The post-pandemic market space comes with new rules, especially for reaching out to the more constrained spenders. But throwing out the rulebook isn’t all that bad for an unpredictable fashion economy, especially for emerging labels like Ummaira that can thrive on improved omnichannel strategies.
“We definitely want to sell offline as well as virtually because we intend to scale up production and reach out to a wider base. The brand has been on the anvil for about six months, we had to start from scratch quite literally because though we’ve always been connoisseurs, we weren’t part of this industry (I’ve worked in education, my husband is in medicine). For us to be able to start something like this it was all about research and gathering insight, and it helped that I was always passionate about fabrics,” says Debaroopa Bhattacharya, the mind behind Ummaira.
The brand just opened doors to its Lake Terrace store and will make its inventory available online pretty soon and we caught up with Bhattacharya to get in on her plans.
Tell us about the fabrics you’re focusing on
We are leaning towards silks and handlooms since we’re experimenting with different kinds of silks to be able to work with old-world craftsmanship. We’re trying to offer traditional, elaborate zardosi karigari on different variants of silks and certain blended silks so even if the workmanship is very heavy, the material is easier to carry.
We’re also using appliques especially for our blouses that are really creative and one of our biggest USPs
Tell us how you plan to pursue e-commerce
We already have a website ready to launch, possibly within the next week. We have tried to make it a robust one because we conceived Ummaira as an online and offline venture, we felt we needed to balance both
How many collections do you plan on producing each year?
Around 3-4, our newest line is very festive. We’re planning a fall/winter line as well since people want to go for layers and prefer dressier options. We ultimately plan to experiment with many contemporary routes on traditional ensembles. We also have bridal pieces, saris, lehengas and even some bridal gowns
Tell us about your pricing strategies, since spending patterns have changed so much…
We worked towards developing a premium line that’s accessible and affordable. There’s actually something for everyone because our blouses start from just Rs 2K and we have reasonably priced cotton and mulmul saris; then there are some really aspirational pieces that are interesting and definitely worth investing on
Blouses are priced at Rs 2,000
Lehengas start from Rs 20,000