Gucci had a problem. Louis Vuitton had the same problem. So did Chanel, Prada, and almost every other global luxury house: the next generation of luxury buyers wasn’t buying the big pieces first.
Gen Z doesn’t walk into a luxury store and buy a ₹5 lakh lehenga for their first purchase. They walk in and they buy a belt. A scarf. A pair of earrings. A silk accessory that lets them participate in the universe of a brand they love — without spending a sum that requires a family meeting.
India’s biggest couture designers figured this out. And they acted on it.
Sabyasachi. Manish Malhotra. Tarun Tahiliani. Anita Dongre. Four of India’s most powerful fashion houses made a similar, quietly brilliant move: they stopped leading with lehengas and started leading with accessories. Belts. Bags. Scarves. Jewellery. Entry-level pieces that cost ₹15,000 to ₹80,000 — real money, but not the kind that requires a years-long savings plan.
A ₹15,000 belt. A pair of earrings. A silk scarf.
That’s the new door into India’s most powerful couture empires. And the genius of it is what happens once someone is through that door — they never really leave. They buy the belt. Then the bag. Then, one day, the lehenga.
India’s fashion accessories market stood at ₹1.34 lakh crore in 2024. It is set to hit ₹2.20 lakh crore by 2030. The next generation of luxury buyers isn’t waiting. They are already here — buying exactly what’s been put in front of them.
These designers didn’t just adapt to Gen Z. They built the on-ramp.
And in doing so, they’ve done something even more important: they’ve secured the next twenty years of their customer base, one ₹15,000 belt at a time.
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