This week we decided to present to you a post where we pay an ode to our industry-Fashion and Retail and share some of the amazing female entrepreneurs that this industry has seen.They have managed to create their own place and in many ways inspire us and remind us of our dreams and the reason we both decided to work for this industry.
Working in this industry does not merely mean thriving in our daily routine it means a whole lot of other things and reasons that we are passionate and curious about and more than anything it’s the joy of seeing and witnessing your work as a form of self expression in someone’s life be it the perfect formal outfit that you wore to interview and reflected oodles of confidence or be it the feel good factor of having dressed well on your first date or just the relaxed feel and comfort at home in casuals,you name it on so many more such occasions,fashion really is a love affair for the ones who make as well as as for the ones who buy it!
And After All”Clothes mean nothing until someone has lived in them”,right?-(Marc Jacobs)So we present some amazing femme fatal from this industry from bricks to clicks ,successful entrepreneurs across formats and categories and celebrate their work, entrepreneurship and contribution to this competitive industry and fuel our dreams.Oh yes! We are sure after the post be ready to feel inspired and awed for your coming Monday because these women mean business for real !
Richa Kar(Founder of Zivame.com)
“If you are strong, focused and passionate about what you want to do, everything falls in place.”
This engineer turned management graduate ,worked in retail for certain time and went on to change the way females buy lingerie and made it an experience that woman would enjoy without feeling any social discomfort, keeping in mind her various needs and occasions. She used her strength of intuition as women and understood her target market well to provide a solution to lingerie buying in India with lesser apprehensions!
Source-(Richa Kar)
Nina Lekhi(Founder of Baggit)
“I think what is most important for anybody who wants to be an entrepreneur is that there’s going to be a lot of hard work ahead of you, so you better love what you’re doing. If you don’t love it, don’t get into it, I would say.”-Nina Lekhi
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The brand that was born out of chance and sheer example of where opportunity meets determination is Baggit !Nina Lekhi happened to fail in her initial year of textile design course and went on to learn screen painting and experimented the same on Bags what was till then done on T-Shirts. Named after Micheal Jackson’s Beat It,Lekhi worked hard her way through out to rise as an entrepreneur and a national retailer who bridged the gap for Handbag shopping in India that offered Indian women both trend and as well as functional utility !
Sophia Amoruso(Founder of Nasty Gal)
“Figure out what you love doing and don’t suck at, and then try to figure out how to make a living doing that. Don’t be scared. Take pride in what you do. Don’t do sloppy work— be the best! Have something original and special to offer that makes peoples’ lives better!”-Sophia Amoruso
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Known as the Fashion phenomenon,she is one of the most prominent and coolest Fashion Entrepreneurs from this Industry who turned a vintage selling online boutique on eBay to a cool retro inspired Brand that offers vintage fashion at its best! Touted as a Cindrella Of Tech by new York Times,marketing revolutionary in her own way she converted her likes to sales and used her badass girl power attitude from her social media connections to establish terrific brand presence .She connected rightly with her target market with merchandise that hits the sweet spot of vintage love and offers fashion that is strong ,kickass and reflects A GirlBoss attitude!
Tanvi Malik And Shivani Poddar-(Founders of FabAlley.com)
“FabAlley, is all about fast fashion – something that is trendy, new and fast moving”-Tanvi Malik
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The women behind selling international fashion at Indian Prices and have been successful in establishing a brand presence as a label by itself despite of the super competitive market place models that are more popular and etched in people’s minds in India.Successful working women professionals turned entrepreneurs these two researched the Indian fashion market well to gauge the right pricing for shopping styles that are fast fashion and yet don’t pinch your pockets as you shop them for your regular wear.
Anita Dongre(Founder of AND)
“Stay focused and follow your dream. There are no short cuts to success. There are opportunities galore. If you have a vision and a fire in your belly, the world can be your oyster. And as a woman in India, we have a lot of family support. That’s not something that’s as common in the West, and we shouldn’t be afraid to lean on the support we have. “-Anita
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One of the most powerful business women and a fashion icon to reckon with, Anita Dongre has come a long way from having boutique stores in Mumbai to becoming a national retailer and a brand that has earned its place in Indian women’s minds and wardrobes! With designs and labels that cater to different dressing needs be it the subtle and simply stylish AND or the fun, preppy Indo-Western boho chic label of Global Desi or her exquisite AND timeless ,Dongre takes an effort in understanding the Indian women’s actual needs and has bridged the gap with right pricing and contemporary designs and has made fashion accessible from metro cities to small towns. Her success stint as a commercial and scalable business is a clear example where conviction meets passion.
Hillary Kerr and Katherine Power( Founders of online fashion magazine,Who What Wear)
“I think the biggest thing is truly having the passion for it. Katherine and I keep making things that we really want to see and read ourselves, and that makes all the endless hours of work worth it, in the end. You spend an incredible amount of time working when it’s your own company—I cannot stress this enough—and it’s often times insanely difficult, so you need to truly love what you’re doing. (Kerr, on building projects your passionate about, in an interview with Twenties/Collective)”-Hillary
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These former editor turned entrepreneurs have changed the face of digital fashion with an online publication that is approachable, friendly and has meaningful fashion trends and shopping content that sticks to the purpose and is as dynamic as the industry! The duo have channelled their connections in the industry and put it to right use with changing times and tapped a medium that was relatively new for the industry and have a content first driven approach that has managed to convert the readers to discovering and shopping amazing fashion .They have a terrific social media presence as brand on the internet. Offering style sense that is trendy and practical, the duo have managed to re-create links where one can shop for celebrity looks and famous fashion trends from places around and internet and all bereft of gossip!To sum it up we share this quote from Erika Bearman, SVP of communications at Oscar de la Renta who says,“Who What Wear is like your coolest girlfriend, the one with that It factor and perfect sense of style”
Shubhra Chaddha(Co-Founder of Chumbak)
“I never wanted it to be a niche business. I wanted it to be a mass brand, that keeps prices affordable.”
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The lady behind the vibrant ,quirky and fun souvenir Indian lifestyle range is Shubhra Chaddha. She along with her husband have created something unique and reflects the typical Indian sentiments in a not so typical fashion. From fridge magnets to so much more ,their products have a knack to make you smile over the silliest but true facets of being Indian and celebrates the same with merchandise that has amazing designs and are one of the pioneers of selling quirky merchandise in India .
Jess Lee(Co-Founder ,Polyvore)
“I was a product manager at Google, and I wrote the co-founders of Polyvore a note with all my suggestions, and they asked me to join. The company grew over time and I was there from the beginning. There’s room for anyone to step up in a startup so that’s what I tried to do. It was incremental, but it turned out that writing code wasn’t the best use of my time; it was hiring and managing. It wasn’t a huge, sudden shift, it was very evolutionary.”
-Jess Lee
This engineer turned Google’s product manager,Jess Lee is one of the greatest examples of entrepreneur who turned her passion in to a job and gained respect by using her skill set aptly for the required job.She along with her team have managed to create Polyvore- largest virtual closet application that drives sales and offers ultimate curated fashion products in a clutter free and no-non sense fashion!Name any occasion or style and you can be sure there is a Polyvore outfit set that has been curated for it and all this you can access without spending a single penny!!From being an employee to now being a co-founder Jess Lee has shuffled through different roles be it writing codes,managing products or analysing the market trends or dealing with ambiguous situations and has a clear decision making attitude.
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Ela Bhatt(Founder of First Trade Union for Self Employed Indian Women-SEWA)
“SEWA’s members have sufficient to eat. They are not starved any more. They have escaped to a large extent from the clutches of the moneylenders, the contractors, the middle men. And in the process, a woman’s own self esteem has grown. She knows “I can manage”, she knows that she is important, she knows her identity, that “I am a worker”. She has a name, an address, a bank account number, an insurance policy, a pension plan. She has learned who the exploiting forces are. She is more aware that poverty is not destiny: that she does not have to accept that as her destiny. You see that transformation all the time. But what makes me happiest is that they see that they are more self-reliant, and they are fiercely independent.”-Ela
The Trade Union born out of Textile Labour Association is one of the major revolutionary moments in Indian textile scenario that flourished under the gritty ,determined and able leadership of Ela Bhatt.A lawyer turned Gandhian revolutionary Ela Bhatt helped in assisting daughters of mill workers who had lost heir livelihoods when major mills shut in 1968 and went on to create sustainable living for these self employed women fighting the society,the likes of middle men and contractors. She argued behind the thought of having a union not for fighting against any employer but to create a community for sake of uniting women workers and providing a platform for them to become self reliant.
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Rashi Narang-(Founder of Heads Up for Tails)
“We are India’s exclusive luxury brand for ‘pawsh’ and fun doggie couture. Our products range from comfy and customized dog beds, chic collars and leashes, fashionable dog apparel, to an awesome range of accessories for pets and pet lovers! Heads Up For Tails is a small business created with lots of love and passion for what we do!”-Rashi
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Heads up for Tails(HUFT) is the coolest couture e-boutique for your most faithful four pawed friend/pet(Dog).This London School of Economics graduate turned Banker turned Entrepreneur started HUFT that was born out of the need for offering high quality personalized pet merchandise that is fun, practical ,pampering and fashionable in its own unique way. With a merchandise assortment of more than 500 products HUFT is a niche player that understood the gap of quality pet merchandise and caters it in a way that only makes you care more, adore and fall more in love with your dogs while shopping for them!
Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna(Founders of BirchBox)
“Trust yourself-you can do more than you imagined. There is no secret to doing this; you start with a vision and then it is about problem solving getting things done and remaining tenacious even when the uphill pursuit becomes steeper.”-Katia Beauchamp
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These Harvard Graduates turned Entrepreneurs are the early adopters of selling beauty merchandise in the right manner on internet. Selling fashion on internet itself is a tough battle,now imagine trying to sell beauty and make up products online that inculcates a sense of touch, smell and feel? They found a solution to selling beauty online by offering test samples as subscription online and once the customers are convinced about a product they can later order the full version of the product or kit. Thus offering beauty at convenience yet managing to create an engaging experience with their super interactive site that not only sells but also educates the customers about how to use the right product in right manner with good editorial content. Birchbox is a great example of amalgamation of Beauty and Technology that breaks the clutter and got served in right fashion and correct proportions!
Suchi Mukherjee(Founder of Limeroad.com)
“To overcome challenges one needs to be highly deliberate. I was in many ways fortunate – though as they say fortune too is an outcome of perseverance.”
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The creator of this fashion e-commerce venture uses concept of digital fashion scrapbook to sell fashion that is curated and personalised by its users! With almost million scrapbook looks a month and 250+ brands ,it has emerged as a fashion discovery platform for Online fashion Shopping for Indian women and enables you to shop by flipping through curated digital fashion closets similar to the likes of being able to shop by flipping a fashion magazine!Her determination to use technology for fashion in a creative yet engaging manner has led to the birth of unique ,fresh and personalized shopping experience.
Suhani Pittie(Founder Of Suhani Pittie)
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Reckoned globally by World Gold Council as one of Top 10 most inventive and ingenious jewelery designers whose designs reflect contemporary women ,Suhani Pittie, has had great laurels to her name making her one of the young yet best designer turned Indian Entrepreneurs in Fashion Industry. She started out at 20,when she had established her own training institute of Diamonds and gem Stones in Calcutta and later after her marriage started participating in exhibitions to showcase her designs which then went on to be showcased at several reputed Fashion weeks like Miami Fashion Week,India and Lakme Indian Fashion Week. Suhani was selected to work with veteran artist Thota Vaikuntam to convert his miniature paintings into jewellery. She worked with fashion designer Anamika Khanna as the designer for accessories. Swarovski commissioned her to create exclusive designs for them, as a part of their 10th Anniversary celebrations in India. With designs that are essentially Indian yet reflect a free spirit ,Suhani has been a changing face for Indian Precious Jewellery segment.
That’s all we got for now,there are so many more amazing entrepreneurs who we could not cover due to post length constraint but it only makes us say one thing -”Cheers to Girl Power!Spoken or unspoken ,your contribution to this industry is a major inspiration and one of the reasons why Fashion Industry has progressed by leaps and bounds.”
Content Curation –Nivedhitha
Style Indulge 