Former senior journalist-turned-communicator Mahul Brahma launched his debut book “Decoding Luxe”, which is a definitive guide to luxury, in an audience-packed Starmark bookstore at a city mall on August 17, 2017.
The book has received praises from industry leaders like Mr Ratan Tata (Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons), Mr D Shivakumar (Chairman, PepsiCo), Mr Sanjiv Goenka (Chairman, RP-SG), Mr Harshavardhan Neotia (Chairman, AmbujaNeotia), and Mr Hemant Kanoria (Chairman, SREI); authors like Dr Bibek Debroy (NITI Aayog), Mr Kunal Basu and Mr Sarnath Banerjee.
The book launch of Decoding Luxe was anchored by Saira Shah Halim, poet and social commentator and the panelist at the launch were Jawhar Sircar (former CEO, Prasar Bharati), Jonathan Ward (Principal Commercial Officer, US Consulate General Kolkata), Vinaya Varma (CEO, mjunction), Arnab Chakrabortty (India Director, United Nation’s Empretec Program), Kounteya Sinha (photographer and journalist).
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| News : Mahul Brahma’s book on luxury Decoding Luxe launched. From Left-Saira, Jonathan, Jawhar, Vinaya, Mahul, Kounteya, Arnab |
The launch was attended by industry leaders and prominent personalities from all walks of life. The event witnessed a free-flowing and engaging discussion with the panelists talking about the book and luxury from their perspectives with numerous anecdotes.
Mr Jawhar Sircar said, “Decoding Luxe is a well written, informative and timely book.”
The author Mahul Brahma said: “Decoding Luxe to me is an expression of freedom from the myopic view of luxury, which is confined to price-tags. My aim was to deconstruct that centuries’ old school of thought and look at luxury in a more holistic way, exploring its various facets. This book is for those liberated thinkers who do not alienate luxury because of prohibitive pricing. More than affordability, it is question of freeing the mind to embrace luxe in its holistic avatar, looking beyond the dazzle, decoding the luxe. Thus Decoding Luxe, a fruit of four years of research and writing, is born out of this sheer need to pen a book that captures the true, more inclusive essence of luxury. Decoding Luxe is a result of a quest for luxe on which I had embarked and it has been a great adventure. I want more and more people to set sail. Let your quest for luxury continue.”
About the book Decoding Luxe:
Decoding Luxe narrates the story of the origin of luxury in India. In the 1920s, 20 per cent of Rolls Royce's global sales were from India. In 1926, the Maharaja of Patiala commissioned Cartier, its largest till date, to remodel his crown jewels, which included the 234.69 carat De Beers diamond. The result was a breath-taking Patiala necklace weighing 962.25 carats with 2,930 diamonds. Not to mention that a certain Nizam had procured 50 Harley Davidsons for his postmen to deliver his messages.
The book, Decoding Luxe, is a myth-buster of luxury, questioning the age-old notions that still are very dominant but not relevant any more. One myth-buster is how the middle class is driving the luxury market and not the Richie-rich. All international brands thrive on volume game and that only comes from the Great Indian Middle Class.
The book, Decoding Luxe, also states that e-commerce has done more harm than good in luxury, boosting sale of luxury fakes or counterfeit and thus hitting the genuine luxury brands. Growing at a compounded annual growth rate of almost 40-45 per cent, the counterfeit luxury products market in India is likely to more than double to INR 5,600 crore from the current level of about INR 2,500 crore.
With the ebbing Chinese luxury story, most luxury goods providers are shifting focus to the growing luxury consumer base in India, which is poised to grow at 25% from 2013 till 2018, and is likely to touch $18-billion mark from the ongoing level of $14 billion.
The book aims to benefit all stakeholders of luxury brands – owner, custodian, retailer, connoisseur as well as student – helping them understand and formulate, with a historical perspective, an effective strategy for conceiving, positioning, placing, promoting and pricing these luxury products.
The book, Decoding Luxe, is published by Srishti Publishers.
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| News : Mahul Brahma’s book on luxury Decoding Luxe launched. Book launch - Vinaya Varma and Mahul Brahma |
About the author:
Mahul Brahma is a luxury commentator and columnist. He is also an award-winning communicator, heading corporate communications and branding for mjunction, a Tata group company. He has been a senior journalist for a decade with Economic Times, CNBC TV18, Reuters and India partner of NYT. His debut film as an actor was screened at 69th Cannes Film Festival.
You can order a copy of the book Decoding Luxe from Amazon.
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