We bring out two collections of 15-20 styles every year

By Chandani is a womenswear prêt couture brand with fusion silhouettes by Chandni Sahi. Applique embroidery is the main element of the designs. Sahi aims to cater to women who love their comfort but yet look stylish in easy to wear designs through her label.

Fibre2Fashion: Tell us about your early years in the fashion industry. How has your label evolved since the set its inception?

Chandani Sahi:

My label is two and a half years old, set up in 2016. At first I worked out of my home and then progressed by investing in a studio and more manpower. Today, I supply to a few stores and portals.

F2F: What is your inspiration for creating clothes?

CS:

I always tend to get inspired by most things geometric and architectural.

F2F: What does sustainability mean to you?

CS:

I feel it is a small step we can take towards helping the environment and is definitely a very upcoming market since more and more people are getting aware of it.

F2F: How is Indian fashion perceived at the international level?

CS:

It is indeed appreciated. In fact, a lot of international designers take inspiration from India pretty often.

F2F: If given an opportunity, which international designer would you like to collaborate with and why?

CS:

New York-based Nepalese-American fashion designer Prabal Gurung or Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad. I just simply admire their work and fashion sense.

F2F: What is the next big thing in your list?

CS:

I would love to become a part of the international market in a big way.

F2F: What is the projected turnover by 2020?

CS:

(laughs) Hopefully ₹100 crore.

F2F: Where do you source the raw materials from?

CS:

It is generally sourced from wholesalers up north.

F2F: What is the strength of kaarigars/staff at your workshop?

CS:

All my staff are very understanding and hardworking. We all work great as a team and, by the grace of God, they are extremely disciplined, which is very important to me.

F2F: What is the average time taken to make a garment?

CS:

It takes us two to three days.

F2F: What is the design strategy? What is the strength of your designing team?

CS:

I am the design team. I generally use my holidays as inspiration, which works great as I get a good excuse to travel often.

F2F: How many collections do you come up within a year and how many styles in each collection?

CS:

We bring out two collections that consist of 15-20 styles.

F2F: What about your retail presence.

CS:

I supply to stores in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and keep doing pop-ups all over the country in places like Surat and Indore.

F2F: What are your advertising, marketing and promotion plans? What is the budget allocated towards these activities?

CS:

I work with a public relations company which plans these activities. I don't really keep budgets in mind as it depends on the collection and how you want to promote it.

F2F: What has the sale been like on your website vis-a- vis other e-commerce sites?

CS:

I don't yet have my own website.

F2F: What steps can be taken to promote young designers at the retail level?

CS:

It is all about being different and always creating a buzz.

F2F: Fashion designers, fashion weeks do not really set the Indian fashion scene on fire. Why? What is needed to bring fashion to the forefront of the common man's pocket share?

CS:

I feel the fashion industry, in general, is an extremely expensive space to be a part of, from sourcing raw materials to marketing the final product. Slashing prices from the foundation level would help. (HO)