Christian Louboutin’s new retail partnership in India highlights the country’s growing luxury market

Christian Louboutin, the French footwear designer known for its iconic red-soled heels, is expanding its footprint in India with a new retail partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL).

Although the details of the deal haven’t been shared, the alliance effectively transforms the luxury retailer’s current business in the country into a joint venture with the Indian chain, and both partners “hold an equal stake in a newly incorporated subsidiary of ABFRL,” according to WWD.

Louboutin currently operates standalone stores in New Delhi and Mumbai, but doesn’t have any shop-in-shops or an Indian wholesale business.

Meanwhile, ABFRL has ~4000 stores in the country, and also sells through department stores and multibrand boutiques. “We are excited to partner with ABFRL’s team and look forward to working with them to manage and develop the business in India, which is an extremely important market for us,” Louboutin group CEO Alexis Mourotsaid in a statement.

Louboutin isn't the only retailer looking to capitalize on India’s growing luxury market. Since the arrival of Louis Vuitton in 2002, designers from Dior to Gucci and more recently Balenciaga and Valentino have set up shop in the country, Retail Brew previously reported.

India’s luxury market is estimated to be worth $8.5 billion in 2023, up $2.5 billion from 2021, per Euromonitor International.

But winning an Indian luxury consumer requires a specific set of strategies that include personalized service and being able to adapt local cultural elements into the brand.

“In a developed economy, there are exact sciences, you know where the customer is,” Cecilia Morelli, co-founder of Mumbai-based multibrand luxury retailer Le Mill, previously told Retail Brew. “But in a country where there are 39 different ethnic communities, and each community is consuming in its own very unique way, finding that customer in that unique mix is really challenging.”