New Delhi, Dec. 13 -- One of the highlights of 2025 has been the entry of more niche fashion and luxury brands into India. Whether it's crystal maker Baccarat or elevated ready-to-wear COS, shopping options for the Indian consumer have grown widely this year.

French brand Patou is among the most recent to open a space inside the new luxury department store Galeries Lafayette in Mumbai. The clothes, from coats to T-shirts, are chic and effortless, but they are far more colourful and playful than one would expect from a Parisian brand.

That wasn't the case when Jean Patou founded it in 1914. At the time, it offered haute couture with freer silhouettes, unlike its competitors such as Chanel, which were influenced more by traditional styles...