My name is Aditi Swarup Jain, I have been working in the design industry since 2005. I completed my degree in Fashion Merchandising and Production Management in 2005 from Pearl Academy of Fashion, Delhi.
Since then I have worked with various companies like JC Penney, All Saints, Triburg, GH BASS to name a few. These stints gave me a lot of experience as it included working in different categories like women’s wear basics and embellished, accessories like belts, jewellery, bags and scarves; including working on a wide range of fabrics, from cottons to polyesters and leather too. My role included product development, merchandising the inputs and overseeing quality inspections.
Tell us about yourself, your background and what you do currently
My name is Aditi, born to a government employee as my father and a home maker as my mother. I went to multiple schools from small towns to bigger cities, dues to the transferable nature of my father’s job and Completed last half of my schooling in Delhi, and thereafter pursued a course in Fashion Merchandising and Production Management from Pearl Academy of Fashion. After 12 years of work experience, and also finding a wonderful husband along the way (incidentally who shares the same field of expertise as me) we started a women’s wear brand called FABNEST.
Tell us about any current projects or initiative you wish to promote
www.fabnest.co.in will be 2 years old in May. It was started with a vision to promote “style at an affordable price”. We aim at providing good quality stylish garments at a reasonable rate. We initially started with online sales but growing demand and receptivity have helped us diversify to offline sales and develop channel partners. We work with fabrics like crepe, cotton, georgettes , chiffons. Our target customers are the office going people who believe in keeping abreast with the changing fashion. We are now available across all digital marketplaces including Nykaa, The Loom, LBB and many more.
What has been your biggest challenge in achieving your success
When we decided to start with FABNEST, we had two primary challenges: First was to create an effective strategy to penetrate into the market where we have so much competition and make sure our products stand out from the rest and second was the responsibility of our twin girls who had just started going to school . But these two challenges we overcame with the overwhelming support of the grandparents from both sides. Our parents have been a pillar of strength for us and encouraged us , always. It’s only because of them that we could take his step of quitting our jobs and take this plunge to follow our passion.
What has been your greatest achievment personally
It’s been a roller coaster ride, with various ups and downs. When we started off we did not have enough funds to be able to get fabrics we wanted, so we had to pick up fabric and fabric panels from stockists. Many a times we had to design to ensure we could include every small panel into the design which restricted me as not always it could be design first and then fabric. Despite this limitation most of our styles have been well received with certain styles that were designed with most economy being best received!
If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you be doing?
FABNEST has been a big learning experience for us and we enjoy every bit of it. But if we would not have done this , I would most likely been working for an organisation with a social cause. We still try and donate fabric and garments. We also conduct workshops to enable them to utilise “katran” (small pieces of left over fabric) in a constructive way like making key chains, bags earrings towards skill building. We are also planning to include a section dedicated to such products on our website in the near future.
What has been your biggest inspiration?
Whenever we stepped into the malls, we saw good quality at high prices ; bad quality at low prices; bad quality at high prices, but we didn’t find good quality at reasonable price, especially in Indian brands. So we wanted to establish a home grown brand with the same motto. What sells is a brand name, and in this country people are brand crazy.
My husband has been the main driving force and keeps motivating me to keep moving forward and not let any hindrance or road block hinder the growth.
What does the future hold for you?
We have come a long way from where we started but many many more miles to go. Our focus remains the same “ style at an affordable price”. As we learn and grow, our strategies keep evolving and we are looking to expanding into newer areas. So we hope to keep learning and becoming better at what we do.
www.fabnest.co.in
instagram : fabnest 2017
