The fashion industry is one of the most profitable industries in India. Though, only a certain percentage of the population enjoys designer and luxury clothing for every occasion. The times have been demanding and the nature of the fashion industry is changing. This has opened doors to new businesses to adopt the traditional market and give it a completely new shape.
In the quest for the stand-out business leaders, we crossed paths with Jheal Shah, the Founder and CEO of the Stylease, a company that is not only making it big but also making a difference in the industry.
In our conversation with Ms. Shah, she uncovered some interesting insights about the industry. Along with that, she also spoke about the ideation and working of the company and how it made it big in the sector. Following are the highlights from our conversation with a curious business leader from the ever-blooming fashion industry.
Please brief our audience about your company, its values, vision, and mission.
Our company’s name is “The Stylease”. We rent high-end designer clothes and accessories to men and women for 10% of the retail price. We are based out of Mumbai, but we ship pan India for zero extra cost. We are a fashion rental company that stands for sustainability and trying to make a change in the way people use their heavy expensive outfits on a regular basis.
Once someone buys a heavy Indian outfit for a particular occasion, they rarely wear it again. We want to give these clothes life and another chance and earn money for our vendors in the process, so it is a win-win situation for everyone.
People have now realized that instead of buying an outfit that you will only wear once and barely getting any use out of it, it is better to rent an outfit and have an endless wardrobe at your doorstep.
Brief us about the featured person and their journey in the business world.
I’m Jheal Shah, founder and CEO of the Stylease. I started my professional journey at the mere age of 18. I, along with my business partner at that time started an event management company based out of India. He ran it full time while I pursued my undergrad from the UK in Molecular Genetics from The University of Warwick and I flew down for all major events. Those were extremely eventful 3-4 years of running that and I am so grateful to look back at it and realize how much I unknowingly learnt during that process.
I came back to India after finishing my undergrad and then worked with the Times of India, as a marketing executive for a few months before I decided to do my masters in Fashion Marketing from Parsons, the New School for Design, in New York.
At that time, I realized that I couldn’t continue doing my business in India from New York, so my business took over that company and runs it till today. While doing my masters in New York, I worked with Armani Exchange, Tommy Hilfiger, and Vera Wang as an intern. That’s what taught me about the world of fashion and how a fashion business is truly run. Once I returned to India, I interned with Falguni and Shane Peacock for a bit and eventually landed up at an MNC job, which I did for a year.
While I was doing that job I got into IIM Ahmedabad, for executive education and went there for the Young Entrepreneurship program. During one of my classes there, is when I had the idea to start Stylease and I quit my job the minute I finished my IIM course and launched my business soon after. It’s been 5 years since.
What sets you apart from the rest of your competitors?
There are several things that help us stand apart. The main one is that we only rent designer labelled original outfits and don’t do replicas. We do custom fittings on every order for free. We are the only rental company that ships pan India at no additional cost.
We have our own store where you can come and see every piece, try every outfit for free and then place an order. Every piece that is on the website is also in the store, so it is possible to see every outfit in person. You can come to the store and get your measurements taken by our team, to ensure the outfits are perfectly fitted too. We have a celebrity stylist who can help with the outfit selection as well and help you style your entire look.
We also design and produce our own collection for rent that is a lot cheaper to rent than some of the high-end designers and hence more economical for our customers. Since we produce as per the trends of the season and as per our customers’ requirements, it helps us keep ahead of the competitors at all times.
The way we get pieces on board is also unique. We tie up with people who own these outfits and not only designers. We work on a revenue-sharing model per rental with these clients, so every time the piece goes on rent, they make money.
What or who motivates/inspires you to be a business leader?
The company was always based on the idea of creating a sustainable environment for our planet. I had first-hand experienced this business model abroad and loved the idea of creating a fashion company, with a strong focus on building a more sustainable world for our future generations.
With fashion being one of the top industries responsible for water pollution and waste in general, we came up with the idea of creating a space in the sharing economy for fashion. The fact that the company mission is so personal, has made it easy for me to work in it for the last several years.
From a young age I have always been more entrepreneurial in spirit. The idea of being able to impact the world at large with my personal touch has always fascinated me and that’s what still inspires me till today.
What were the challenges you came across when you started a business for the first time?
As with any new business, it takes time to prove your worth in the industry before anyone takes you seriously. The same was the case with The Stylease. It took us almost a year, till a lot of fashion designers agreed to come on board with their collections and outfits for us to rent out. Since rental was also a relatively new concept then, it took a while to educate our customers as well, which is an ongoing struggle till date.
How the adaptation of new technology in the respective industry you are catering to has helped transforming your company’s operations and what more could be expected in the future?
Fashion isn’t an industry that uses a lot of technology to produce garments yet. We have moved leaps and bounds in using technology to market our products through social media, brand websites and the likes, but not much else.
Abroad, virtual fashion shows and virtual fashion showcases, for every new season have become a recent phenomenon post the pandemic. I expect that to become the next big thing in India as well.
The operations of any brand will change drastically only after virtual fashion shows become the norm. Once people can start placing orders on the spot, while watching the show, brands will also change their operations to produce these pieces in advance or enable them to be completed on short notice, so that deliveries can be expedited too.
How has the ongoing pandemic affected the operations of your company? How are you driving your firm to sustain its operations and ensuring safety of your employees at the same time?
The pandemic has forced a lot of firms to re-evaluate what is actually important to them in their businesses. A lot of brands expanded to auxiliary products beyond their core competencies earlier, to try and make more money, but the pandemic has forced them to evaluate their positions and pick what their core business will be
No company has still fully recovered from the effects of the pandemic, and everyone is still struggling to stay afloat. Stylease also took a huge hit since we work in the sharing economy space. We were closed for months and only had an opportunity to open, once when we saw enough weddings happening at the end of last year.
Since we rely heavily on special events such as weddings; for people to require our outfits it took us a while before we could get back to “business as usual”. We have finally reached a stage in this wedding season, where we are back at working in full swing like we used to before the pandemic.
As for safety of employees, we got all of them fully vaccinated as well as, we always provide them with masks and sanitizers. All the surfaces including the clothes are regularly cleaned to minimize the spread of virus.
What would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the business world?
Always be true to yourself. Don’t build/make things because they’re selling the most right now. Make or build something that you truly believe in and stand for, otherwise it will not be sustainable for you to stick to it in the long run. Also, there is no substitute for hard work and resilience.
Where do you envision yourself and your company to be in the long run and what are your future goals?
I hope we can be the next “Rent the Runway” of the world and go public someday. I wish to expand internationally as well as to other Indian cities in the near future.
