After this, I was fascinated by craft. Heritage. Passion with detail. But over the years, as I have worked to bring global luxury brands to India and mentioned a generation of professionals, something else began to emerge: a subtle discomfort with luxury silence.
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The luxury industry likes to keep itself in a position over politics, struggle or dirt of crisis. It speaks of elegance and aspiration, not activism. But what happens when the world becomes very loud, very unjust and morally ignored?
This is the question that I am asking myself recently. And I think it’s time when the global luxury industry also asked this.
What did Russia teach us: When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, I saw the Industry Act fast as I had ever seen before. LVMH closed its boutique in Russia. The channel pulled out of e-commerce. Harmes closed the shop. For the first time, the heritage house – everyone is known for his silence – found a stand. It was fresh. Even commendable. Finally, there was no luxury bus where you shop. It was about what you stood for.
And yet, here two years later, I read about another cruel attack by Pakistani sponsored terrorists on Indian citizens, and what did we hear from the global luxury community? Nothing.
No solidarity post. No symbolic gestures. No brand stands with India. silence.
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Silence is not neutral: This is not the first time, of course. Gaza, Sudan, Myanmar- The luxury world has become selectively responsible for crises. When the Western media increases the phenomenon and the Western consumers seek a response, the brands respond. Silence returns when the tragedy is cool, more complex or is less ‘important’ for the industry, the silence returns. But here is the problem: silence is no longer neutral. Not in the age of General Z. Not in the era of conscious consumption.
I have spoken on global forums, taught luxury strategy to students from Milan to Mumbai, and worked with CXOS in India’s luxury ecosystem. One thing is consistent: Today’s luxury consumers are not just buying the situation. They are buying alignment. They want to know what the brand is, even when it is not convenient to speak.
India’s question: I have to say this clearly: India deserves moral thoughts similar to Europe and North America with global luxury brands.
India is one of the five largest economies in the world. Our luxury market is estimated to increase by $ 200 billion by 2030. Our diaspora has shaped global pop culture from Met Galas to Marvel films. We are no longer a side story. In many ways, we are the story. So when Indian life is lost from terror and luxury brands that proudly advertise themselves in Delhi and Mumbai remains silent, the message is loud: Some tragedies matter more than others.
As someone has spent two decades, trying to place India as a strategic instead of the symbolic luxury market, it stings.
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Conscience as a competitive edge: A few weeks ago, I was talking to a group of MBA students how faith A new currency is being created. Products are not trusts, but moral trusts. If your brand speaks for some life, but not others, it is not neutral. It is becoming inconsistent.
And are the results of incompatibility. Will you still play a brand that stood against one injustice but ignored the other? Will you still feel proud in a label that indicates selective anxiety? In luxury, perception is everything. And the perception here is that luxury brands are taking their fight based on a public relations calculus, not the principle.
A chance for Indian luxury to lead: Here I am watching the opportunity. Homegron is a chance to do something different in Indian luxury brand – fashion, beauty, hospitality and more. To lead not only with product excellence, but also with perspective.
When global luxury players hesitate, Indian brands can speak. When other people remain silent, we can show that one Vivek is not at the other end of luxury – it is its soul.
Maybe we start defining Indian luxury on our terms – not only through crafts and culture, but also through courage. I do not write it to embarrass the industry on which I have spent an important part of my career. I write it because I believe in its power – to influence, uplift and shift the culture.
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Luxury is no longer on a distant pedestal. It is a mirror of time. And in such times, silence is not necessarily protecting the appeal of a brand. It can erase it.
As someone has helped luxury to succeed in India and has seen it growing from a whisper to a roar, I say it with love, not angry: If luxury wants loyalty from India, it should show loyalty to India. And it should go beyond some boutiques and hoardings.
The author is the founder of Luxury Connect LLP and Luxury Connect Business School.