Creating Excellence

To cash in on India’s growing consumption of luxury, the bespoke, menswear brand Stefano Ricci has opened its second store at The Oberoi New Delhi.

- Riddhi Doshi

Stefano Ricci, the man behind the high-quality, bespoke Italian luxury menswear brand of the same name, says that ‘luxury’ is a misused word today. “All kinds of brands are prefixing the term to upgrade their products,” says Ricci. “Stefano Ricci, the brand, must be defined as ‘excellence’. Our leather is brushed and powdered five times. Other big brands do it only thrice. From a business point of view, repeating the procedure two more times is, perhaps, like burning money. However, we believe in offering only the very best,” says Stefano, who founded the brand in 1972 with neckties along with his wife, Claudia.

The brand has evolved since. It now offers suits, crocodile leather shoes, bags, dress shirts, jeans, polo shirts, diamond-studded neckties, homeware and a junior line for children. From business tycoons to oligarchs, Hollywood star Tom Cruise and late leader Nelson Mandela, the label dresses the uber-rich and uber-fashionable with its products ranging from 12,000 to a crore. The brand that celebrates masculine fashion, heritage and traditional craftsmanship entered India in 2014 with a flagship store in Mumbai’s The Taj Mahal Palace. It has a second home now at the 2,400 sq-ft shop in The Oberoi New Delhi. “Delhi is an important city for us,” says Niccolò Ricci, CEO of the brand and Stefano’s older son. “I met Mr PRS Oberoi many years ago. We wanted to do something together, and this seemed the right time to open a store here,” adds Niccolò. A dedicated clientele from the Capital has been visiting the brand’s stores in Paris, London and New York for many years. “We finally decided to greet these successful businessmen, looking for very high quality, Italian fashion, in their own town.”

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