Ceiling fans spin. Fabric is shifted, touched, and refolded. The door opens and closes without fuss. Inside, there is order. Colours. Layers. Shelves holding salwars and saris, folded neatly. At the counter, a woman in navy kurta, steadily lifts a red cloth. She examines it, shows it to her customers, takes orders, and gives them their purchase with a smile.
Outside, Chennai moves fast — autos weaving, girls spilling out of school gates, dust on the breeze. But not here. Born2Win Trans Boutique sits in Saidapet, unassuming. The city’s first “visible” trans-led boutique, according to Swetha Sudhakar, the founder-director and CEO of the Born2Win Social Welfare Trust, a trans community empowerment organisation. “Born2win organisation has been conducting tailoring classes for 5-6 batches. So as a next step, we thought we would start a boutique,” she says.
But beginnings are never neat. Swetha and her team looked for a space. Some landlords went silent as soon as they heard the word “trans.” “There have been instances where they’ve taken the advance and then rejected us after,” she says. It was part of the process.
Finally, a space opened up in Saidapet. They bought stocks from Bengaluru, Erode, and Salem. They set up a few tables, a glass counter, and a determination to do more. The boutique was built with financial support from two IT companies’ CSR funds. Three trans women now work at the boutique — one on a regular salary, two on piece-rate. “Piece rate means workers are paid for each item they stitch, instead of a fixed salary,” explains Swetha.
A blouse earns `300, a churidhar `500. They cut, stitch, and sell. Every day, they earn `2,000–`2,500. Enough to hold on, not enough yet to expand the business. The expenses press close — rent, electricity, interiors, salaries. “Totally, we spent almost `11–12 lakh. Monthly, our expenses might come up to `25,000,” adds Swetha.
The boutique sells everything — cotton, lehengas, readymade clothes, innerwear, materials for salwars and leggings. “We are exclusively welcoming trans women to work here,” Swetha shares.
And yet, even this modest beginning is sometimes met with hostility. Their number, published online, began receiving abusive calls. Swetha says, “We get so many rubbish calls. So for now, online orders are paused. We will go digital, but later. For now, we are building trust slowly. We wanted to reach out to more customers. We are planning to do the online marketing after three–four months.” To ensure a safer space for communication, they now prefer to be contacted through Instagram.
The boutique is a stepping stone. Born2Win has run tailoring classes for months — five days a week, 15-20 trainees per batch. Some of those trained have set up on their own. But Swetha wanted something collective. A structure that stood for the organisation.
Next, she dreams of exporting. A year from now. “This boutique will be a backbone for that,” she says. She visits the shop every two days, checks stock, calculates margins. And Pride Month? They aren’t just waiting for customers. They’re organising the new edition of ‘Kadhaipoma Vanga’ — a talk show where people from the trans community share their lived experiences. “We are also putting stalls in the show,” she says.
At this stage, the goal is simple — keep the boutique running, attend to customers, and support the team. “The next steps will take shape over time,” Swetha concludes.
Reach them on their Instagram page @born2winsocialtrust for enquiries or support.