It isn’t every day that an entrepreneur will focus on ‘you’ while making a business decision. Yet, Manali Shenoy did exactly so. A small pause in her career got her thinking about working women and how tough it was for them to find the apt attire for work.
The usual retail, readymade kurtis seemed harshly cut and uncomfortable. Furthermore, they didn’t seem to be exclusive or fit right. This nagging thought helped her proactively work towards creating an unusual, unique boutique for Indian attire that caters to the corporate women of today. Her online store, Indianconceptsonline, is fast becoming a much sought after store.
Talking to Manali Shenoy, is Paroma Sen Basu of Indusladies.
As a fashion entrepreneur, what kind of apparel you think appeals to women?
While doing my research for a business idea, I remembered how difficult it was during my corporate days to shop for decent ladies kurtis for office wear. The gaudily embroidered and jazzy printed kurtis, although widely available, did not suit the sophisticated corporate environment.
I was left with no choice but to wear the tight fitting western wear, which restricted free movement of the body during work. This attire is sometimes not even ideal for the office environment, especially in India. I also noticed that my colleagues faced similar issues. I did a survey with 30 of my close friends and all of them liked the idea of Corporate Kurtis.
We undertook a detailed survey of corporate women to understand and design products, which are different from the regular kurtis for women. More than the look of the apparel, today’s women are more inclined to buy kurtis with good fabrics and contemporary styles.
Our Corporate Kurtis are crafted keeping in mind the structure of average Indian women. The fits are comfortable, kurta designs are not too revealing, and embroidery or patterns are very subtle. Indian Concepts is now the first brand to offer corporate kurtas, and office wear kurtas, and kurtis for women.
Your store focuses on mainly Indian ethnic cuts and styles; do you use unique fabric to create western corporate wear, to appeal to the younger generation?
Indian Concepts mostly uses hand-woven fabric for its kurtas. The fabric properties are such that it helps to regulate the body temperature in any season. Especially in a tropical climate like India, the fabric helps in quick evaporation of sweat and keeps the body cool, thus preventing rashes and skin infections. We therefore, call it a breathable and skin friendly fabric.
The use of these fabrics is therefore not restricted only for ethnic kurtis and kurtas but can be also used for creating western corporate wear. Indian Concepts does have plans to create western corporate wear and office wear for Indian women, but that would be sometime later.
What is the differentiating factor for Indianconceptsonline from other online stores?
Our web store sells only Indian Concepts branded products and we guarantee the quality of our fabric and designs unlike other online stores which are multi product and multi brand stores which cannot stand by the quality of the brands they sell.
Our customers are completely aware of the superior quality of fabric that we provide and hence keep coming back to us. Our prices are reasonable, as compared to other online stores which initially mark-up the price excessively, and then pretend to offer attractive discounts. These online stores have no products of their own, and have to rely on such marketing tactics to attract customers. This is what sets our web store, indianconceptsonline, apart from them.
