How this ad graduate found her calling in fashion designing and launched a premium kidswear brand

‘Do what you like, like what you do’, goes an adage. Not everyone in this world is fortunate enough to fit into this saying. The wear and tear of life sometimes overcomes our true passion and interests and we end up doing things which we don’t like. 

Veronna Damani is one of those lucky people who found her calling and followed her passion. Today, she is a proud owner of a fashion brand which she has built over the years. 

Over the summer, Veronna went to the US to pursue internships in advertising and production. However, she was not content with her work in the advertisement industry.

“I did internships but soon realised that I wasn’t meant for advertising or production. While I was doing my internship in the US, a colleague of mine helped me discover my love for fashion. She told me that she noticed a flair in me for styling. To my surprise, she was not wrong. I realised that since my childhood, I always had a love for fashion. We don’t take our hobbies seriously. I had never thought of converting my passion into a profession all those years,” says Veronna.

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After graduating, Veronna was sure she wasn't going to pursue a career in advertising and took up multiple internships in fashion instead, which eventually landed her a job at ELLE magazine after which she says her life changed completely and she founded ‘veronna’ brand in 2018. 

Edited excerpts of the interview:

SMBStory: How did you start ‘veronna’?

Veronna Damani: My tryst with fashion began long before the launch of ‘veronna’, the baby and kids wear label. I’ve always loved everything about the industry, the ability to tell stories by combining fabric and texture. I guess that is what convinced me to switch paths from advertising to fashion. What started off with numerous internships, finally led me to one of the country’s leading fashion and lifestyle magazines, ELLE India. Here I worked as a stylist and fashion writer. 

My years at ELLE, helped me gain tremendous insight into the workings of the industry. I had the opportunity to meet and work with some of the biggest names in fashion and learn first-hand from them. This is where my love for fashion was nurtured and I was able to really hone my skills.

Post my marriage in 2017, my husband and I moved to Delhi for a short while. It was during this time that I decided to quit working full time at the magazine and take up freelance projects. I took up commercial styling with various brands, worked on TVCs, styled editorial content, worked on styling shows for fashion week and even contributed as a fashion writer.

It was at this point that I had my big ‘what next?’ moment. The burning question in my mind was – ‘is this what I want to do long term?’ I’ve never had a formal education in fashion and it was these questions that encouraged me to take that leap of faith and go back to school hoping that I’d find answers. 

I enrolled for a short course in Fashion Business at Istituto Marangoni, Mumbai – I’d always been on the other side of the industry. I wanted to understand the deeper workings and functioning of the complex business of fashion and consumerism. Around this point as a passion more than anything, I’d use my free time to create outfits for my six-month-old niece. I just felt this need to create unique looks for her every day. I had noticed how from the age of six months she started developing a strong personality and at 12 months, she wanted to have a say in what she wore each day – quick to point out if she didn’t approve of an outfit or if it caused even the slightest discomfort. 

These things fascinated me. And maybe they were all to align at the same time because the outcome of this education and my growing curiosity in kids-wear through my niece is what eventually led to ‘veronna’.

SMBS: From where do you source fabric and what are your selling points?

VD: We at ‘veronna’ are extremely proud of the fabrics that we use. Most of our garments are made from natural fibres like cotton and a few cotton blends that are sourced from New Delhi and Mumbai. In the event that certain pieces might have any polyester content, we immediately line the fabric with cotton mul or 100 percent cotton so to ensure what touches the skin of the child will not irritate the skin. 

Our colour palates are very subtle and muted, including our prints which are more vintage and European in aesthetic. We only use yarn-dyed fabrics. Our aim is always to create unique and functional designs.

SMBS: What are the major challenges you face in the business? 

VD: The current nature of the industry has allowed multiple players to enter the market. While there are many positives to that it also brings its own set of challenges.

The fact that there are so many players also adds more options for buyers and so it is crucial to keep your audience constantly engaged, through well-planned social media content. Creating and maintaining online sales through our channels, especially our website, since it is our primary sales channel – we need to convert clicks into sales at the end of the day. Our focus is to give the client a great online experience so that they keep coming back.

While the immediate goal may be to succeed amidst the competition, the larger goal is to sustain in the long term.

We are constantly trying to bridge the gap between market giants and local neighbourhood stores by creating a new niche market of homegrown quality products with a global appeal. We come in as the alternative option for parents who already have access to shopping abroad and who shop at fast-fashion brands like Zara and H&M (to name a few) back home.

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SMBS: How do you differentiate from the competition?

VD: As per a report by Market Watch (marketwatch.com) on January 31, 2019, the Global Kids Wear Industry, forecast for the global Kids Wear market size $275,100 million US in 2025, growing at a CAGR of 3.9 percent from 2018.

This growth in the industry is simply because of the shifting buying patterns and rise in new family systems. Today parents are happy to indulge their children and keep them stylish. 

The Indian baby and kids industry is still at a nascent stage and quite unorganised as a sector, with either big giant players or local players in your neighbourhood markets. The opportunity is right there in this gap. Here is where the scope lies to really grow and scale – the opportunity to offer something new and different to the potential customers.

While we are Indian at heart and manufacture our clothes in-house with quality fabrics sourced from local markets, we manage to offer a global feel. Our garments have an inherent European design aesthetic making the clothes minimalistic yet appealing.

We are also an environmentally conscious brand with a focus on being minimal waste, which means we are limited in the quantities of products we produce, restricting it to smaller capsule collections that drop every three to four weeks. We also re-purpose all of our surplus scraps and fabrics into scrunchies, hair-ties and hair-bands.

We are committed to adding value to our customers – we noticed that most of our customers were okay to spend on their children, but the concern always was that they outgrow the clothes in the blink of an eye. Especially in the toddler category. On our part, wherever possible, we’ve tried to include features like adjustable straps or waistlines into our designs to ensure longer wear.

SMBS: What is your way ahead?

VD: As an entrepreneur, I’ve always found it better and more fruitful to divide my vision into short-term goals and long-term goals. In short term plans, ‘veronna’ aims to strengthen brand identity through its style of clothing.

The other point of focus is to build a strong digital community ensuring that new customers keep coming in and also existing customers keep coming back to buy, ensuring regular sales and steady revenue.

Talking about long-term plans, we want ‘veronna’ to eventually grow into a meticulously curated website for all things baby; a one-stop-shop for niche baby products.

(Edited by Javed Gaihlot)