Canali Brings 90th Anniversary Celebrates to Indian Market

MUMBAI — Although it’s been more than six months since the Canali family started celebrating the company’s 90th anniversary at different spots around the globe, its top executive still managed to bring the energy to India where he greeted Bollywood stars, businessmen and dedicated Canali consumers at the company’s final celebratory event last month. 

Celebrations started in earnest in Milan in June, followed by New York and Beijing in October, and culminated with the stop in Mumbai, where guests turned out to meet the team decked out in their spotless and treasured Canali suits. That included Bollywood stars Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor and Imran Khan who turned out to help the company celebrate during an event at IFBE at Ballard Estate, a former ice factory that has been reimagined into an event space.

The Italian luxury menswear brand has 190 boutiques and more than 1,000 retail stores in 100-plus countries across the globe. But Asia remains a strategic market as evidenced by the fact that the last two stops on the anniversary tour were in China and India. 

Taking a break from the festivities, Stefano Canali, president and chief executive officer, reviewed the brand’s success in the market and its go-forward plans.

“These markets are very important for us. We believe they will certainly grow more over the next years and that’s the reason why we decided to replicate events in both Beijing and Mumbai,” Canali said. 

The brand has had a presence in India for the past two decades, but efforts increased this year when it opened its seventh retail store — a flagship — at the Jio World Plaza in March.

In India, 61 percent of Canali sales come from formalwear, 22 percent from casualwear, 10 percent from the Nawab collection, a collection created for the Indian market in 2009, and 7 percent from shoes and accessories. Top-performing categories include suits, which account for 18 percent of the India business, followed by jackets and shirts at 15 percent, and trousers and jeans at 13 percent.

There’s no question the Indian wedding market is a big driver for fashion retail, and Canali’s recent launch of a bandhgala — Indian formalwear — has worked well. 

“Indian consumers do have passion for weddings, and there is a need for sophisticated offerings where the wedding suits are concerned,” he said. “Canali has been paying close attention to it for many decades, and we came up with something specific — we embraced the bandhgala jacket, giving our own interpretation to this. When this was introduced, one of the things I highlighted was the wonderful marriage between Italian and Indian culture. This was very successful and was instrumental in gaining market share in the Indian market.”

At the same time, he said, Canali believes its reach among Indian consumers can be much wider than simply the bandhgala, and the company is planning to add a “lifestyle component” to its offering in the future as it works to capitalize on the growth of the Indian market. The country’s GNP continues to grow at approximately 7 percent, and according to Knight Frank’s “The Wealth Report 2024,” there is likely to be 50 percent growth in individuals with total wealth of more than $30 million.

Today, approximately 60 percent of Canali’s business comes from repeat customers and the CEO believes by increasing the amount of casualwear it offers in the country, it can provide these loyal shoppers with a refreshed wardrobe option while also attracting new, younger shoppers. 

“On the one hand it is important to make sure that the average age is decreasing but at the same time we must not underestimate the importance of the existing customers no matter how old they are,” Canali said. “Sometimes I’m kind of puzzled by the desire of some brands to just address youngsters, Gen Z and the like. I can’t see the point. Canali as a brand is not focused on Gen Z only, but on many different age brackets.”

Looking ahead, Canali is already starting to think about the next round of celebrations leading up to the brand’s centennial in 2034. “Ten years is a long time to wait for celebrations,” he said with a smile. “But of course we will also celebrate the 100th.”