Reliance Brands, wholly owned subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail, has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Dama Spa to launch the luxury Italian Sportswear brand Paul & Shark in the country.

Paul & Shark and Reliance Brands would have an equal stake in the newly-formed company christened Reliance Paul & Shark Fashions Pvt Ltd, Reliance Brands' President and CEO Darshan Mehta said here today.

The brand will be launched in India in March 2009 with the spring summer collection.

On the road-map ahead, Mehta said that over the next five years, the company was looking at a store network of around 20 in Tier I cities. Each store would be around 2,500- 3,000 sq ft each. "To start with, we will have stand-alone stores but once the luxury departmental stores come up in the country, we will also have the shop-in-shop format," he said.

Mehta said that premium leisure wear, high-end fabric and great fit is what consumers were looking at.

"The collection and pricing would be more or less identical to the Dubai market," he said.

"While over the next few years, the Indian market would surely become one of the large new luxury markets of the world, the feature that makes India appealing to the Paul & Shark brand is its youthfulness," Paul&Shark's owner and CEO, Andrea Dini said.

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