BENGALURU: Bengaluru-based fashion designer Shradha Ponnappa was looking forward to the upcoming wedding season, with her diary filled with orders placed months in advance. But now her boutique in Indiranagar has stayed shut for over a month while she runs an online sale on Instagram to manage the salary for her tailors. Like many other businesses, the ongoing lockdown has taken a toll on many home grown fashion businesses.
“Thankfully, I have had no order cancellations. I was really looking forward to the wedding season, since that’s when I get a lot of requests. But now, everything is on hold and all my tailors are on leave,” says Ponnappa , who is currently in Coorg. She is hoping that her online sale will bring enough money to pay her staff. “I hardly do online sales but this is one way to keep the business running,” says Ponnappa, who recently launched her boutique in Mysuru too.
Fashion designers are also resorting to various promotional methods to keep their customers engaged. For instance, Akanksha Chabbra and Aarti Chabbra, founders of the jutti brand, Pastels and Pop, are running an online contest wherein five customers will get a chance to win the footwear designed and manufactured by them. It was not long ago that the siblings were gearing up to launch their Spring collection in April. But it’s a lost story now, they say.
“April is the month for us to bring out the spring collection, but given the situation, it looks unlikely. We may work on our summer collection now,” says Akanksha, adding that the lockdown has delivered a hit on their 5-yearold business. “Usually, we get bulk orders for weddings. Our wedding collection was launched in February, though we saw an amazing response in the beginning. But sales mellowed drastically post March 10,” says Akanksha, whose client list includes celebrity names such as Sonam Kapoor and Karishma Kapoor.
As the clampdown puts a dent on businesses, designers are also taking the quarantine life seriously. Priya Jain, founder of Mishikraft, a handmade soaps and cosmetic firm, says she has requested many of her customers to put their orders on hold since she doesn’t want to risk people’s lives. “A delivery person’s health is as important as mine. So I have stopped taking orders. But I have had some exceptions when my customers have requested for some homemade cosmetics because they are allergic to commercial ones,” says Jain, who was preparing to hold a soapmaking summer workshop for children in April.