Gen-Z Fashion Merchants
They nurtured a dream of becoming entrepreneurs and soon turned it into a reality at a tender age. Introducing four young Sethi siblings—Kavya (18 years), Mehul (19), Tushar (20) and Khushboo (24)—who saw great potential in the fashion and e-commerce category and decided to tread uncharted territories.They experimented with some ideas during the lockdown and established Jisora, a fashion apparel brand that combines ethnicity with modern trends. Jisora is a Marwari word used by their paternal grandmother frequently, and symbolises happiness and satisfaction.
Embarking on a journey
Born and brought up in the Pink City, the roots of the Sethi siblings go back to Ladnun, a small town in the Nagaur district of Rajasthan. After completing their schooling from Jayashree Periwal High School in Jaipur, they had this collective desire to start a business and hence explored the online industry. “We observed that upcoming fashion had evolved into a technique of bidding goodbye to monotony with a mix of Indo-western comfort and the flair for making a statement,” mentions Tushar Sethi, who’s currently studying in the final year at Xavier’s College in Mumbai. Jisora was born to bring stylish yet affordable clothing for women of all ages. The brand’s goal was to provide a blend of traditional and innovative comfort apparel for women. They self-funded themselves with initial investment of `25 lakh. The collection ranges from sleepwear, loungewear and resort wear to western wear. Currently operating from Jaipur, it is available to both domestic and foreign markets through its online channels. “Our focus is to provide comfortable wear that becomes our customer’s lounge, work and travel essential,” explains Khushboo, the eldest sibling who completed her graduation from Mithibai College and studied MBA from IBS in Mumbai.
“When we first started out, we were rather young, and the people we connected with would be astonished to learn about our age,” says Mehul, who is pursuing his second year of BBA at Xavier’s College. “Over time, however, they understood the scope of our business and began to take us seriously.” Don’t let their age throw you off guard! The siblings have seamlessly divided the roles and responsibilities amongst themselves and work together as a perfect team. While Khushboo is a self taught designer who leads the marketing team, Mehul is in charge of the technical and financial operations; Tushar is an artist and self-taught designer who oversees the production and Kavya handles the sales, HR, customer relations, commercial development and the company’s link to the market. Working together as a team has been a real blast for the siblings. Having lived in the same house since they were kids, it is now exciting for them to be working from the same office, and the concept has taken their bonding a notch higher. “If it hadn’t been for all of us working together as a team, the excitement and inspiration would not have been the same,” insists Tushar.
Sethi Siblings
Hard work for success
It is no surprise then that Jisora was a hit from the word go, owing to the fact that wearing loungewear was a necessity of the new workfrom- home culture that emerged during the pandemic. Hard work paid off and their brand achieved a whopping turnover of `12 crores in the very first year. However, success came with an equal number of challenges. Attracting a wider audience as a new start-up player was not easy, especially during the pandemic. In the initial stages, it was difficult for the siblings to establish the brand and take its philosophy to their target audience. Building a strong social media presence for the company was also an arduous task. However, with the right amount of hard work and team spirit, they were able to overcome these obstacles in due course of time.
Looking ahead
Like other young Gen-Z kids, Sethi siblings are pursuing some hobbies in their free time. While almost all love to travel and explore new places and cultures, Mehul and Tushar share a passion for cooking while Khushboo and Kavya like to spend their time in reading. About the growth strategy, they plan to extend and grow the presence and footprint of Jisora in the offline retail industry to establish it as a strong clothing brand with extensive outreach. The team is also looking foward to opening franchise stores to cater to their growing customer base through offline stores. “Our franchise stores will soon be in every corner of the country. Currently, plans to start kidswear are under process. With the right resources, design, knowledge and market, we are sure to gradually extend to menswear as well,” they conclude with unparalleled confidence.
