e-commerce
Jabong unveils an exclusive collection ‘Alia Bhatt for Jabong’
MUMBAI: After Karan Johar and Shilpa Shetty, it’s now Alia Bhatt who has turned designer. Alia Bhatt has joined hands with Jabong.com to launch her line of apparel ‘Alia Bhatt for Jabong’, which will retail exclusively on the portal.
The new collection was launched today at a fashion show at Four Seasons in Mumbai where she showcased her collection on the ramp as designer and showstopper.
While Jabong is known for its association with movie stars like the fair and lovely girl Yami Gautam and the Heropanti famed Kirti Sanonas, this is the first time Jabong has launched an entire line fashioned by an iconic star.
Commenting on the launch of the collection Jabong.com founder and CEO Arun Chandra Mohan said, “We have been looking for someone who is young, confident, stylish and has a great connect with the youth, who better than Alia Bhatt who has ingenious sense of style and knack for fashion to be associated with. We are happy to introduce Alia Bhatt’s collection exclusively on Jabong. This new collection is all about catering to the needs of young girls who want to make a style statement.”
The collection is designed by Bhatt herself and befits the actress’s personal sense of style. The apparel range targeting the GenY includes bohemian line, the casual denim line or clubbing / party line, ripped jeans, leather jackets and floral. The collection makes a direct connect with Alia’s wardrobe. The collection also includes shoes for young girls.
Bhatt said, “I’ve had a great time creating a fashion line with Jabong; the shoot we did with Farrokh Chothia was very special and exactly how I imagined. And now comes the best part, sharing the experience and the brand with my fans and everyone out there who just loves clothes. Online shopping is the new rage which is enhancing the shopping experience altogether, and Jabong has the ability and the reach to deliver the experience right to your doorstep.”
Having tied up with designer Rohit Bal, and having launched some leading international fashion brands like Miss Selfridge, River Island, the online e-tailer is looking for many more A-class designer collections and global fashion brand launches this year.
e-commerce
Visa report tracks rise of India’s affluent, experience-led spending
Affluent base doubles to 130 lakh, travel 58 per cent of elite spends.
MUMBAI: In India’s new luxury playbook, it’s less about owning more and more about living better. A new whitepaper by Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA) maps a decisive shift in India’s affluent economy, where spending is becoming more intentional, experience-led, and closely tied to personal identity rather than pure income growth.
Titled India’s Affluent Economy 2025–2026, the report draws on a Visa-commissioned Yougov study and VisaNet data across travel, dining, retail and lifestyle categories. The headline number is hard to miss: individuals earning over Rs 10 lakh annually have nearly doubled from 69 lakh to 130 lakh, significantly expanding the country’s discretionary spending base.
But it’s not just about scale, it’s about behaviour. As consumers move up the affluence ladder, discretionary categories are taking a larger share of credit card spends, positioning cards as key enablers of premium, lifestyle-driven consumption.
The geography of wealth is shifting too. Affluence is no longer confined to metros such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, with cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Jaipur and Lucknow increasingly mirroring metro consumption patterns.
The report highlights a clear pivot from ownership to access. More than 50 per cent of affluent consumers now use cards for elite memberships, while 7 in 10 are drawn to limited-edition drops and curated collections. Increasingly, luxury is defined by seamless access be it concierge-led travel or curated dining where time saved is as valuable as money spent.
Spending patterns reinforce this shift. Among the ultra-elite, travel accounts for 58 per cent of discretionary spends, far outpacing retail and luxury combined at 28 per cent. Cross-border spending penetration stands at 63 per cent, signalling a growing global outlook among India’s affluent.
Closer home, indulgence is becoming routine. Nearly 4 in 5 affluent consumers dine at premium establishments at least three times a year, while 1 in 4 visit luxury venues more than five times annually. Dining spends are also climbing, with Rs 20,000 emerging as a new entry-level benchmark per experience and Rs 50,000 marking premium territory.
Retail, meanwhile, is becoming more selective. Three in four affluent consumers make a high-end purchase at least once a quarter, while one in four shops premium every two weeks. Luxury retail intensity is also rising, with 2 in 5 consumers spending over Rs 5 lakh annually, and a smaller but significant segment exceeding Rs 10 lakh.
Technology and wellness are carving out new roles in this ecosystem. High-end gadgets now see average spends of Rs 60,000 or more per purchase, while ultra-elite consumers are eight times more likely to visit spas and show five times higher engagement with cosmetic stores than non-affluent groups.
The broader takeaway is structural. Affluent consumers are no longer buying products, they are buying ecosystems. Integrated experiences across travel, dining, wellness and payments are becoming central to how this segment lives and spends.
As India’s affluent base expands beyond metros and aligns more closely with global consumption patterns, the real opportunity lies not just in size, but in speed. For brands, the message is clear: relevance will be defined by how early and how seamlessly, they plug into this evolving lifestyle economy.
