India is currently living through a massive lifestyle mismatch. We have roughly 300 Million consumers in 'India 2' who are digitally premium (they see the same Instagram trends as someone in New York) but financially emerging (their disposable income is 1/20th of a US consumer).
However, these consumers are not buying 'Luxury' because they were never the customers to begin with. The brands that fills this gap, are giving them the 'feeling of luxury', is creating an entirely new market layer.
The numbers don't lie. While "original" designer brands struggle to cross the ₹100 Cr revenue mark after a decade of operations, Bella Vita Luxury, a brand built on the premise of democratizing global scent profiles, scaled to a ₹1,300 Cr valuation in record time.
Below, we have unpacked the business model behind India’s fastest-growing brands, the forces making them unstoppable, and the trajectory they’re building toward.
The Economics of the 90% Discount
The "Dupe" consumer, typically Gen Z in Tier 2 cities, is not stupid. They are hyper-aware of Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). They know that a ₹10,050 bottle of Bleu de Chanel has only ₹200 worth of liquid inside. Indian D2C brands have identified that 95% of the Total Addressable Market (TAM) wants the sensory experience of luxury but does not want to pay the Brand Tax.
Luxury Perfume: ₹10,050 (90% Brand Tax, 10% Product).
Dupe Perfume (e.g., Bella Vita CEO Man): ₹449 (20% Brand Tax, 80% Product/Logistics).
Case study A: Zudio vs. Zara
Zudio (owned by Tata) is effectively a "Legal Dupe" engine. Here's how it works:
The Model: Zudio’s team spots a trend (e.g., a specific floral print dress trending on Zara/H&M online).
The Execution: While they make heavily from India for speed (15-day turnaround), their bottom-line pricing also relies on the Bangladesh manufacturing corridor.
The Result: The dress hits the rack in Indore or Patna at ₹899 while the "inspiration" is still selling for ₹3,990 in Mumbai.
Zudio wins. They have stripped away the designer ego, and by the time a "Trend" is copyrighted, Zudio has already sold out the inventory.
Case study B: Fragrance industry
The fragrance sector is the most aggressive frontier of the Dupe Economy.
The Player: Bella Vita Luxury (and others like XLNC Perfumery).
The Strategy: They don't say "This is a copy of Dior Sauvage." They say "Notes of Bergamot and Pepper." But the bottle shape, the color of the liquid, and the marketing keywords signal to the consumer exactly what it is duplicating.
Why it works: You cannot copyright a smell. You can only trademark the name and the bottle design. As long as the dupe brand changes the name (e.g., calling it "Blu" instead of "Bleu") and tweaks the bottle slightly, they are 100% legal.
In November 2025, India approved its first smell trademark, a rose scent used on tyres. You still can’t trademark a perfume’s scent, but the decision shows the rules around smell protection are beginning to change.
Why can't the big brands sue?
Under Section 15(2) of the Indian Copyright Act, if you produce more than 50 pieces of a design industrially, you lose your copyright protection unless you have registered it as a "Design."
This is the God clause of the Indian Dupe Economy. If a designer creates a dress and produces 51 of them without registering it under the Designs Act, they lose copyright protection. Most designers forget or can't afford to register every single SKU. Dupe brands know this and exploit it ruthlessly.
Also, registering a design takes months. Fast fashion moves in weeks. By the time a designer gets a legal injunction, the trend is over, and the Dupe Brand has already sold out the inventory.
The forecast for 2026
The next phase of the Dupe Economy will be Dupe-to-Brand evolution. Just as Toyota started by copying American cars and then became a leader, or Zara started by copying luxury houses, Indian dupe brands will eventually use their cash flow to hire real designers.
Prediction: Watch for Urbanic or Snitch to launch "Premium Lines" in 2026 to capture the very audience they started by undercutting.