Meet Niti Singhal whose clothing brand looks to flip the idea of fashion for women
The Twee in One brand specialises in reversible and convertible clothing for every time, look, and place – from day to night, the office to the club. A men’s line is also in the pipeline.
Niti Singhal has built a product that might just revolutionise the apparel industry. Mumbai-based brand Twee In One produces apparel that is reversible and convertible. Snazzy and chic, these outfits can be worn on both sides and integrate two different styles in one garment.
The Eureka moment
In 2017, Niti, a graduate in fashion design from Istituto Marangoni in Milan, was working as an embroidery designer for an Italian company. The job came with a company-provided room that was barely big enough for her, leave alone her clothes and other belongings. She recounts,
“Each time I packed my bag to travel around the country, I would think how life would be perfect if only I could carry and store less, yet have more. The only way this was possible was to optimise the space that one garment took. That's when I developed the concept of reversible and convertible clothing.”
In 2017, Niti moved back to India and started to work on Twee In One. It took her six months to set up the company and put out her very first collection. Starting up, she put in her savings from previous jobs and got a little financial help from her father as well. From its bootstrapped beginnings of Rs 8 lakh, Twee In One, now in its third year of operation, sees revenue of Rs 45 lakh.
While reversible wear as a concept has been around for a fair few years, Twee In One is set apart by its double functionality.
“With our products, you don’t just reverse the garment; you reverse your look as well,” she explains. The collection offers a dizzying array of looks for different settings – day and night, the office to the club, and casual to party.
Changing the weave of sustainability
Niti has worked with some of the most prominent Italian and French fashion houses and has studied apparel and fashion design from SNDT University, Mumbai, and London College of Fashion, London. Having gathered years of experience in the design industry, Niti realised that clothes needed to be both functional and practical.
“I want to make people believe that the best designs are those that are functional and aesthetically pleasing at the same time,” she says.
But her bigger goal with Twee in One is to redefine sustainability by promoting the ideology ‘Less is more’. She accomplishes this through her designs, which provide a larger scope for looks with fewer clothes. Niti also uses organic fabrics and ensures minimum wastage of cloth in the manufacturing.
The warp and weft of the creative process
Talking about her creative process, Niti says,
“I don’t need to go into a creative zone to create something new. Ideas can pop up for me anytime, anywhere – on a plane, at the airport, at a restaurant, in my workspace, or even in my sleep. However, I do like to create a mood-board when I start working on a new collection, which gives me a sense of direction.”
Stating that, as a designer, she wishes to take the less explored path of purposeful fashion, she adds, “Every day is a new challenge.”
While developing the concept for Twee In One, her main challenge was to get both sides right, not just in terms of design, but fit and comfort, too. Her next hurdle was finding a way to convey her idea to the world and get consumers to buy into its viability. Taking her designs to various shows, events, pop-ups, and fashion weeks, Niti has shown consumers that her line of clothes can revolutionise the way they dress.
Twee in One has been featured at various fashion weeks, including the India Fashion Week and the International Fashion Showcase in London and, recently, at the esteemed New York Fashion Week. At the International Fashion Showcase, Niti was recognised as the ‘Most Inspirational Designer’.
Twee in One's reversible and convertible outfits at the International Fashion Week held in London.
Designs for the future
Niti, along with her team of 18 to 20, is hoping to expand the brand in the near future. A men’s clothing line is in the works, and they have recently launched bags and a stationery line that, like the clothes, bank on the concept of a ‘flip’.
Niti shares that the surprise and awe people express when trying out her creations is what motivates her to keep forging new designs despite the challenges involved.
She says, “I have only one belief in life — everything happens for a reason, and even if one door is closing that's only because there is another opportunity knocking my way.”
For the future, Niti wishes to see Twee in One in every woman’s wardrobe. She believes that, with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, busy routines, and emerging space constraints, her clothing line will deliver the perfect fit of a solution.
(Edited by Athirupa Geetha Manichandar)
