Word: valentino
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WHEN A MYSTERIOUS and beautiful newcomer took her seat at the Valentino show in Paris in March sporting a 20-carat diamond ring on one hand and a 200-carat emerald on the other, her appearance sent a frisson of intrigue through the front-row crowd. Was she a couture client slumming it at the ready-to-wear shows...
...Louvre that morning that Sheetal Mafatlal, 33, was one of India's biggest luxury dealmakers. Although Mafatlal could easily afford to scoop up gowns by the gross, she wasn't shopping for herself. She was on a fact-finding mission as a prelude to opening the first Valentino store in India, in partnership with Valentino Fashion Group SpA, in New Delhi's five-star Shangri-La hotel. Valentino is the first of several Western designers introduced into India by MLP (Mafatlal Luxury Private), the company Mafatlal heads...
...much on a handbag as you would on a piece of jewelry, which will increase in value," says Mafatlal, who adds that fine jewelry will always remain important in India. Today's younger women want accessories that can live up to their jewels, hence Mafatlal's insistence that Valentino, given the designer's taste for decorative accessories, be the first brand in MLP's portfolio...
...hardest sell could be the category for which Valentino is best known?gowns. "Don't forget, we have the sari. It's sexier than any other dress," says Mafatlal. "We have a very strong sense of our own culture. The sari is always going to stay for black-tie functions, although women do want gowns for less formal occasions...
Once Mafatlal identified Valentino as her quarry, she had some persuading to do. "I didn't know him. Then, early in 2004, I was having lunch at the jet-set London restaurant San Lorenzo, and Mr. Valentino and his entourage walked in. So I sent over a note, and Carlos [Souza, the company's indefatigable majordomo] came over, and we talked...