Sarees

 Hollywood actress Goldie Hawn was one of the first western celebrities, back in the 1970s, to sport a sari. Well at the time she may be among a few fascinated by the eastern culture. But fast forward three decades and today the popularity of Indian ethnic wear is more than just a passing fad. In the last few years, Indian wear has seen patrons from Hollywood, sports and music industry internationally. Hollywood hotties Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz, tennis stars like Anna Kournikova and the Williams sisters have proudly sported stylish Indian garments.

From the days when Indian garments were adorned only by the spiritually inclined westerners, Indian garments are now seen as symbols of style, élan and confidence. Niche online ethnic wear startups like FadIQ are quickly riding this wave by tapping into the export market. So what makes their business model click at a time when the ecommerce market is flooded with new entrants?

FadIQ, a niche player in Indian ethnic online market, opened shop in 2013 with a wide offering including sarees, salwar kameez and lehngas for women with a focus on the international market. “Apart from the growing international interest in Indian ethnic wear, a growing India diaspora is helping generate demand”, says Aman Verma, founder, FadIQ. According to him “ethnic fashion is all about exclusivity, authenticity and provenance and that is what makes the consumer ready to shell out a premium”. In the last two years of its exsistance, FadIQ has built its customer base in key international markets of US, Europe, Oceania which have a large NRI population. "Our international customers are fascinated with intricate designs, cuts, colors and most importantly fabrics which are showcased on our website FadIQ.com.”

FadIQ’s team is busy chalking out plans for other emerging markets where Indian ethnic wear is being adopted by fashion hubs and witnessing a spurt in demand. “We are increasing receiving enquiries from emerging countries like Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka besides the traditional markets of Europe and the US. We will add mens and kids wear and jewellery and add more variety by next year.”

The company is not stopping at being just the best in quality but also plans to be experts in fittings. “Our tailor yourself services aim at delivering perfectly stitched garments to our international client based on dimension inputs provided by customer.  In future, we plan to give a complete shopping experience to our clients and plan to leverage the virtual trialroom technology. Nothing beats the touch and feel experience of shopping and we want to ensure we provide that through the virtual world. ”