From Priyanka Chopra Jonas for Bvlgari to Alia Bhatt for Gucci, why global brands are gravitating to Indian ambassadors

In the 2000s, Mumbai-born Paris resident Ujjwala Raut was chosen as the face of Yves Saint Laurent. She walked world fashion ramps for the brand, representing it at various events and on magazine covers. She was followed by Lakshmi Menon, the muse for Jean Paul Gaultier, in the early 2000s again.

Ujjwala recalls her tryst with global fashion: “I was 23 and modelling in India, when I received a call that Tom Ford was auditioning, and I should try and get the assignment. I was one of the 15 girls picked by his team. After that, I walked the ramp for brands like Chanel and Gucci, which put a spotlight on me and that’s how YSL happened. At that time, very few Indians had made it to the global ramps.”

Since then, several have walked the Parisian and New York ramps, from Radhika Nair (Lanvin and Saint Laurent), Dipti Sharma (Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen) to Pooja Mor (Louis Vuitton and Givenchy), but few made it to the prestigious brand ambassador position.

Mumbai-born Ujjwala Raut

It wasn’t until 2021 that we saw another high-profile brand ambassador of a luxury behemoth when Bvlgari chose Priyanka Chopra Jonas as its first Indian face. Chopra joined the likes of Zendaya, Lily Aldridge and Eiza Gonzalaz in globally representing the Italian jewellery house, which was looking for diversity in its communication, much like other luxury brands today.

She says, "As a young actor, looking up at the international stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren, who have long been the muses of Bvlgari, I felt I was living a dream when I got the opportunity to work with such an iconic fashion house. The House of Bvlgari and India have a long, rich history. Many of their gems are sustainably sourced from my home country. I think many global brands are deeply interested in India and Indian faces to represent them as they try and reach a bigger audience in South Asia.”

There have been other Indian glamour faces representing global brands: Actors such as Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan for watch brands like Rado and Tag Heuer (both bridge-to-luxury brands), and Ranveer Singh, the face of the Gucci x Adidas collection. But the big breakthrough in the high stakes of global luxury came in 2022 when Deepika Padukone was chosen as the first Indian face of Louis Vuitton.

She wore the brand at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022 and as per the data analytics and marketing agency Launchmetrics, she accounted for more than 25 percent of the media impact value (MIV) generated for the brand during the entire festival. It made perfect sense for LV to sign her on as its global brand ambassador after this.

Padukone says, “Both our journeys (the actor’s and the brand’s) appear to have been similar. Even our style sensibilities are similar…understated, with just the right amount of amplifying. Perhaps drama, the right amount of drama, trying out new things, collaborating and experimenting...that is what I see in LV. I feel grateful that they see me fit as part of that narrative and I think the fact that today every Asian person feels ownership and pride.”

Deepika Padukone at Cannes 2022.

Alia’s choice as Gucci’s Indian muse, then, seems to be a natural choice. Her style has significantly evolved in the last few years. From Princess ballgowns and chunky sandals she sported when she first debuted in movies, to millennial style inspiration, it is a quantum change in how she represents herself in public, perhaps one of the reasons why Gucci picked her.

Designer Prabal Gurung, who dressed Alia for Met Gala, says, "I had heard rave reviews about her through him (Karan Johar) and my brother Pravesh Gurung, who was assisting Karan in her debut film. She came across as a petite ingénue. Her powerhouse performances and her image as a beautiful actress have contributed to her rise on the fashion spectrum.”

The gossip in the fashion circles is that Priyanka Chopra Jonas may be Balenciaga’s new face as the Paris-based Spanish luxury brand plots to launch a major blitzkrieg, and maybe a store, in India.

Luxury brands in India

The first luxury fashion brand to debut in India was Louis Vuitton, rapidly followed by Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Hermes and Burberry. After setting up a store or two, we rarely saw any buzz surrounding these brands within India.

But then things changed, and in 2022, Valentino opened its first store in India’s capital and this year, Balenciaga is planning a splash. Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) is all set to bring Paris’ iconic department store Galeries Lafayette and with it 200 luxury brands, to India.

As Priyanka Chopra Jonas says, it has much to do with the robust luxury brand market. According to Euromonitor International, the luxury market in India climbed to $8.5 billion in 2022 (Rs 70,000 crore), up by $2.5 billion (Rs 20,500 crore) over the preceding year.

Darshan Mehta, Reliance Brands Limited CEO, says, “People now pay Rs 50,000 for a bag without thinking too much.”

Millennials don’t believe in saving, or so says the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2022. It estimates that the number of millionaires in India will double from 796,000 in 2021 to 1.6 million in 2026.

As India’s luxury market grows, buoyed by the spending on luxury (there are stories of a family buying 500 LV bags or Gucci accessories to gift guests and family) during extravagant weddings, and the stratospheric growth in digital shopping and e-commerce, we are likely to see many young, glamorous faces from Indian cinema and fashion becoming brand ambassadors for some of the world’s biggest luxury brands.

This is the second part in our "India’s growing flex in the global luxury market" series. Also read part 1: India's growing flex in the global luxury market: Dior, Chanakya Atelier and giving credit where it is due