This week, I was trying to find some clothes for my nephew which has proven to be a herculean task and that’s when I came across ‘Indie Project Store’. I was relieved to find clothes that were safe for a child’s skin while they did not burn a hole in my pocket as well. The Hyderabad based company was started by two women, Satya Nagarajan and Shilpi Sharma Bedi who happen to be really close friends. They found Indie Store Project in 2016 as a socially conscious brand selling locally-produced clothes for children. The business model essentially took shape from Shilpi’s and Satya’s desire to help independent artists and local businesses. This is also reflected in the name of Indie Project Store, where ‘Indie’ is short for independent.
Indie Project Store was started with an initial investment of Rs 25,000. It all began when Shilpi was trying to find clothes for her son. The mompreneur found it difficult to find lightweight clothes made from natural fabrics for her one-year-old son.
“One day, I was casually posting my son’s images in my self designed outfits asking folks what they thought about them and one mum – our long time customer and now a friend, asked how much was it. This is how our journey began! I witnessed a huge gap in Indian kids apparel industry when it came to quality made, reasonably priced, locally produced, kids products using traditional Indian fabrics. I couldn’t really find any designs or fabrics that suited my taste when I was choosing clothes for my son. Hardly anyone was using traditional Indian fabrics to make clothes for children aged five years and under. The available options were either overpriced or imported” says the mompreneur.
As much as they wanted to run a profitable business, Shilpi and Satya were also very keen when it came to sticking to their values. Both having a first hand experience in social development sector, they were sensitive to the struggles that a traditional handloom artisan faces in this day and age of mechanisation. Therefore, both of them wanted to help parents find locally made and environmentally-conscious clothes, but also help artisans, weavers and small scale businesses run by women to generate income.
“So, instead of setting up manufacturing units of our own, we wanted to improve the livelihoods of artisans who were struggling to keep these traditional crafts alive. Hence, all our fabric suppliers, manufacturers, artisans come from small shop communities of India,” says Shilpi.
Satya says, “We outsource our manufacturing work orders to small tailoring units, NGOs, social enterprises, and home-based tailors as we want to create more income-generating avenues for such setups. We use 100 percent pure cotton and work extensively with traditional Indian natural fabrics like ikat, Kalamkari, mangalagiri, khadi, mulmul, handloom, and hand block prints”
The duo began to starting sales through the social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Today, they have their own e-commerce site and a very successful business. But they had their fair share of struggles as both had no previous experience when it came to entrepreneurship. A lot of time, patience and quality R&D helped them down their path.
The co-founders claim that their business has raked in a revenue of over Rs 38 lakh, with a 15 percent year-on-year growth since inception. Their USP lies in their abundant use of traditional Indian fabrics. Indie Project Store has made a difference in the lives of over 100+ artisans in Hyderabad. Till date, they have released over 170 new designs and have fulfilled over 3000+ orders. So what are you waiting for? Shop clothes from www.indieprojectstore.com for all the kids in your house and let us know your experience in the comments below!
