Fashion Talk
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj
Founders
Samshek
Womenswear brand for regular and non-regular sizes
Samshek is a fashion forward tech brand which combines digital experience with inspirational fashion. In an era of fast fashion where size matters, the brand offers customised clothing best suited for any body shape and personal style. Paulami Chatterjee spoke to the owners -- Samiksha Bajaj and Abhishek Bajaj -- to learn about its growth story and future plans.
Fibre2Fashion : What was the inspiration that led to the formation/founding of the brand?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
Limited availability of non-regular sizes and personalised sizing leads to customer frustration and excess returns and huge inventory stock. Samshek, headquartered at Noida in Uttar Pradesh, was founded by us in 2015, as an attempt to reduce such unimaginable amounts of waste in the fashion industry.
Fibre2Fashion : Which are the categories the brand is into? Who are your target audience?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
We are into women's westernwear, for the woman who is a plus size, petite size, and who does not fit into regular standard sizes.
Fibre2Fashion : What is the USP of your products?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
Size no bar (personalised sizing for every woman)
Fibre2Fashion : Which category sells the most and what is the price point?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
Our partywear and eveningwear sells the most. Their average ticket price is Rs 1,800.
Fibre2Fashion : What is your retail and web presence like?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
Offline, we are present in Seasons Mall, Pune. We have our presence in Nykaa, Amazon and our own website online.
Fibre2Fashion : Which are your major markets in India and abroad?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
India and US
Fibre2Fashion : What is your market positioning like?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
Samshek is positioned as a womenswear brand for regular and non-regular sizes.
Fibre2Fashion : What kind of brand building strategies do you implement?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
We try to raise awareness on body positivity through personalised sizing and virtual styling sessions for women of all body shapes.
Fibre2Fashion : Which other product categories do you plan to move into future?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
Sleepwear, loungewear, and lingerie
Fibre2Fashion : What has been your growth story in the last three years (excluding 2020)?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
- Successfully tested and launched mass-customisation in the fashion industry.
- First pop-up pilot testing retail store in Delhi, GK market
- First-ever body-scanning technology introduced for non-regular sizes
- The first-ever brand to introduce extended size chart XXS-9XL
- Retail presence in Seasons Mall, Pune
- Introduced semi-automated operations with the zero-inventory module.
Fibre2Fashion : What has been the impact of Covid in terms of sales, staff cutdown, rentals, stocks etc?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
Our online sales jumped by an average of 25 per cent. There were no staff cutdowns. There are no rentals as such as we are working from home. There is no stock of inventory either as Samshek's products are just-in-time and made-to-order.
Fibre2Fashion : How is the supply chain expected to change with increasing digitisation, AI, VR etc? And how is this going to impact the business of sourcing?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
The supply chain is expected to become more digitalised in terms of production, operations will move towards complete automation, minimalising wastage, and increasing efficiency. AI will help in understanding the market demand, and mass customisation and personalised on-demand production will be the next revolution in the fashion supply chain making operations more sustainable and contributing to a circular supply chain.
Fibre2Fashion : Where are your manufacturing facilities based at? If working with vendors, where are the vendors based?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
Manufacturing is entirely in-house, and vendors are majorly based out of Delhi/NCR.
Fibre2Fashion : What is the annual production capacity?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
60,000 pieces annually.
Fibre2Fashion : Sustainability and circularity are the buzz words today. How do you incorporate them into your product lines?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
We intend to incorporate sustainability by ethical sourcing, using organic fabrics, keeping zero inventory, creating personalised zero textile waste garments as per an individual's needs.
Fibre2Fashion : What are your long-term sustainability goals?
Abhishek Bajaj & Samiksha Bajaj:
Our long-term sustainability goals are complete use of upcycled and recycled fabrics, raising awareness of responsible consumption, and complete automation for a sustainable supply chain.