It takes more than sheer passion to gain ground in a new retail segment, especially if you want to grow with your own brand, that too beyond the domestic borders. Nonetheless, with their perseverance, exceptional business acumen, tireless labour, and the vision to make it big, young entrepreneurs have emerged as strong brands in the home furnishing segment just within 12 months of setting up base. Apparel Online spoke with three such young and dynamic entrepreneurs, each with their own unique story, who took a plunge and started their own brand with success, looking for deeper market expanse in the coming years.
“Many of us have a lot of talent and dream of starting our own venture, but few of us have the entrepreneurial spirit to translate them into a reality,” says 25 years old Abhilasha Jain, an artist, a dreamer, an art lover, a jewellery designer and a merchandiser who defied the odds and did exactly that.
“I was working with Gitanjali Group as a Senior Jewellery Merchandiser & Head of Design Department, but I had a burning passion for painting and I wanted space for my own creativity, so I took it as a challenge and finally in February 2011, Mish Mash Design was born,” says an upbeat Abhilasha, who is already jam-packed with orders from many outlets in Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi and has also tied up with online shopping sites like Shopo, Etsy, Afday (Art for Everyday) and ‘Of Indian Origin’
of London.
Her work does not belong to any “school of art”; every piece is unique and handmade. “I start with outlining designs, painting on organic cotton and silk fabrics with acrylic colours and allowing them to dry; once they are dried I utilize them in such a manner so that people can use my art,” says Abhilasha, whose entire range of cushion covers, pillows, table runners are available in 3 categories, i.e. Royal Collection, Tribal Collection and Dreamer Collection. “The Royal Collection is inspired by ethnic India, Jodha Akbar, Mumtaz, Shah Jahan and the royal Rajput princes and princesses; The Tribal Collection features paintings of bold faced men and doe eyed women; Krishna serenading Radha with his bansuri and the Dreamer Collection aptly features the dreamer in all of us. And in addition to this, I have some miscellaneous designs which fall under the Mish Mash Potpourri collection,” informs Abhilasha.
Marketing their brands through social networking and B2B portals, these young entrepreneurs have come a long way and are considered a frontrunner in developing innovative home furnishings. “With the whole world shifting their focus on innovative products, I have been getting orders from Australia, UK, Canada, Europe, Dubai, New Zealand. They have their e-commerce segments and I can see my product that they are re-selling with my brand name and further increasing my online visibility,” says 29 years old Nidhi Saini, creator and designer at KIAAN by Pranav D’signs – a design firm that develops cushion covers, table runners, mats, hand embroidered wall art and wine bottle covers. “Working with fast moving items does not mean cheap standard,” says Nidhi. In fact the company has laid the foundation of its growth on design and uniqueness. “Every single item is designed with an out of the box thinking, innovatively created using multiple techniques including hand, machine, computer embroidery along with printing, foiling, flocking, glitter and embossing and the end-product therefore has a unique positioning in the market giving them a differentiated edge,” adds Nidhi.
Another high five seller Ichbaan (derived from a Japanese word Ichiban), which means ‘the best’, is an emerging talent making its name for its highly intricate and unusual approach to design. “We offer an exclusive range of bloom cushions, handcrafted textile arts, textile bloom wall clock, lamp shade,” says Akash Ashesh, a fashion designer from NIFT and the brain and talent behind Ichbaan, a home furnishings boutique co-branding with hotels like Taj Falaknuma, Hyatt and Umaid Bhavan, and luxury residential apartment making customized home products. “Most of our collections are inspired by Indian crafts that usually have a traditional Indian hand and machine embroidery clubbed with contemporary fabric textures,” shares Akash.
No wonder that while many organized players are reeling under competition, these young entrepreneurs with their niche offerings have sustained and are confidently surfing ahead into the future. As per the ambitious expansion, Nidhi excitedly says, “With a presence in all major markets, I want to have my own outlet in near future, and want to further endorse my brand at the international scale.” Commenting on the same Abhilasha elaborates, “As it was a totally different field for me, it took a long time to understand the market and how it functions, finding the right clientele and getting organized. I always wanted to work with people, who have love for Indian Designer, Handmade & Handicraft products, and the traction I have seen in last one year has been very encouraging.”
Realizing that their success lies in being different, all of them are firm on maintaining their brand identity. “Our USP lies in rare and stylish collections and one year down the line, I can say that the people who ask for our products understand the difference. Now we are in talks with UK’s Debenhams and Peir 1 imports of US to make a presence at the international arena,” avers Akash, who firmly believes that only the uniqueness of a product developed through constant innovation, value engineering and the passion to bringing out something different can lead to growth in the highly price-sensitive and market-driven home fashion industry.
