Adding quirks to the trade

Owing to the nature of his business, city-based entrepreneur Anurag Gaur travels extensively around the globe. A few years ago, on such a business trip to China, he observed that not only were the Orientals extremely diligent and professional at their work, but they were also awfully particular about their nationality and language. He realised that on the contrary, in India, people hardly spoke in their national language, Hindi. And that gave him an idea, to wear the language on one’s sleeve, literally.

Gaur along with his wife (Shefali) started Sabudana Vastram, a brand of t-shirts sporting one-liners in Hindi. One can spot one-liners like Buri Nazar Wale Tera Mooh Kala, Padh Liya Ab Kat Le, Kaabil Nahi Kamyab, Ata Majhi Satakli, Mandal Apla Abhari and other funny taglines printed on these t-shirts.

“Our t-shirts are quirky indeed, but the basic idea behind coming up with this brand was to get people closer to their roots,” says Shefali. Ask her what’s the idea behind naming the product line Sabudana Vastram and she quips, “It has a good brand recall. You listen to the name and you want to know what it is.”

The Gaurs first showcased their product range online, sometimes also teaming up with corporates for their online shopping portals, in 2011, but after a year they started retailing it to stores like Either Or, Bliss and others in Pune and other cities. “When we started off, we were literally struggling.We were not earning much. However, once we started retailing the products to different stores, our business started to grow. From 2011-2012, our business grew nearly 150%,” she says. As 80% of the sales are that of male t-shirts, they are also planning to come up with a line for kids and women.

The Gaurs are not the only ones, who are cashing in on the quirky product line. The term quirky has evolved from a weird and funny idea to a viable business plan over the years. Most city-based artists have turned their passion into business. Artist Jayesh Sachdev is one of them who, along with business partner Rixi Bhatia, has been retailing his products to 25 stores across the country and 10 stores overseas. His brand, Quirkbox, has also a huge presence online. Without revealing the numbers Jayesh says, “Our fashion and lifestyle creations are loud, kitchy, pop and off-beat that has made us one of the top quirky designers in India. Our business has grown exponentially and we are glad that people are receptive to the new-age art influenced fashion.”

Artist Bharati Pitre’s retail products like chai productions, caricature bottles, platters and tequila lab have also garnered a fan following across the country. In Pune, she retails her products to Either Or, but most of the time, she gets customised orders. “I’m more into the creation part of it, than the selling part. Most of my products get sold because of word of mouth,” she says, adding that one of her caricature bottles was also gifted to Karan Johar on his 40th birthday by a member of the film fraternity.
Brands like Bhoole Bisre, which offer lifestyle products like lamps, pillows, floor mats etc and Verry India, that design quirky, fair-trade products like t-shirts, jhola bags, mouse pads and more, are doing exceptionally well. Both Bhoole Bisre (started by three friends from Pune, Sonia Revankar, Aditi Vandekar and Tanu Jolly) and Verry India (started by city-based Vikram Nandwani and his Bangalore-based business partner Kusum Rohra) launched in October 2012. They both agree that it is too early to talk about profits, as most of what they earn is invested back into the business. “But the demand is great, and we are going to be out with our new line of products soon,” says Nandwani.