Two women entrepreneurs, a mother and a daughter make their mark in eponymous textiles and décor label. The Gurgaon based company was founded in 1992 by Sarita Handa and her daughter Suparna Handa. Sarita Handa’s label is all about traditional crafts and adding a contemporary twist to it.
The mother and daughter duo had an eye for textile and designs but they never thought they could make a business out of it. In 1992 they started a small business with the investments they had. Initially their business was about cushion covers and quilts. Later on the range of products increased to more home décor products like quilted and non-quilted bed linens, hand towels, bath towels, table linens, embroidered products, printed and block coloured cushions, curtain fabrics, upholstery fabrics, floor and wall coverings, hanging lamps etc. They also have decorative house hold items like sculptures, antiques, mirrors and ceramics. There are other lifestyle accessories too like bags, iPad covers, tissue box covers, travel pouches, scarves and jewellery.
Initially the business was managed single handily by Sarita Handa while Suparna Handa pursued her dream and went to study fashion business management at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She worked for Ralph Lauren and also for ABC carpets for few years but then thought of joining her mother in the year 1994. And now, after three decades, the company has grown from a small business to a much larger label. They are on cloud nine as they had a turnover of 200cr in the last financial year.
Talking about the company, its headquarter is in Gurugram and the size of the factory is 400,000 sq ft. It has also ventured into the furniture industry which is sold in the brand retail stores in Mumbai and Delhi. Most of the sale is due to international sales through B2B (Business to Business) associations with various brands like Macy’s Pottery Barn in US, Zara in Spain, John Lewis in UK, etc. The company is primarily US-driven but they are looking to expand it more in India and in other countries as well. To make a mark in India, they have created sub-brands like Blue Boat and a luxury product line too.
The designs they use are very unique and are inspired from various antique stores to travelling and exploring different places. They balance rightly between design creativity and business. According to Suparna it is important to maintain a partnership and collaborating with various designs and merchandising client service.
Suparna takes care of most of the business and even though her mother is old but still she is passionate about this business and is involved diligently. They both work as a team so well and have a vision for growing this business more and making it better. They have already made a mark by their beautiful and amazing work. They say that the brand might reach to more and more places but its identity will remain rooted with a blend of Indian textile and contemporary ideas.
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