Delhi-based Stage3 Encourages the Idea of Maintaining a Conscious Closet Renting out occasion wear from designers including brands such as Manish Malhotra and Rhea Kapoor, the start-up aims to make glamorous fashion accessible to the aspirational

Blenders Pride Reserve Collection presented Entrepreneur India's 35Under35 2020 list which included some leading names from the field of entrepreneurship and Sanchit Baweja made it to the coveted list.

The large and growing gap between access and aspiration in occasion-wear clothing options led Sanchit Baweja to start up. The high-end fashion was priced out of the reach for a large section of Indian consumers. Realizing the large underutilized inventory, he recalls, "Where most people would have seen a challenge, we saw an opportunity to influence consumer behaviour and change the way India consumes fashion."

Renting over Ownership
The core concept of Stage3 is flawlessly simple — why purchase an item that you are only going to wear a few times when you can rent it at a fraction of the cost? "Essentially, we are democratizing high fashion by taking the concept of gig economy to the end-consumer wardrobe. In doing so, Stage3 is igniting a sustainable fashion revolution on a pan-India level and encouraging mainstream adoption of the idea of maintaining a conscious closet," Baweja shares.

The company's innovative concept is complemented by its associations with industry-leading designers. He mentions, "We have collaborated with more than 100+ emerging and established designers to curate the trendiest styles and authentic designer wear for our user base. Stage3 has also built a community of more than 150 leading celebrities, bloggers and influencers that drive and reinforce the idea of glamorous and sustainable fashion.

Best Minds in the Industry
Stage3 has a distinguished advisory board and amazing mentors who share their experiences and knowledge to constantly guide and shape its vision. "Combining our energies and passion with their domain expertise and support is a big part in driving Stage3's success.Today, our team has more than 60 members, including prominent names from the industry. Rhea Kapoor, for instance, recently joined us as our Style Director," Baweja reveals.

Since coming on board, Kapoor has secured collaborations with 15 top designers to curate a collection and has helped in styling 12 top fashion influencers in India. This snowballed into a viral campaign that saw Stage3's brand value increase significantly amongst its target audiences.

"In 2019, we raised our first round of institutional capital from a marquee investor andoverachieved our revenue target in the first 60 days after securing the investment," he says. Last year, the company also shipped 350+ rental orders in October alone and also raised funding from Blume Ventures. 2019 also saw the opening of its retail store in Select Citywalk in New Delhi and the addition of 50+ top designers and 100+ influencers to the Stage3 community.

(This article was first published in the February 2020 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)