Say no to drab lingerie says Neha Kant, the Founder of Clovia
Neha Kant’s business mantra is simple, “Lingerie is not simply to be worn, it must be experienced. Comfort can be cute, so your lingerie need not be a drab affair. Well-fitted lingerie can uplift the confidence and mood. You deserve that every day!”
Neha’s venture Clovia is an e-tailer for lingerie. Neha realised during her travel abroad that there exists a major gap in intimate wear for women in India. This combined with the desire to desire to provide quality, fashionable, and affordable lingerie to Indian women, drove her to startup.
“There are so many women who still go through the trauma of going and buying lingerie from physical stores, manned by salesmen, who are more judgmental than helpful,” says Neha enunciating the awkwardness most women feel. She was quick to point out that this is not all –“designs and style sections are lacking too.”
Starting up
Though born in Delhi, Neha grew up in Haridwar. Her father worked in BHEL and she grew up among a body of engineers who wanted their children to follow in their footsteps.
“Hard work was the only ticket to success. This made me competitive and ambitious right from the start,” she shares.
Though she took up science in school, Neha did not pursue engineering. She went on to do her graduation from Miranda House in Delhi University followed by an MBA.
After a decade of experience in corporate India, she decided to address the gap she found in the lingerie market, and along with her husband and a tech founder and a lingerie expert started Clovia.
Clovia
With an in-house designing team and sourcing team, Clovia produces its own products with
imported fabrics, laces, and satins. Their manufacturing is out sourced but as firm believer of Make in India campaign; all their products are manufactured in the country.“We make sure that the lingerie that goes out of our production unit has to be perfect in terms of cuts, fits, shapes, and designs.” A lingerie specialist on the founding team has been a great asset to the company.
Staying on top of the game
Clovia’s USP according to Neha is the variety of styles they offer to the customer. They offer more than 200 styles per month and over 75% of their inventory is less than 30 days old. According to Neha, in the lingerie industry, “The standard production runs are of few thousand units and therefore a brand could not offer more than 100 styles in a year so we had to launch 100+ styles every month while keeping a tight control on inventory. We had to convince our production partners to work on this seemingly crazy production plans.”
This has also been achieved by smart technology, which Neha says, “Helps to monitor the sales trends and patterns on the website and then manage the inventory accordingly, thus reducing the operational costs.”
They have a dedicated tech team, headed by Aditya. Presently, the team consists of 100+ employees engaged in different sections of the company.
Challenges
The saying by Jedi Master, Yoda – “Do. Or do not. There is no try,” is Neha’s motto in life.
Not the one to run from challenges, the backing of a strong team helped her to deal with daily challenges like reaching out to investors and consumers, setting up the production unit, etc.
Neha points out that being a mother and an entrepreneur requires a lot of long-term planning and management. “It is a completely different ballgame as managing a family and business together demands a lot of effort and dedication,” she says.
Future plans
Growth and evolution of brand Clovia keeps Neha motivated and on her toes.
As the future beckons, Neha is excited about the launch of an exclusive, limited-edition lingerie collection in association with an International brand.
They are eyeing the overseas market and that is their next step. Clovia will be seen in offline stores too in the near future.
