These 4 Indian kidswear brands are solving styling for your little ones
Dressing up and styling kids is not that tough anymore thanks to the many kidswear brands in the Indian apparel industry. Here are some of them.
Gone are the days when dressing and styling your kids were hassle-free. The times have changed and our little ones too need a bit of panache when it comes to their wardrobes.
Until a few years ago, there was a dearth of options for kids apparel but as the fashion trends have changed over time, many kidswear brands have begun to crop up in the market.
Here are four Indian kidswear brands you can look at for your little one’s styling.
Little Pockets Store
Snigdha Bihan, Founder, Little Pockets Store
The Pink city of India, Jaipur has been famous for its historical monuments, vibrant Rajasthani culture, architecture, cuisine, and world-famous arts and crafts. And now, a kidswear brand too! Fashion designer and stylist Snigdha Bihan (32) was always fascinated by her region’s traditional handwork. Her mother’s involvement in the city’s traditional arts, crafts, and embroidery also inspired her to start her own business.
After she became a mother herself, Snigdha realised that there was a considerable gap in the kid’s apparel market. So in 2015, she decided to create a brand that is a fusion of traditional Rajasthani craft designs and contemporary clothing for kids at affordable prices. Thus, Trendmongers Pvt Ltd was born.
Started with an initial investment of Rs 10 lakh, Trendmongers now has an annual turnover of Rs 65 lakh.
It operates under the brand 'Little Pockets Store' that specially caters to the ethnic wear segment for kids with Rajasthani handwork.
Greendigo
Greendigo Cofounders - Barkha Bhatnagar Das (L) and Meghna Kishore (R)
The idea of living consciously and sustainably was the inspiration behind Greendigo. Founders Meghna Kishore and Barkha Bhatnagar Das, both belonging to corporate backgrounds realised that the available kidswear in the market contained a lot of synthetic fibres, toxic materials, dyes etc., which can cause health hazards. The two quit their jobs to start a business rooted in organic textiles with an initial investment of Rs 15 lakh.
The Mumbai-based brand started its operations in August 2019. Today, Greendigo is an organic clothing brand serving kids up to the age of 12 years. It claims to have over 500 customers with 20-22 percent being repeat customers.
The brand has termed its wares as ‘capsule-wardrobe friendly’ (clothes that don’t go out of fashion).
Owning a few good quality garments which can be easily mixed and matched to create multiple looks and outfits is something that Greendigo endeavours to produce through this concept of a capsule-friendly wardrobe.
Hopscotch
Rahul Anand, Founder, Hopscotch
Until some time ago, kids’ fashion meant a pinafore dress, preferably in pink for girls and grey-blue-black for boys. But now, things have clearly changed. And that realisation struck 40-year-old Rahul Anand, an MBA from Harvard Business School, who was living in New York in 2012 when he saw his friends in Mumbai, who had become parents, travel all the way to NYC just to shop for their little ones. That’s when Rahul realised that providing access to unique and trendy clothes for children could be a viable business idea. Thus, was conceived.
Naturally, the next big step was funding. Rahul was working as the Director of Product Management at Diapers.com that had emerged as the number one online baby retailer in the US at the time. He convinced his ex-boss and the leadership team at Diapers.com to invest in his company before he moved back to India to give shape to Hopscotch.
At present, Hopscotch claims to be India’s fastest growing kids fashion brand, available across 1,300 cities.
It aims to provide an unbeatable value proposition by offering parents the latest global fashion trends in clothing, shoes, and accessories for their kids. The company launches about 500 new styles daily, a feat made possible only through a team that consists of international designers across China, Thailand, India, and the US, who track fashion weeks and couture trends to source and curate the best of global kids fashion trends in real-time.
Ensuring a strong digital presence coupled with a seamless customer interface, Hopscotch products are also available across online marketplaces like Amazon, Paytm, and Myntra, amongst others.
Toonz
Sharad Venkta, MD and CEO, Toonz Retail
Shopping for a child is often tedious, especially if it means carting your children from one shop to another. At the end of it, nerves are frayed and sometimes, the entire family is left in a bad mood.
Though online shopping and large malls have brought about a decent amount of convenience to the whole process, there is nothing like visiting one store and finding everything your child needs there.
Understanding this gap, Sharad Venkta and Ankur Agarwal founded Toonz Retail in 2010 in Bengaluru to help parents find everything they need for their children under one roof.
Sharad recalls the time when he and his wife were spending their weekends running from shop to another collecting essentials for their child. This was when the idea to open a one-stop-shop destination for parents sprang up.
He discussed the plan with Ankur and the two teamed up to form Toonz Retail.
It was clear that kids’ retail business was on the rise. “We both saw a lot of scope and an untapped market in kids’ retail and that is how we decided to go ahead,” Sharad explains.
Toonz Retail operates multi-brand kids’ outlets for all needs and occasions for children aged up to 12 years. The stores carry anywhere between 1,000 and 3,000 SKUs, including infant fashion, kids fashion, baby essentials, toys, accessories, baby care, and hard goods. It opened its first store in Bengaluru in 2010, and now has around 100 stores across India.
The company was founded with an initial investment of Rs 10 crore by Ankur Agarwal. Today, it records an annual turnover of Rs 100 crore.
(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)
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