Lakme! In the world of beauty, this name is no longer dependent on any recognition. This brand which beats all the expensive beauty products of the world is the identity of India. People know Lakme for its quality, and its good effects, and the best part is that Lakme products are pocket friendly.
That’s why it is counted among India’s best-selling beauty products. We all know what Lakme is today. But the story behind its beginning is very interesting. This story is related to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Tata, and Maa Lakshmi! So let us tell you the thing that revealed the wonder of making Lakme Lakme.
Country’s first beauty brand Lakme!
Lakme was started 70 years ago in 1952. The credit for this goes to JRD Tata. Till the year 1950, middle-class women used to make domestic beauty products for makeup, and the work was also done by them. The women who were rich used to get cosmetics from abroad for themselves. That was also one of the main reasons for the Indian rupee going abroad. The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was working on setting up new industries in the country in those days. That’s when he got the idea of starting an Indian beauty brand. Since India did not have any beauty brand of its own, it was expected that if it was budget-friendly, people would buy it easily and there would be no competition.
Lakme India’s official website https://www.lakmeindia.com/
Eventually, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru shared his idea with JRD Tata. Tata was an expert in building a chain of industries. The idea stuck in his mind and thus Lakme was born. But even then there was a lot of churning on the name of the brand. The Lakme we are talking about today, actually, its initial name was Lakshmi.
If you Google, you will find a good range of beauty products named Lakshmi from 1952 to many years after that. This was the old name of Lakme.
Rekha, Hema Malini, Jaya Prada, and many other Bollywood actresses of the ’50s and ’60s were seen in Lakshmi’s advertisements. After the launch of Lakshmi, the inflow of foreign beauty products into India almost stopped. Lakshmi’s beauty products were also used for make-up in films. Due to this, the trust of common people in this brand increased. The special thing was that the price of the brand was not kept very high. So that common women can also use it. The result of Tata’s thinking was that within just 5 years, Lakshmi achieved the position that it is still occupying. But in those days other industries were also being established in the country.
Tata Ji had many opportunities so he decided to sell Lakshmi in 1966. Many well-known companies bid to bring this brand into their account. But luck for Hindustan Unilever. Tata believed that Hindustan Unilever was the only company that could make Lakshmi more famous. After this, Lakshmi became Hindustan Unilever in 1966 and from here the name of the brand was also changed.
The new name was – Lakme. Actually, Lakme has a French name but its French meaning is Lakshmi. This Means Lakshmi remained the same, just changed her name to be called in the French language.
Lakme established itself as a brand. Its beauty products were liked, but later Lakme started a fashion course so that the youth could get more and more information about beauty. Along with this, Lakme parlors were also started across the country. From there the youth got an opportunity to do certificate courses in various streams of fashion.
Along with this, scholarship programs for poor girls and help in starting startups were also started. We all know about Lakme Fashion Week and Lakme Shows. All these programs made Lakme famous all over the world including India. Today Hindustan Unilever Limited has around 110 parlors in India and more than 100 parlors are running in different countries of the world.
Lakme still has a major share in the Indian cosmetics market despite the advent of global beauty brands like Revlon and Maybelline. Lakme’s beauty products are in demand abroad as well. Today Lakme has become the biggest and most influential company in India with a successful turnover of 1900 crores.
So this was how JRD Tata and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru started a beauty brand in India. Thanks for reading this article.