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Could the extensive coverage of Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar's Birkin handbags have spurred Hermes to go beyond its bags and scarves to tempt the subcontinental fashion buffs? For, a decade after the French luxury brand Hermes handbags debuted a limited edition of silk sarees.

A Hermes India spokesperson confirmed that the brand would launch a limited edition collection of four to five silk sarees in India in October. Priced at $1,800 with another $500 for a matching blouse, the ensemble would cost you a tad less than the first collection.

In 2009, the brand launched Garden of your Monsoon, a perfume inspired by the arrival of monsoon in Kerala. "This shows what a powerful market India is," said designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, whose sarees are trousseau must-haves. Hina Rabbani Khar and fashionistas worldwide aren't the only ones who covet Hermes Birkin 40.

Those silk mousseline sarees retailed at around $1,200 each at Hermes' London store in Sloane Street in October 2000. And they were designed by Sunita Kumar, a Kolkata-based designer who is the wife of former Indian tennis player Naresh Kumar together with Hermes' in-house designers.

Bernard Arnault's luxury conglomerate LVMH has increased its stake in the label to 20%, prompting the Hermes family. Little wonder then that Hermes shares bucked the trend in the falling market last week, taking its valuation to nearly 26 billion - almost as much as banking major Societe Generale. With Hermes targeting luxury buyers in new markets (China being the star), the limited edition saree may be the first of several India-specific launches.