Global Icons Land in India: Off-White, Lululemon, and Abercrombie & Fitch
Global fashion powerhouses Off-White, Lululemon, and Abercrombie & Fitch are executing high-stakes India entries this quarter. By targeting premier mall locations in metro hubs and leveraging AI-driven “Agentic Commerce,” these brands are redefining the premium retail experience for the Indian consumer.
Luxury Streetwear & High-Performance Hubs
Italian luxury label Off-White is finalizing a strategic rollout of standalone flagship stores across India’s top metro hubs. The initial phase features two exclusive stores in Delhi and Mumbai, with additional flagships planned for Bengaluru and Hyderabad. These approximately 1,500 sq. ft. spaces will be predominantly housed in premium malls, supported by shop-in-shop placements in luxury destinations like The Collective and Iconic. This expansion coincides with the rise of “Agentic Commerce,” where AI-led discovery tools help shoppers navigate Off-White’s 250–300 SKU collection of apparel and footwear.
Simultaneously, Canadian athleisure giant Lululemon is prepping its brick-and-mortar debut through a partnership with Tata CLiQ.
- The First Hub: Lululemon has selected SELECT CITYWALK in New Delhi as the location for its first experiential store in India.
- The Experience: More than just a retail outlet, this space is designed to blur online and offline lines, featuring a meditation and yoga center, a café serving healthy vegetarian food, and a personalization pick-up hub.
- Digital Synergy: While the physical store opens in the second half of 2026, guests can already shop the brand digitally through Tata CLiQ Luxury and Tata CLiQ Fashion.
American lifestyle retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (alongside its Hollister brand) is also moving into the physical space via a multi-year franchise with Myntra. The brand is focusing its initial brick-and-mortar footprint on key metro markets, specifically Delhi and Mumbai, to complement its existing digital storefronts.
Trivia: Off-White, established by the late architect-turned-designer Virgil Abloh, is famously defined as the “grey area between black and white,” known for its signature “3% rule”, the belief that an existing design only needs a 3% tweak to become something entirely new and iconic. Lululemon founder Chip Wilson chose the brand’s unusual name specifically because he believed the triple “L” would sound exotic and authentically Western to Japanese consumers, eventually revolutionizing the industry by inventing “athleisure”, a technical apparel category that transformed yoga wear into a multi-billion dollar daily lifestyle. Meanwhile, Abercrombie & Fitch began as an elite 19th-century sporting goods outfitter that famously equipped legendary figures like Theodore Roosevelt and Ernest Hemingway for their global expeditions before pivoting in the 1990s to become the digitally-led, casual luxury power it is today through its strategic partnership with Myntra.
UDHQ Take: The real game-changer
At Unbox Daily HQ (UDHQ), we see this as a massive win for your wardrobe and your time. The arrival of these brands in specific hubs like Select Citywalk (Delhi) and premium Mumbai malls means you no longer have to guess your size or wait weeks for international shipping. The “Agentic Commerce” shift is the real game-changer here. Instead of traditional browsing, these brands are integrating AI that understands your local climate and personal style to suggest the right “Talisman” pendant or Off-White sneaker for you. It’s about moving from “searching for fashion” to “fashion finding you” in the most convenient physical locations in India.
Source: Brand Concepts Limited I Lululemon Athletica Inc. Global Expansion Roadmap / Tata CLiQ Corporate. I Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
