kors, Hamleys, Jimmy Choo, etc. It has also invested in homegrown Indian designer labels which includes Ritu Kumar, Raghavendra Rathore, Abraham and Thakore, Rahul Mishra, Satya Paul, and Manish Malhotra.