From ramp to real: Making fashion affordable

From ramp to real: Making fashion affordable

SME Inspirations

GlobalLinker Staff

GlobalLinker Staff

256 week ago — 5 min read

Enterprise: Fab Lifestyle Pvt Ltd

Founders: Kishan Sikaria and Damodar Sikaria

Industry: Fashion & Fashion Accessories / Design Houses & Boutiques

Year it was founded: 2013

Based out of: New Delhi, India

 

“Life is too short to wear boring clothes”- Carly Cushnie

We wake up to new fashion trends every single day. While high end designer luxury brands rule the runway with their enticing styles, they can be afforded by only a few. Consequently fashion has become synonymous with sky high prices.

But the good news is fashion doesn’t always have to be so expensive. You can be ramp-ready even on a budget and that is what Kishan Sikaria and Damodar Sikaria, founders of Fab Lifestyle Pvt Ltd, an apparel brand producing affordable clothing for men and women are trying to achieve.

Let’s step into the world of Sikaria brothers and see how they have built their clothing brand.


The beginning

Kishan says, "Whenever we would go shopping for good quality clothing, we realised that already existing brands in India are too expensive. This sparked an idea in our minds. We were into the digital marketing space initially and having worked with e-commerce giants like Myntra, Jabong, Amazon and Flipkart, we sensed an opportunity in the online product selling business. We wanted to do something meaningful. We had the data and the idea and started our venture with this sheer passion for affordable fashion."

He adds, “E-commerce is still in its nascent stages. Cost reduction strategies would help us develop affordable products to our end consumers.”

We followed the hit and trial method for everything. Be it product development or supply chain management, we learnt everything from scratch. It took us sometime to get the business running, but everything eventually came around. - Damodar Sikaria

 

Riding the rough tide

Kishan shares, “When we finally started doing this business, we realised that we lack the education and the right skill set to take it forward. We didn’t know anyone in the market, there was no one to vet us, help us navigate or even give credits for the work we were doing. The entire process of getting the product to our customers was a challenge for us.”

Damodar adds, “We followed the hit and trial method for everything. Be it product development or supply chain management, we learnt everything from scratch. It took us sometime to get the business running, but everything eventually came around."

Achieving milestones

Kishan says, “I remember the first space that we leased out for our factory was in an area of 600 sq ft and today we have expanded into an area of nearly 6000 sq ft. We started with an initial funding of 10-12 lakhs and from having 10 people in the team we have grown to 200 people.”

He adds, “From achieving 0.1% growth for initial 2 years to 50% growth every quarter, we have come a long way within four years and I’m really proud of that.”

USP

“Our major USP is that we create products that even we would love to wear at an affordable price,” shares Kishan.

GlobalLinker advantage

Kishan says, “It took us four years to build connections. We wish we had a platform like GlobalLinker where sheer exchange of ideas takes place. GlobalLinker helps SMEs develop their community by providing so much education in the form of articles and industry news, something which many people do not have an access to easily.”

Big business dream

Our big business dream would be to be able to service 196 countries in the world. Reaching out to people in the remotest corners of the world and having the sheer satisfaction that every person born in this world wears garments manufactured by us,” shares Kishan.

From achieving 0.1% growth for initial 2 years to 50% growth every quarter, we have come a long way within four years and I’m really proud of that. - Kishan Sikaria


Message to entrepreneurs

Kishan shares, “From generating employment for 15 people to doing it for 100s of people gives me a sense of achievement. Earlier I was a businessman now I’m an entrepreneur. A businessman can take risks but an entrepreneur has to take calculated risks.”

He adds, “stay hungry, stay foolish and follow your dreams. Because if you don’t, someone else will.”

Network with SMEs mentioned in this article by clicking on the 'Connect' button on their profile. Kishan Sikaria and Damodar Sikaria.

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