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Vogue magazine, the style bible for fashionistas worldwide, is launching an edition in India this month which is set to give the country's wealthy jetsetters a local twist on fashion and the good life.
The magazine marks publisher Conde Nast's first foray in the Asian subcontinent and is another sign of the growing interest in Asia's third-biggest economy, which has a large English-speaking population with rising disposable incomes.
Major global fashion and luxury brands are now setting up in India - and bringing the foreign glossy magazines with them.
"We will raise the bar because we are the ultimate style-bible," Priya Tanna, Vogue India editor, said.
"More and more confident, successful women are moving from the 'we' culture to the 'me' culture," Tanna said, adding that the Indian woman was now providing for her family and indulging herself as well.
Tanna said Vogue India would aim to create "a desire for guilt-free consumption" in women.
The magazine, priced at 100 rupees ($3.66), will feature international and Indian fashion, decors, global cultures, travel and health among other issues.
"The idea is to mix eye-candy with mind-candy," Tanna said.
India allows 100 per cent ownership in non-news titles and has a 26 per cent ceiling on news publications. Vogue publishes in India as a 100 per cent subsidiary of Conde Nast International.
Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Seventeen, Maxim, Hello!, Time Out, OK! and others are already on the stands.
Foreign media firms have been slow to make big investments in India, opting instead for small stakes or licensing deals in a fragmented market dominated by regional-language titles and family-owned firms that are reluctant to cede editorial control.
But Alex Kuruvilla, Conde Nast India's managing director, is confident of striking gold in a country where fashion-starved millionaires head abroad to shop.
"The Indian market has arrived and so have we," Kuruvilla said.
"We have a huge turnout of advertisements already."
Vogue India has an initial print order of 50,000 copies.
Conde Nast launched Vogue China in 2005 and also recently launched editions in Japan and Russia.
- Reuters
