They are in love with fabric and fashion, creating new designs, experimenting with colours, textures, cuts and embellishments. Even when they could earn much more sitting inside the cool comforts of a cabin, they chose to step out, giving a chance for the entrepreneur in them to bloom. MetroPlus catches up with a bunch of women entrepreneurs in the city who gave up their plum jobs in IT companies and chose to run boutiques – Ann Abraham, Neelima R. Pillai and Aanu Nobby.
All in the family
In 2011, Neelima R. Pillai left her job with Infosys and got married into a family in Kottayam; a family with two homemakers running a successful venture. She couldn’t stop herself from joining them. These inspiring ladies were her mother-in-law, Tara Nair, who, along with her relative Veena Nair, started Gowri Designer Garments in 2002.
“Gowri was actually a chance for me to try something new. We opened a branch in Thiruvananthapuram and now my husband’s sister-in-law Niranjana has also joined us,” says the 27-year-old electrical engineer.
The store has unstitched material and ready-mades manufactured at its unit in Kottayam. “Gowri’s collections have stood out for its fittings and simple designs,” she adds.
The clientele in Thiruvananthapuram is totally different from that of Kottayam and so the kind of collection is different in both stores, she says. For wannabe entrepreneurs, she has a word of advice: Know the market well before you start something and ensure that your product has a USP.
Dress up in style
Being a working woman inspired Aanu Nobby to try her hand at designing. She used to work in Trivandrum International School and later at Allianz, where she worked for two years in the finance wing. “I found that there was a need for office wear since ethnic wear or Western wear needn’t always fit a particular job profile. I have had a flair for designing and that’s how I launched a website featuring my brand of office wear, named AanDe on Women’s Day this year,” she says. Once she was sure about what she wanted to do, she quit her job. “Also, it was becoming difficult to balance family and work,” she says. From an online venture, it became a boutique which started functioning a week ago at Alamcode, near Attingal. Now the 29-year-old has expanded AanDe to include bridal wear, daily wear, ethnic wear and much more. And she isn’t worried about winning a clientele from a place a little far away from the city. “It is a misconception that only urban, high-end clients shop at boutiques. Now there is no rural-urban divide when it comes to dressing up well and looking good,” she says.
Sparkling success
For Ann Abraham, who runs Sparkles at Sasthamangalam, her mother, Susamma, inspired her to become a designer. “She used to design my dresses when I was a kid. When I grew up, I started designing my own dresses,” says Ann, who worked with NeST for four years. She began by experimenting on saris by blending different kinds of fabric. “When I wore one such sari for a cousin’s wedding, it was a hit and soon I started getting orders from my relatives. My mother is a master in cut work, shadow work and embroidery, which I usually incorporate in my saris,” says this postgraduate in management.
Initially, she launched her designs online and when they got noticed, she quit her job and set up Sparkles. Now, her boutique stocks men’s wear also, especially for weddings.
“We have matching attire for the bride and groom. We also take our products to potential customers and educate them about fashion trends. For weddings, we have a bridal makeover, with packages that include make-up, hair styling, beauty treatment and jewellery,” says the 30-year-old. All geared up for challenges ahead, she says: “Initially I faced a lot of opposition from my family, but I wanted to prove a point. That confidence has helped me.”
