All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better it is. Ambud Sharma seems to be a firm believer of these words by poet-philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. The software engineer went from being a brand aggregator to owning a premium luxury shoe brand for men, with a curious experiment to understand how luxury brands behave in the new digital world.
Sharma began by looking for answers to three questions: How to eliminate middlemen and reach the customers directly; how to become completely customer-centric; and how to eliminate the problem of seasonality and overstocking. “I got to know that most luxury brands work on complex supply chains, massive dead stock and multiple layers, which results in high prices for the end consumers,” he says.
Determinedly rooting out all of these hindrances, Sharma lost no time in launching his exclusive brand, Escaro Royale in 2017. The brand recently forayed into the US market, and is set to launch a series of bags, wallets, belts and iPhone cases in hand patina, a first in this segment. He also worked on a vegan leather line, and leather made of peas and mushrooms during the pandemic. Excerpts:
Tell us more about making leather from peas and mushrooms.
We make leather from peas and mushrooms as these contain a high-level of cellulite and flexibility. We procure raw material from environment-responsible factories and then assemble everything at our manufacturing unit in India. We source and use leather from Brazil, Argentina, and Italy. We use pure leather and all our products are handcrafted and hand-painted in the warehouse setups in India. We source primers and binders from Italy, and accessories from Taiwan. Only eco-friendly and non-chemical hypoallergenic paints are being used to hand-paint our products.
What made you come up with vegan leather?
Made without harming any animal, vegan leather (loosely referred to synthetic materials) is fully compostable and biodegradable and hence is good for the environment. Our Myo leather is environment-friendly and treated without any polluting ingredient.
What’s the Power BI technology that you use?
It is a Microsoft product which visualises abstract data that allows complex business analysis, while providing valuable visual insights. It’s like an enterprise level automated excel.
What went into launching Escaro Royale in the US market during Covid-19?
We hired reputed agencies to do core market research in terms of size, competitors, price points, placements, and acceptability before expanding our presence in the US market.
How different is the Indian market vis-a-vis the US market?
The design sensibilities strike the first differentiation. Then comes the exposure to high-end products. The third is the demand for high quality product and acceptance of higher price points. Also, though there is an increasing demand for handicraft products in India, these are very far and few between, especially the hand-painted crafts.