A shared dissatisfaction with the apparel choices available to Indian women prompted two Delhi school friends to take an entrepreneurial leap in 2012. Tanvi Malik, formerly with Titan, and Shivani Poddar, who had worked in investment banking at Avendus Capital, gave up their corporate positions to address an underserved segment of the fashion market. Their ambition was to make fashionable Western clothing, designed around Indian women's preferences and body types, more accessible.
Drawing on their educational backgrounds and understanding of the fashion market, Malik and Poddar founded High Street Essentials. Their first venture, FabAlley, started as a digital-first retail business, selling accessories such as jewellery, handbags and footwear.
The response from shoppers encouraged the founders to broaden their offering. Clothing soon became part of the collection, setting FabAlley on the path to becoming a fast-fashion brand known for introducing hundreds of new designs every month.
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The success of FabAlley paved the way for the launch of Indya, another label under the founders' business. The brand was created for women looking to incorporate contemporary ethnic clothing into their everyday wardrobes.
Rather than positioning traditional Indian outfits as occasion-specific purchases for weddings and festivals, Indya sought to make them suitable for office wear and casual outings. The company also expanded beyond its online roots, adopting an omnichannel retail strategy supported by in-house design teams and manufacturing facilities in Noida.
The journey from a start-up to an established fashion business has not been without financial pressures. High Street Essentials, the parent company of FabAlley and Indya, reported revenue of Rs 122 crore for FY25, compared with Rs 164.2 crore a year earlier.
The company also ended the financial year with a net loss of Rs 66.7 crore. The decline highlights the commercial difficulties facing the business as it navigates India's increasingly competitive consumer market.
The financial pressures have not erased the market presence of FabAlley and Indya. Both labels remain familiar names among consumers seeking contemporary fashion.
Their story also illustrates a larger reality of entrepreneurship: establishing a connection with customers is one challenge, but turning that recognition into consistent financial performance is another.
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