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Forbes
27-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
On Tour With Stefano Ricci In India As New Collection Drops
Models on location in Jaipur, Panna Meena Ka Kund during the Stefano Ricci Explorer Project. © Steve McCurry for Stefano Ricci In 1991, a friend of Stefano Ricci told the fashion mogul, 'It is time to think about China.' The pair set off on a trip to gauge firsthand the untapped potential of the mainland: after nearly 20 years in business with his eponymous brand, Ricci looked east. Creative Director Fillipo Ricci, Stefano's son—who now runs the company with his brother CEO Niccolò—tells me this on location in Agra, the first stop on the Explorer Project. The twice-yearly campaign seeks to reimagine how luxury fashion intersects with cultural heritage, sustainability, and the human connection. But more than that it is, as the name suggests, an expression of the brand's pioneering spirit: this time, as it charts a course on the Indian subcontinent. 'Exploration is curiosity acted upon,' said the oceanographer Don Walsh, and the Ricci's have curiosity in spades. The initial departure into China was a brave and almost unprecedented move. Back then, Louis Vuitton was one of the few global fashion companies operating in the country. Ricci, inspired by what he saw, followed suit, opening his first Shanghai store in 1993. It would put him at the vanguard of international luxury groups dipping their toes into the country. A Dior store went up in '94; Prada entered the market the next year, followed by Hermès in '96 and Gucci in '97. Chanel opened a fragrance and beauty store in Shanghai in '93 but its fashion counterpart didn't arrive until '99. Fillipo recounts his first trip to China aged 9. An inquisitive young boy, he soaked up the sights, from the barracks and fortresses along the Great Wall to the imposing Forbidden City that has been home to 2 dynasties of imperial rule. More than these, he was witness to change: 'Back then it was all bicycles. Now China has some of the fastest drones in the world and the highest skyscrapers. Everything is moving at a speed that is really incredible.' Filippo Ricci, Creative Director of Stefano Ricci in the Blue City of Jodhpur, during the SR EXPLORER MISSION RAJASTHAN E UTTAR PRADESH. © Steve McCurry for Stefano Ricci It is a pace the brand has kept up with. China today represents Stefano Ricci's most expensive retail footprint in the world and, from that first boutique selling shirts and ties to Chinese businessmen, the company operates 33 mono-brand boutiques out of its global tally of 80. All this in spite of a broader luxury sector slowdown—and increasingly competitive local market. The house maintains its allure to the country's elite group of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) through a strong tradition of craftsmanship and a distinct approach to consumer relations. There's a Shanghai outpost of its discreet Stefano Ricci club for its community of top-spending clients who spend around €50K-€5 million a year; another is earmarked to open soon in Beijing. A Huamao Centre flagship in the city, opened in 2023, and a boutique within the Ritz-Carlton (a year later) represent other key strategic investments. These are paying dividends. While it doesn't divulge individual regions, overall it closed 2024 with a healthy €233 million revenue. During 2024-25, the company achieved a notable accomplishment: a 3% year-on-year sales increase in China. India's emergence, then—as a new luxury hub and a site for investment—is nothing new for the Riccis, and in the 2010s they opened stores in Mumbai and New Delhi. And, while the clientele there has been 'very close' for over 20 years, its work in the country has reached a new level following, according to Filippo, a significant increase since COVID-19. Sales there now account for 4% of total revenue with much scope to expand. 20% of respondents in the BoF McKinsey State of Fashion 2025 executive survey cited India as a focus market for 2025, while the Knight Frank Wealth Report of March 2024 states that India's population of UHNWIs, with over $30 million in assets, is expected to grow 50% from 2023 to 2028. This would make it the fastest-growing UHNWI population in the world. A model walks in front of the Taj-Mahal by the banks of the Yamuna river. © Steve McCurry for Stefano Ricci Their history is celebrated in the latest biannual Explorer Project, 'Mission Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh—The Land of Kings and Maharajas.' From Agra, it takes in breathtaking landmarks and locations along the journey to its end destination of Udaipur. On the way there's the Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri, the fortress was built between 1570 and 1573 by King Akbar. Then to Jaipur's City Palace—home to Maharajas— featuring a room entirely encrusted in jewels as well as one in striking blue-and-white. Elephants wander through the Rajput architecture of the Pink City's Amer Fort. The Sardar market of Jodhpur—India's blue city—bustles beneath its iconic clock tower Ghanta Ghar. The majestic City Palace is one of the final stops, with a façade that stretches over 240 meters to dominate Udaipur's skyline. It is a setting like few others and makes for a striking backdrop to the 64 looks that make up the collection: a modern, refined wardrobe defined by the defining qualities and characteristics of the house of Stefano Ricci. Think sophisticated tailoring, ultra-fine knitwear, safari jackets and cargo trousers, duffle bags, ultralight sole sneakers—but it's also a collection that embraces color and print. It feels both vibrant and refined. Produced entirely in Italy, over 140 tailors and artisans work to create these designs through heritage crafts like Florentine leatherwork, tailoring, hand engraving, shoemaking, and silver chiseling. This is slow fashion. And on this point, Fillipo Ricci is steadfast: 'Time is the new definition of luxury.' Even the campaign takes its time. Early morning calls, long transfers by car and often very late finishes, the Explorer Project is a grueling undertaking. It's shot by the acclaimed photographer Steve McCurry, an iconic Magnum correspondent better known for work that captures conflicts, culture, and traditions than contemporary fashion. Still, he treats it with the same rigor he would his other work, shooting the Taj Mahal from a boat on the banks of the river Yamuna (only permissible with government approval). There's another photography team headed by Alessandro Moggi as well as videographres, hair and make-up, talent: it's a tight-knit crew of 22. A model at the Taj-Mahal wearing a 100% Nappa lambskin leather jacket © Alessandro Moggi - Courtesy of Stefano Ricci It's not McCurry's first time behind the lens for the brand but this trip has a special resonance. As a young boy, he was struck by a photo story on the Indian monsoon in Life magazine by the photographer Brian Brake; it has stayed with him. His own work on the monsoons decades later in the 1980s would establish his reputation as a reportage photographer. Since then, he has traveled the Subcontinent several times. On a recce of Johphur's Blue City during the shoot, he bumps into a man who rushes off excitedly only to return minutes later. He's holding a photograph of him as a young boy taken by McCurry 20 years earlier. It is a remarkable piece of work but he remains humble: 'You know, sometimes you recognize the shapes and the possibilities of a situation. And that's what I did there.' It is this eye for a great image that fascinated consultant Terry Garcia—chief science and exploration officer at the National Geographic Society for 17 years—and led him to bring McCurry on board. Garcia heads up a mainstay of the Explorer project: conservation. As part of its ongoing commitment to supporting local communities, Stefano Ricci reached an agreement with the Centre for Wildlife Studies as part of this instalment, focusing on the conservation of tigers in their natural habitat. This model is rooted in science and local action will 'help support studies on human-wildlife conflict in local communities,' according to Niccolò. For the Riccis, the ability to offer such systemic support is part of the benefit of being a 100% privately-owned business. Filipo tells me that yes, it means they must 'fight against the conglomerates and giants of luxury,' but it affords them authenticity. 'It's the beauty of being a family.' The ivory white of the Taj-Mahal was the stunning background for Stefano Ricci's Explorer project © Steve McCurry for Stefano Ricci
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Daily Mail
TOM UTLEY: My 275-mile taxi ride in India ended with the driver in tears - but it was a happier ending than David Lammy's
The longest taxi ride I've ever taken, or am ever likely to take, was a 275-mile round trip from New Delhi to the Taj Mahal in Agra and back. This was some 35 years ago, when I worked for another paper, whose then editor had decided that I needed cheering up. So he sent me on an all-expenses-paid trip around the world (those were the days!), with instructions to stop off in India, Hong Kong, Sydney, Los Angeles, Washington and New York, and write one article a week about my impressions of each. Nice work if you can get it. Well, on that morning in New Delhi, I happened to oversleep, and I missed the bus I'd planned to take to Agra. In normal circumstances, I hasten to say, I would never have dreamed of going such a long distance by taxi instead. But when my hotel receptionist told me that the return trip would cost no more than the equivalent in rupees of £30 – or rather less than a London black cab charges today for the eight-mile journey from the Mail's office to my south London home – I thought what the hell. I'd probably never get another opportunity to see the Taj Mahal and, anyway, my employers were unlikely to make a fuss about such a modest bill. There is no room here to describe in full the profoundly moving experience of that taxi ride – my first proper vision of real poverty and the chasm between the First World and the Third. No doubt much has changed in India since then, but I will remember to my dying day how we knew we were approaching a human settlement by the powerful smell of sewage that greeted us from at least a mile away. Then we'd be surrounded by swarms of beggars, tapping on the windows, every time the car slowed to negotiate a gigantic pothole or came to a halt behind a skeletal cow on the road. I remember, too, how the driver used to stop at every filling station on the way to buy another dribble of petrol. This was because, he told me, the weight of a full tank would mean the car would do fewer miles to the gallon and cost him a few rupees more. Mortified And there I sat in the back, with enough money in travellers cheques to feed an entire Indian family for years. But my most vivid memory is of the moment at the end of our trip when I gave my driver a tip of 100 rupees – then worth a measly £3 – which was the only local currency I had left in my wallet. At this, he folded his arms on the steering wheel, sank his head on to them and burst into convulsive sobs. I was mortified, thinking I'd been disgracefully mean. But an old India hand, the local correspondent for the Guardian, told me at lunch the following day I was quite wrong. My driver had been crying tears of joy, he said, because my 100 rupee tip was the amount a Delhi taxi driver would normally expect to clear in at least two full working days of 14 hours each. (He also told me, by the way, that he would never hire a rickshaw, because he was disgusted by the idea that one human being should be carried along by the pedal power of another. I couldn't help thinking that the rickshaw drivers of Delhi, who depended on pedal power for their livelihoods, would probably not thank him for the purity of his liberal conscience). Holiday Anyway, I was reminded of my 275-mile taxi trip yesterday, when I read about the very different experience of Britain's Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, when he took a marathon cab-ride of his own. The details are still slightly hazy. But it appears that trouble arose after Mr Lammy decided to nip off with his wife, the artist Nicola Green, for a private holiday at a skiing resort in the French Alps, having accompanied the King on his state visit to Italy last month. For this purpose, he hired a taxi service, through the British Embassy in Paris, to take him at his own expense from the airport at Forli in northeastern Italy all the way to Flaine in Haute-Savoie – a six-and-a-half hour drive of no less than 360 miles, according to my Google Maps. When they eventually arrived, the taxi driver allegedly said the fare had now increased, from the original £717 to £1,305. He is also said to have demanded the extra £588 in cash. Things then appeared to turn ugly. The driver claims that Mr Lammy turned violent, while Ms Green reportedly told police that, when her husband was in the chalet, the cabbie threatened her by revealing the knife he had concealed in the car. He then drove off with their luggage still in his boot. The French police became involved, and in the boot of the taxi were reportedly found two diplomatic passports, two car number-plates, a 'coded briefcase' and the Lammys' luggage, with money missing from Ms Green's bag. The driver has now been sacked by the taxi service and charged with theft. So should we praise Mr Lammy for standing up against a chancer? Or should we look down on him for denying a working man the proper rate for his job? As I say, it's all a bit hazy and I will suspend final judgment until the full facts are tested in a French court on November 3. But two observations spring to mind. One is that our respect for our political class has come to a pretty pass, when so many of us didn't know immediately whom to believe: some random French taxi driver, and suspected thief, or His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (as our passports used to describe his office). But the really interesting question is this: whatever possessed Mr Lammy to embark on such a marathon taxi ride in the first place? After all, he must have known that modern European cabbies don't charge the bargain-basement rates on offer in India 35 years ago. And clearly, he's not so stinking rich that a matter of £588 makes no difference to him – or else why would he kick up that fuss? No. Could his decision to take a cab for the 360-mile trip be explained, I wonder, by his famously dodgy grasp of geography? He was the Celebrity Mastermind contestant, remember, who thought Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution took place in Yugoslavia – a country which had ceased to exist over a decade earlier. He also managed to get into some confusion last December when he described Libya as 'next door' to Syria. Close. The two countries are separated by the best part of a thousand miles. King Charles III and UK Secretary of State David Lammy participate in a 'Clean Power for Growth' roundtable during a visit to the Mattatoio on day three of King Charles III and Queen Camilla's State visit to The Republic of Italy on April 9, 2025 Fired In the same way, did he perhaps fail to realise that Forli and Flaine were in different countries, hundreds of miles apart? 'They're both in Europe, darling, so it can't be more than a short cab-ride.' Oh, well, it's a theory. As for my own marathon journey, I fear my round-the-world trip didn't last long after my taxi ride in India. As soon as I arrived at my second stop in Hong Kong, I had a message from the office, saying my editor had been fired, and I was wanted back in London immediately. One of the charges against my benefactor, I later learned, was his extravagant decision to send Tom Utley round the world at the paper's expense. Ah, well, he earned my undying gratitude for opening my eyes to the suffering of the world's poorest, and the blessed good fortune of being born British.
