India : Bridal Wear Comes in The Realm of Upper Middle Class

For couples in India tying the knot or debating it, there''s no time like now to `seal the deal''. Though traditionally the money-spinner for any designer, bridal wear is coming into the realm of the upper middle class, and in the words of one designer, is expanding `big-time''.

And not only is it just party wear, prêt and traditional costumes, but designer jewellery is getting a major boost as well. According to jewellery designer Ms Aaditi Beriwalla, the demand for diamond in trousseau jewellery is high and prices can start from Rs 40,000. Coloured diamonds are "very in" and the rage among youngsters.

She said that more designers were ready to show their collections at exhibitions such as Bridal Asia, as those invited were well-heeled and their interest usually materialised into sales. Over a period this would result in 60-70 per cent of a designer''s annual sales. According to Ms Madhulika Mathur, CEO and co-founder of the wedding portal WeddingSutra.com, in terms of back-of-the-envelope calculations, the jewellery market alone would be worth about Rs 15,000 crore. However, the size of the It is widely felt that the current regulatory framework may not be able to grapple with the complex issues that are likely to arise in such a technological set up and therefore, the need to establish an independent regulatory authority for the broadcasting sector is being debated." was difficult to predict mainly because of its unorganised nature. Designers, however, were seeing growth of 25 per cent annually, especially over the last three years.

The percentage of money being spent on wedding trousseaus was rising substantially and this was also attracting new players and designers to focus on wedding wear. For designers, wedding trousseaus can rake in anywhere between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 15 lakh and so designers time their collections around August - September in time for the wedding season around October-November.