Since the birth of sewing and weaving, technology has always led to developments in fashion—the industrial revolution mechanised manufacturing- enabling mass production. In the 1960s, synthetic materials like polyester and nylon were born, creating new possibilities for style.
Now, the confluence of innovative technologies and fashion is opening up previously unbelievable opportunities. The future of fashion combines new material and information technologies with new business models.
With innovative and creative ideas, VIVIKA excels in the textile and apparel industry in manufacturing ladies’ bottom wear with a vision to provide quality products that integrate value for money. Under the competent leadership of Yasmeen Delawala, CEO, the company offers apparel combined with the latest fashion trends without compromising any comfort, or quality.
In an interview with Insights Success, Yasmeen shares her journey highlighting the values, mission, and aspects of VIVIKA’s enlightened image in the textile and apparel niche.
Yasmeen, please tell us an overview of your professional journey at the VIVIKA.
VIVIKA is a leading women’s apparel brand aimed to make ethnic and fusion clothes available to all striving women worldwide. I commenced this business in July 2019 with one employee on board.
VIVIKA has flourished with its creative ideas, and it has a team of 20+ employees now. It is currently into B2B supply of women’s Kurtis, bottom-wear, and nightwear. We also undertake job work/production activity (cut to pack services) for other brands.
Tell us more about VIVIKA, its vision, and the critical aspects of its stronghold in its catering industry.
Our vision is to be a part of every woman’s wardrobe with a mission to create fashionable apparel and accessories for women and help them achieve their daily goals by being a part of their trendy yet comfortable wardrobe.
We manufacture ladies’ apparel and provide our products through a B2B channel. We also undertake job work/production activity (cut to pack services) for other brands.
VIVIKA is going to enter B2C/D2C on digital platform Vivika. Fashion will soon become every girl’s and woman’s go-to brand for their daily casual wear and bring comfortable style to their wardrobe. The product range in B2B and B2C markets will differ, keeping the targeted audience in mind.
What efforts did you take during the pandemic to sustain operations and ensure the safety of your team at the same time?
Pandemic had a severe impact on the textile industry—work from home, no gatherings, social distancing, online studies etc., impacted the readymade garment sector.
Manufacturers have a vast workforce and production capacity, but inadequate demand in the market has a direct hit on working capital. It was not easy to meet fixed costs like rent, salaries, and interests.
Forget about growth; sustaining was a challenge. But it is an inbuilt quality of an entrepreneur to find the solution to the problems around and create opportunities to maintain. The first lockdown I missed was on that opportunity due to a lack of resources and experience in this industry.
Safety of workers was the priority; hence educating employees about wearing masks, maintaining social distance, sanitising, making their immunity booster etc., were our daily topic of discussion over calls as the physical meet was not possible.
Post lockdown, when we were back to work, we followed all the protocols like working in half capacity and slowly to total power. That time I had a team of 12 to 13 people, and I was so confident enough to grow as I had no layoffs.
During the second lockdown, I was well equipped with the resources as I expanded my operations, increased my team size, added more machinery, and I was able to join hands with medical suppliers to start manufacturing PPE kits for the hospitals.
It started with an aim to sustain and be selfless with the profits. However, I felt happy ensuring paying my employees promptly—most importantly, I retained all my employees. These were all done by abiding by state government guidelines and keeping employees at the top priority.
Post the second lockdown; we started working for other brands by providing them cut to pack services of their designs with their brand name. This helped us to manage and utilize our production capacity altogether with working capital.
How do you envision further strengthening VIVIKA’s stronghold in 2022 and beyond?
During the pandemic, I got a chance to sit back and think about many aspects related to personal and professional life.
I observed online sales or making your presence on a digital platform, or social media is critical to growing your market size and connecting to customers worldwide. So, I have a couple of plans to take VIVIKA’s success to greater heights. We are currently manufacturing limited products and supplying them to the distributors and wholesalers who target a set of audiences.
Henceforth, VIVIKA will start its B2C/D2C platform very soon and connect to a larger audience with its different collection for its customers while keeping its B2B customer’s interest in mind.
