Masaba Gupta's Quirky Prints are a Reflection of Her Indo-Caribbean Background Debuting at Lakme Fashion Week and that too at the age of 19 has been a milestone for the queen of fashion
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Hailing from an IndoCaribbean background, Gupta's edgy designs have been adored by desi and also pardesi celebs, both on and off the red carpet and silver screen. Debuting at Lakme Fashion Week and that too at the age of 19 has been a milestone for the queen of fashion.
In an acknowledgement to her hard work, her luxury label brand, House of Masaba has raised $1 million in its first fundraise led by Flipkart Co-founder Binny Bansal. The 10-year-old fashion brand also saw participation from Purple Style Labs, Apurva Salarpuria and Apoora Patni, from the Patni Group.
"I started receiving a lot of acknowledgements and appreciation from a very young age. In the fashion industry, it is at least a 15-20 year journey before you can establish yourself as a designer," says Gupta. It's been 10 years since she stepped into the limelight with her brand, House of Masaba, and looking back, she confesses, "I didn't have a specific vision when I started out and I still lack." Owning close to five stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, her flagship store in Hyderabad is a direct reflection of her Indo-Caribbean background. "My mother (famed actress Neena Gupta) has been an inspiration for me to foray into designing as I never had a flick for it. I just wished to wear trendy clothes and look different," says Gupta.
The mistress of monochrome believes that fashion is one of the most important tools to help women feel comfortable in their own skin and also it should be affordable. To bring about a mass connect with the brand, Gupta has also recently forayed into affordable stationery, a cheap pair of socks, costing mere INR 300, vanity pouches and gifting products. "I don't want to open 30 stores because it's cool to have 30 stores, as who is going to run them? What am I going to put in those stores?" believes Gupta.
Going forward, she is planning to experiment on her bridal collection as she wants to cater to a fixed audience, whereas until now, she has been in a hitand-trial mode, unaware of whom exactly does she want to cater to.
(This article was first published in the March issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)
(The article was edited on July 9, 2019 to add information on funding in the House of Masaba)
