Actor Sara Ali Khan invests in The Souled Store, wants to spread the pop culture wave
Bollywood actor Sara Ali Khan recently invested an undisclosed amount in pop-culture brand, The Souled Store. A firm believer in originality and “comfort being as important as fashion, she sees the brand as a perfect fit.
Actor Sara Ali Khan has joined pop-culture brand, , as an equity partner. In 2013, three youngsters from Mumbai, Vedang Patel, Rohin Samtaney, and Aditya Sharma, turned their love for Star Wars into an online marketplace for pop culture merchandise.
The brand claims to be India’s largest fan merchandise destination with licences including Disney, Warner Bros, WWE, IPL teams, EPL Teams, and Viacom18.
The startup was bootstrapped for the first five years and received seed funding from RP-SG Ventures in November 2018.
Since then, the company has grown over 4X by focusing on data, customer insights, and feedback, and keeping customer satisfaction on top of everything else.
Last year, it raised Rs 75 crore in Series B funding led by Elevation Capital.
“I love being part of brands that I can relate with. With The Souled Store’s massive popularity, growing brand equity, and my love for all things pop-culture, I knew this was a perfect fit for me as an investor. Also, investing was always on my mind, I was just waiting for the right opportunity. I am glad I am finally doing this with The Souled Store,” Sara Ali Khan tells HerStory.
Joining The Souled Store as an investor at an undisclosed amount, Sara says she is a firm believer in originality and “comfort being important as fashion, I see the brand a perfect fit”.
“I also believe the apparel and fashion industry is growing exponentially, and it was the right time for me to join in the bandwagon. I hope to continue spreading the pop-culture wave along with TSS,” she adds.
Her own personal style is a mix of the simple and quirky.
“My wardrobe will have tones of breezy cotton kurtas or athleisure, in neon or colour-block, comfy dresses, crop tops, and shorts. I don't really like to adhere to fashion rules or anything, I just like to have fun in whatever that I am wearing. TSS’s collection is exactly that, their product ranges are very similar to my choices, and you will definitely see me more in those. Wait for it,” she says.
Sara also believes women’s fashion is ever evolving, with new styles and trends emerging every second day.
“Today’s women love to experiment and create their own ensembles. They test mixing and matching their attires, and create new looks. I also think, women today opt for clothes that make them feel comfortable and relaxed,” she adds. She is currently obsessed with The Souled Store’s Supima collection that is not only 100 percent cotton, “but also much stronger and durable.”
Reflecting the brand image
Speaking on Sara joining the brand as an investor, Rohin Samtaney, Co-founder, The Souled Store, says, “We are ecstatic to welcome Sara on board. She has definitely upped the ante when it comes to her love for fashion and styling. Her quirky and experimentative styling best reflects our brand image; we couldn’t have found a better investor and partner. We expect this collaboration will lead to great things together.”
He elaborates, “We’ve seen the demand for our women’s wear collection grow 2x since last year - (103,807 in 2020 to 213,561 in 2021). Given this demand, we began to create more categories of apparel for women, including activewear and innerwear, more recently. We have doubled down on our female collaborations with Sara as the lead. Today’s woman is trend-savvy. So we curate trend-based collections, right from oversized fits to tie-dyes, and even co-ord sets.”
He also points out that they make sure to include pockets wherever they can, which is something women really appreciate about the brand.
Over the last six months, The Souled Store has leveraged the reach of OTT stars Aisha Ahmed, Mithila Palkar, Barkha Singh, and Ahsaas Channa to highlight various categories across women's wear. This has given it better visibility with OTT customers and is also the brand’s major step into influencer marketing. It has also worked with 100+ influencers from the beauty, fashion, and travel space to amplify its womenswear range across social media.
The future will see The Souled Store opening its first-ever retail and experience space in Bengaluru, spanning 5,000 sq ft.
“This is a huge deal for us and a step closer to our goal of reaching more customers across the country. We will also be launching new categories of products for both men and women. We have a new range of active wear that’s just been launched,” Rohin adds.
Edited by Megha Reddy