How Reliance Brands Get Almost Every Well-Known Brand In Its Kitty And What's The Endgame?

Reliance Brands dominates the luxury business in India. How did it get almost every well-known brand in its kitty and what’s the endgame?

- Krishna Gopalan

A couple of years ago, Darshan Mehta saw a young man, perhaps in his late-20s, wearing a pair of red trousers. It was at an airport and he remembers the attention the red trousers drew. “If he had done that in Italy, it would have been quite normal. But this was India,” he says with a laugh.

Today says Mehta, Managing Director, and CEO, Reliance Brands Limited (RBL), the level of experimentation with fashion in India is a revelation. He should know that better than most given that he heads RBL’s portfolio of 69 luxury brands. They include the likes of Armani Exchange, Brooks Brothers, Canali, Diesel, Ermenegildo Zegna, Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss, Michael Kors, Paul Smith, Steve Madden, and Tiffany. Bet you didn’t know RBL brought all of these to India! This ensemble of brands is spread across 595 stores as well as 744 shop-in-shops and is the lynchpin of RBL’s fashion empire of ₹2,436 crores in FY21 (vs pre-Covid-19 sales of ₹3,562 crore in FY20).

Most recently, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (of which RBL is a part) unveiled Jio World Drive mall in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) area. It will house 72 prominent international and Indian brands apart from culinary outlets and also a drive-in theatre. The objective is to create a high-street experience.