After Vogue, Condé Nast to bring GQ, Glamour, Traveller to India

International fashion magazine Vogue has finally arrived in India amidst all fanfare officially declaring arrival of India in the league of extravagance and luxuriousness

Condé Nast, the New York based publishing house, which specialises in lifestyle and special interest magazines has aggressive plans for India. The company's first title Vogue is to hit the Indian market on September 21.

However, in the next one year, Condé Nast plans to bring its other popular international titles such GQ, Glamour, Traveller, and Vanity Fair, too, in the country, in that order.

Both GQ and Vanity Fair are men's magazines, and would compete with the likes of Maxim and FHM in India. Glamour, founded in 1939, is a magazine on film celebrities primarily based in Hollywood. The fourth title to hit the stands in India will be travel magazine, Condé Nast Traveller.

Apparently, Vogue will be the first international title to go all alone in India after the government allowed 100 per cent FDI (foreign direct investment) in the non news publications in 2005. The other international titles have entered India through JV agreements with local players.

"This has put us in an advantageous position, as we are like a majority government and not a coalition one," says Alex Kuruvilla, managing director of Vogue India.

When asked about Vogue being a late entrant in the market, while other titles such as Elle, Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire already have hit the market, Kuruvilla defends that being a late entrant doesn't make any difference, as it is now, that the Indian market is opening up, and with the growing economy, people have some extra bucks to spend, which was not the case in the past.

In fact, Kuruvilla adds, there couldn't have been a better time than launching the title in India. "This is the time when all high end luxury brands have either entered the Indian market, or have queued up to do so. Besides, there has been a retail boom in the country in the last few years, and also the number of millionaire and billionaires clubs is growing," says Kuruvilla.

Talking about international big brands who have advertised with the magazine, he says, "Every brand that knows the value of the Indian market is on board, including both international and Indian brands."

The international brands that are there in the inaugural issue are Gucci, Dior, Jimmy Choo, Chanel, and Bvlgari while among Indian brands, Tarun Tahiliani, JJ Malaya and Mehrasons are present.

"The first issue will be 400-page heavy, priced at Rs 100 which is quite reasonable for a high-end luxury magazine," claims Kuruvilla.

The magazine will start with a print run of 50,000 copies which according to Kuruvilla will make Vogue, the largest selling luxury magazine in the country. He claims that the market leader in this segment sells only 20,000 copies.

Aiming a large pie, Kuruvilla claims that Vogue's circulation is expected to grow to 3 lakh copies in the next three years. Condé Nast has invested $2 million on the brand in the India, which according to him is on the higher side in this category, as the other magazines in this genre have only one-tenth of this budget.

Vogue was founded as a fashion society magazine in 1892, but today there are seventeen editions of Vogue published around the world: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the United States. Under the ownership of New York-based magazine publisher Condé Nast, Vogue is most famous as a presenter of images of high fashion and high society, but it also publishes writings on art, culture, politics, and ideas. On the way, it has helped to enshrine the fashion model as celebrity. It celebrated its 114th birthday in 2006.