MAM
Godrej L’Affaire concludes its fourth season with a grand celebration of lifestyle
MUMBAI: Godrej L’Affaire, a curated experiential lifestyle platform by the Godrej Group, concluded its fourth season in Mumbai. More than 1300 people including several prominent personalities attended Godrej L’Affaire.
It kicked-off with a masterclass marking actress Bhumi Pednekar’s debut as a chef along with Chef Varun Inamdar. They engaged in a live cook-off followed by a conversation on how to bake a blockbuster. Celebrity couple Karanvir Bohra and Teejay Sidhu spoke about inculcating spirituality in children through travel. They also unveiled the trailer of their upcoming web-series ‘Baby Yatra’.
Music director Shantanu Moitra did a standalone talk on his 100-day fascinating adventure across the Himalayas that changed his music forever. Designers Alan Abraham (Abraham John Architects), Madhav Raman (Anagram Architects), Swarup Dutta (Scenographer) and Asha Sairam (Studio Lotus) engaged in an insightful conversation, powered by Design Dekko, on ways to design homes that give back to nature and the importance of sustainable designs.
The highlight of the evening soirée was ace couturiers Monisha Jaising and Shweta Bachchan Nanda’s luxury pret fashion label MxS’s first ever fashion show. The couture was street-inspired and had sportive elements and fabric mash-ups, giving the collection a jolt of energy. Supermodels like Carol Gracias, Deepti Gujral, Aanchal Kumar and Sucheta Sharma walked the ramp while the show was choreographed by Shie Lobo.
Supporting Shweta’s first-ever MxS fashion show, Jaya Bachchan, among other celebrities, was also present. All models were accessorized with Isharya jewellery and watches by Guess Watches and Esprit, complementing the collection. India’s drag scene star, Sushant Divgikar, adorned his famed Rani Ko-He-Nur avatar for a musical performance with his band TopStorey leaving the audience mesmerized.
The Godrej Food Trends Report – 2020 was unveiled at Godrej L’Affaire. The report curated by Rushina Munshaw-Ghildiyal is a compendium of insights, views and predictions collated from conversations with 150 experts – chefs, thought leaders and food influencers across major cities.
Godrej Group executive director and chief brand officer Tanya Dubash said: "Godrej L’Affaire has redefined lifestyle trends with every new season. Be it personalities, experiences, footfalls and brand partnerships, our fourth season has raised the bar and turned out to be the most successful edition till date. Godrej L'Affaire has delivered on its promise of showcasing future lifestyle trends that people can adopt for a modern-day living.”
Godrej L’Affaire soirée witnessed first time unveiling of Ginevra, a new perfume range from Tonino Lamborghini Fragrances. Radio host and producer Hrishikesh Kannan moderated an engaging panel comprising digital influencers such as Karishma Sakhrani, Khushnaz Turner, Rij Eappen, and Chef Amninder Sandhu. The panel titled ‘Make Space for Life’ by Godrej Interio, deliberated on the importance of maintaining work-life balance dynamics and explored what it takes to be an influencer.
Tata Motors showcased its latest car in the electric vehicles segment –Tata Nexon EV. Godrej Locks unveiled an installation endorsing home safety, conceptualised and designed by Anand Menon and Shobhan Kothari of ADND, a prominent architecture, and interior design firm.
Godrej L’Affaire’s fourth season presenting partner was MX Player, while the on-ground event was styled by Krsnaa Mehta of India Circus. The soirée offered experiences of top lifestyle brands such as Harley-Davidson, Guess Watches, BBLUNT, Esprit, Godrej Security Solutions, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Cinthol, Godrej Bambusa, Myntra, Script, Godrej Properties, and Goodknight Naturals.
Other prominent brand partners include Godrej Veg Oils, Elior India, Slice of Pink, Godrej Professional, Godrej Protekt, Godrej Construction, Godrej Real Good Chicken, Houzz India and Godrej aer.
MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said: "Godrej L’Affaire has been redefining lifestyle trends with every new edition, which makes it a great platform to interact with a range of premium audiences and brands. The theme for this year was 'Aarambh' – bringing together imagination, creativity, and innovation via bespoke experiences for its attendees. We are very happy to have been a part of this experience, and it was great to see the mix of ideas and concepts across various lifestyle categories."
"The association with Godrej L’Affaire gives us the ideal platform to acknowledge and reward fashion-forward customers, while also setting new benchmarks in the industry on value creation and consumer engagement. For the second year of our association with Godrej L’Affaire, we invited over 50 Myntra Insiders to experience the best of fashion, travel, food, lifestyle and much more during this event,” added Myntra head of marketing Harish Narayanan on the partnership.
Raymond Consumer Care director international brands Barun Mukherjee said: “Partnering with Godrej L’Affaire was a rewarding experience for us as the event reckons with everything lifestyle and luxury. We took the opportunity to launch Ginevra range of products and showcased the complete range of Tonino Lamborghini fragrances.”
The media partners for the fourth season of Godrej L’Affaire were Sunday Mid-Day (Print Partner), Living Foodz (Lifestyle TV Partner), IWMbuzz.com (Digital Media Partner) and Radio One 94.3 (Radio Partner). Wizcraft International managed the on-ground execution of this season.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
