At a tea shop on the way to Wayanad, Pramod Sharma and Bimal Kumar saw a land cruiser, a moped and a cycle parked in the same stretch, and had a eureka moment.
“That is just one tiny shop, but people from all walks of life stopped there. We thought ‘if there is tea for everyone, why not a tee',” laughs Pramod, chairman, Fifth Avenue. Anteedote, a casual clothing line made purely of knitwear, was born.
All about passion
While the brand has a wide range of casuals such as t-shirts, dresses and pants, it targets the young-at-heart and at-mind. “Our target audience will be somewhere in the age group 16-26, but then, Anteedote is about the passion in whatever we do. We're launching about 180 styles, 90 for men and 90 for women,” says Bimal, managing director, Fifth Avenue Retail.
Pramod, who started Fifth Avenue, an international sourcing company, a decade ago, relates the company's growth to its upcoming avenues. “In 2000, I started Fifth Avenue with three people. We now have about 250 people working in Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Dhaka, apart from offices in France and Germany. Diesel was among our first clients, and we took their market share of $ 1 million in India to $ 20 million. We source up to 18 international brands, and have a strong leg in Italian fashion. Since our research base is already strong, we thought we could bring in the best of western fashion and fuse it with Indian requirements,” he explains.
Marrying the West to the East wasn't too tough since the market here is open towards new designs, according to Pramod.
“Usually, the labels we source decide the kind of clothes that should be in the market. We decided that we will say what we should be selling. Knitwear is usually associated with polos and round-necks. It has a wider market abroad. We want to bring that here and have everything made of this material,” says Bimal.
The Anteedote store itself breaks all retail norms, according to them. Deep purple interiors with minimal lighting, mannequins lazing around on propped-up stairs, graffiti walls with cool slogans and smiley faces. “There are no bright lights, or overt displays. Our models have only smiley faces because anyone can wear these clothes. Our slogan is ‘spread a little sunshine'. That's why we named the brand An‘tee'dote. Because we're a respite from every norm.”
The store plans on opening 65 more stores across the country in the coming months. They will also launch the FredStewart line in their store soon. Anteedote is located at No. 32/59, Burkit Road, T. Nagar, and is open all days from 11 a.m.
