Book review: Book explores the history and future of India's luxury, fashion industries

India is a land of contradictions. While approximately half of its people are illiterate, the country houses the world's second-largest pool of trained scientists and engineers.

Against a backdrop of an evolving democracy and growing economy, per capita income is increasing.

And an ever-growing youth majority is looking for ways to achieve their material aspirations.

Luxury brands have thus set their eyes on India's high-end retail market, which is expected to reach $30 billion by 2015. That market is expected to continue to be fueled by India's growing and already 400-million-strong upper middle class

A new book, India by Design: The Pursuit of Luxury & Fashion, addresses the issues that affect luxury and fashion in India.

The book looks beyond India's luxury market and its high growth potential, and instead scrutinizes it as a country rediscovering its luxury heritage, bringing it into the present and future in a new and uniquely Indian way.

Based on a series of interviews with luxury and fashion experts in India and in Europe, the book offers an insider's perspective on the workings of the world of luxury and fashion.

The authors seek to give readers a broad understanding of the roots of the luxury sector in India at the outset. The book also explores the outlook for this industry's future.

A perceptive and comprehensive reference, India by Design throws light on India's rapid development in the branded fashion and luxury goods sectors, and gives the purveyors of luxury and fashion a deeper understanding of India's complex and ever-evolving market.

Book name: India by Design: The Pursuit of Luxury & Fashion

Authors: Michael Boroian and Alix de Poix

ISBN: 978-0-470-82396-5

Price: $59.95: 300 pages

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd

(China Daily 12/21/2009 page8)