To head up the Indian market, the rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré-based saddler has appointed a native of the peninsula, a luxury expert who previously worked for S.T. Dupont and L’Oréal. A major asset to stimulate this promising destination.
By appointing Megha Malagatti, a native of India and former L’Oréal executive, Hermès has acquired a valuable asset for its India division. Although still in her early forties, Megha Malagatti already has a CV as long…as Shiva’s six arms!
Born “Untouchable” in India, she could have been content with the lowly fate that awaits many of her compatriots who have the misfortune to be born into this despised and bullied caste. And this, despite the abolition of this iniquitous system by the constitution decades ago.
Fortunately, however, Megha Malagatti’ s exceptional willpower and her dream of advancing in the world of fashion led her to forge a destiny of an entirely different nature.
And to realize her desires, she hasn’t hesitated to step out of her comfort zone on several occasions.
First life
In her first life, Megha Malagatti fortunately achieved higher education thanks to parents who themselves defied social prejudice.
With an engineering degree in hand, she launched her career in 2004, spending six years in the tech world in Bangalore. One of her proudest achievements was a collaboration with Cisco Systems and Apollo Hospitals, India’s largest hospital chain. The aim: to develop the PAN India telemedicine system, connecting urban doctors and patients living in remote villages.
Having dreamed of working in the fashion world since she was a child, she applied to the Essec MBA program in Paris, dedicated to luxury brand management. A double success, since not only did she graduate in 2012, but also received a much-needed scholarship from the famous school. For, to move to Paris in 2011, at the age of 28, she had sold her jewelry, as she confided in an interview with the Essec alumni newspaper…
As soon as she graduated from Essec, she joined S.T. Dupont, where she made such a splash that she joined the executive committee in 2019.
Seven years at S.T. Dupont
During her seven years with the company, she held a number of different positions: marketing director, then director of limited editions and partnerships, then marketing director in charge of products and communications worldwide, and finally director of the “Retail Excellence” division in France and Great Britain.
In this capacity, she oversaw the restructuring of the Haute Création department, supported the brand’s move into India and its development in the USA, and set up various collaborations to promote the brand’s expertise and creations (notably product placements in James Bond and Disney films), or the co-creation of exceptional objects with brands or artisans…
At the same time, Megha Malagatti is also beginning to share her expertise with other companies, becoming in 2016 and until 2020, a member of the Colbert Innovation Lab Committee, then from 2020 to mid-2023, an honorary member of the French Foreign Trade Advisors network.
Four years at L’Oréal
In 2020, Megha Malagatti joined L’Oréal, where she was in charge of marketing for the high-end brands Kiehl’s, Shu Uemura, IT Cosmetics and Urban Decay in the South Asia, Pacific, Middle East, North Africa zone , as well as travel retail for India and the Indian sub-continent.
In mid-2023, she was appointed Director of Business Development for Beauty Technology Tools. Here again, she oversees operations in several markets, notably India.
On her LinkedIn profile, Megha Malagatti said today that she was “delighted to announce her appointment as Managing Director of Hermès India, and ‘at the same time, to rediscover my roots in India after almost 15 years’.
Although the young executive, now based in Mumbai, is returning to her country of origin, she had always maintained a link with it in recent years.
Her experience and good knowledge of the peninsula will be invaluable to Hermès, which is seeking to intensify its presence there.
Hermès’ ambitions in India
Even if the saddlery manufacturer manages to show resilience in 2024, when the biggest names, including Lvmh, are suffering, it will be interesting for him to ramp up this emerging luxury market. Indeed, according to experts, China is unlikely to become the Eldorado it once was…
Yet Hermès admitted this summer that the slight slowdown in its second-quarter growth, which was still more than respectable (+13% organic), was linked to a drop in footfall in its Chinese stores.
It’s hardly surprising, then, that the company is particularly interested in India. Last April, the saddler inaugurated a third address there , nestled on the second floor of the Jio World Plaza shopping mall in Mumbai.
Hermès made its debut in the country in 2008, setting up shop in New Delhi where it successively occupied the Oberoi Hotel and the DLF Emporio before moving into The Chanakya shopping mall. The House also has another boutique in Mumbai, in the Bharat Insurance Building.
Chimène’s eyes
India is all the more closely watched by the luxury goods industry today, as the driving force of recent years, China, has seized up.
Although the land of the Maharajas is unlikely to match the gigantic Middle Kingdom, according to Deloitte, the luxury goods market could be worth nearly $30 billion by 2030. This represents a more than 4-fold increase on its current valuation of $7 billion (€6.4 billion)…
While the major markets for luxury goods – China, the United States and Europe – are marking time, India is resisting, with growing consumption in second- and third-tier cities.
This has not escaped the attention of the major luxury players. There have been a number of noteworthy initiatives in the Peninsula in recent times, such as the Dior Fall 2023 show, to be held in Mumbai in March 2023, in the highly significant Gateway to India…
A year ago, the Reliance group inaugurated Jio World Plaza, a luxury shopping mall in the heart of this major city’s business district. In addition to Hermès, the sector’s emblematic houses – from Dior, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari and Rimowa, all owned by Lvmh, to Gucci (Kering), Burberry and Cartier (Richemont) – were also present.
A more recent example of luxury’s focus on India is Tod’s fresh collaboration with Indian designer Rahul Mishra for a capsule collection.
National pride
In a country with a culture dating back thousands of years, where luxury has always held a special place, particularly in the days of the munificent Maharajahs, it is crucial to protect legitimate national pride…
By recruiting a manager of Indian origin to develop in this market, Hermès will be better able tounderstand the subtleties of this complex country.
This strategy is reminiscent of the one Hermès deployed in China, when, in 2010, it financed the creation of the Shang-Xia brand, founded by Franco-Chinese designer Jiang Qiong, in honor of the Middle Kingdom’s age-old savoir-faire. The brand has opened points of sale in Paris, China, Taipei and Singapore. At the end of 2020, Exor, the Agnelli family’s holding company, acquired a majority stake in Hermès.
But in the meantime, Hermès has scored lasting points in China, taking into account national sensitivities and its rich past. A strategy it would do well to repeat in India…
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Read also > Hermès inaugurates its second store in Mumbai
Featured Photo: © Hermès
