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Koregaon Park-based Pooja Rajput, an engineer from Savitribai Phule Pune University, may fit the Pune stereotype of an MBA graduate with a great job, but eight years ago… I was bored with what I was doing, and worse, I couldn’t do it. I don’t know what will change in the future.
“I thought, ‘Okay, what do I like and what do I want to do?'” she says. Her answer was that she wore sarees a lot and she liked being complimented. She often went to fairs looking for interesting designs. Thus, the idea for her apparel e-commerce startup Chidiya was born.
dragonfly and crescent moon
Rajput spotted a gap in the market. There was little market for women like her who wanted something unique, understated and without too many colors or patterns. Named after the humble house sparrow that harkens back to a bygone era and has become a rarity in the city, Chidiya is a hand-picked collection for women who appreciate classic silhouettes, pure fabrics, prints and weaves made by artisans across India. I’m reaching out to you.
Chidiya’s flagship product is Ajrak, a block printed form made in 18 steps including washing, printing, dipping and dyeing. She took her time to develop her own unique style, creating motifs such as dragonflies and crescent moons. “Eight years later, these designs are still popular and some people steal them. I take that as a compliment,” she says.
Chidiya will be one of the make-in-India brands in India’s apparel market, which will reach $92 billion by mid-2023 and is expected to double by 2030. After opening its store in Delhi, Chidiya plans to open another store in Gurgaon, Haryana, in the middle of the year. Expect a few more in March and later this year.
warehouse in the house
However, the Rajputs who create all the designs are not fashion designers and are still driven solely by unfettered passion. “The first year and a half to two years we spent a lot of time discovering and developing the product and made a lot of mistakes. I had never done what I was trying to do remotely,” she says.
A journey to create a social media profile (she still manages social media herself) and use her bedroom as a storage room led to her first pop-up at a club in Gurgaon, but… No one came to the place until 11am. Buyers rushed in. We still don’t know what happened, but Chidiya was making its maiden flight.
The company’s new store was closed due to the coronavirus, but the store has turned into an online success as online shopping has become the norm. Currently, Rajput has his 3,500 sq ft warehouse in Pune and an online customer base of 350,000 people. She continues her work with the same artisans she started with.
Two weeks ago, Rajput was in Delhi and when she visited Humayun’s Tomb, a certain motif caught her eye. Rajput clicked her photo and sent it to her artisans. “There are a lot of quirky brands that want to be noticed in a crowd. They don’t want to be noticed by anyone but those who appreciate art,” she says.
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