TURNING TWO IN STYLE!

Jun 14, 2020

Our journey of building AlterNatives over the last two years.

Mumbai, home to more than a million dreams, saw another dream come to life, in June 2018. We were two twenty-somethings who went all-in with our resources, talents and ideas to build AlterNatives, a young clothing brand with a voice that would inspire people to take up things that they are passionate about. Ours is a brand that encourages people to have grit. It’s for the mavericks that believe in sticking it out in the toughest of times and shining bright when it’s their time under the spotlight. In short, inspiring people to look for #alternativesevery time they are stuck — is our staple narrative.

With 8 designer garments ready to hit the market, we launched this website on a cosy rainy day in June! But before that, we did a really special photoshoot with a spectacular team during the summer of that year. We are really grateful to have found Lalesh Jadhav our go-to photographer and Nikhil Rajadhyaksha who selflessly lent us his quaint studio nestled in the busy streets of a Market in Byculla. And while all the streets were noisy, once we were in the studio it all looked French and Fancy.

Have a look for yourselves!

But the location and the photography aren’t the only things that made our shoot special, it was also our first team of models. Some we scouted via colleges, some we reached out to via Instagram, some we knew for most of our lives. But all of these 8 special women had one thing in common, they all passionately wanted to pursue their dreams. Over the last two years, these women have only grown. While Danielle Mariadias went from being a cute college kid to an absolute pro working with the best of brands and designers in the country, Dr. Smriti Bhatia went on to practice in the U.S. Divya Pai continued to add more hats to her repertoire and expanded from owning a travel business to also running an organic beauty brand.

Richa Rungta has been our model, editor, well-wisher and rock throughout. And Rachna Raichandani, our constant P.R insider who has kept us up-to-date with the latest trends in the industry. At this shoot, we also had amazing hair and makeup support from Natasha D’Souza Jham and Zakera Bagban who gave us 2 days of their time!

After this shoot, we went on to collaborate with some really amazing people. RJ Meha and RJ Gunjan from Ishq FM were the first ones to appreciate #AlterNatives. Within a few months talented actress Aahana Kumra and instagram’s sweetheart Nicole Concessao. We also had the opportunity to team up with a real alternative blogger Nayantara Shetty. He has been making waves for not conforming to gender rules and having an androgynous style. And that gave us the confidence to sell our garments without gender bias.

Interestingly, 5 men have happily purchased our shirts for themselves to date. All of these men met us at several exhibitions. So, it was almost like an instant visceral connection for them. We have observed how people react to our garments at exhibitions. And honest reactions have been the most important part of our journey. With 13 exhibitions and 5 events which we’ve attended in 4 cities, we’ve picked up a lot. We learned not only from our customers but also our fellow entrepreneurs who are into other artisanal small businesses. Our favourite events include the Mother’s Day Pop Up curated and hosted by Out of The Blue in Khar, Mumbai, The Lil Flea of which we’ve done two editions of and the luxury pop by Style Trunk Co at Buva House in Chennai.

Participating in events helped us in finding talent from colleges, building a new base of customers and getting us some press coverage. The feedback which we got from our customers helped us change our brand in positive ways leading to its evolution. We also learned a lot about the cuts and patterns preferred by women in India. Adding our learnings and insights we slowly released three more bullet collections in winter of 2018, summer of 2019 and winter of 2019. Each of these had about 4–6 designs each.

We then got into guerrilla shoots with Co-founder Karuna Valecha championing modelling and Co-founder Gowri Shenoy handling photography. Soon we also managed to work with Aarushi Chawla and Krishna Solgama both of whom have been professionally appearing in advertisements and shows on T.V.

While professionals were happy to wear our garments, our friends were too! We have been very lucky to have had a lot of supportive friends who have been a part of our journey since day zero. Be it modelling or be it the first ones to order, or be it visiting us at exhibitions!

Soon in-house photography for the brand and content became a trend. And that’s not all, we have also had the opportunity to sponsor and be speakers at some very cool and artistic events like the Great Indian Ballet Competition led by Apeksha Bhattacharya. She also wore AlterNatives in Rome when she represented India as its official ballet ambassador in November 2019. We also got to sponsor prizes for women in tech at D.J. Sanghavi’s prestigious coding event, CodeShastra 2 years in a row thanks to our patron Neel Doshi.

Over the last two years we have also managed to get into two boutique retail stores, which carefully handpick designers from all over the country. We couldn’t be more ecstatic over being chosen for Kassa’s Bangalore Outlet at Green Theory and The Uru Store, Navi Mumbai’s first multi-designer store. At the latter we got a chance to be a part of an exclusive pop up which also featured labels like Gauhaurgeous by Guahaur Khan.

Using all of our experience we got into the sourcing and production of our summer collection of 2020, our biggest yet with nearly 20 new SKUs. We got an opportunity to launch our collection just before the Pandemic at LBB’s first Makers Market in Mumbai. Soon after we managed to collaborate with Upasana Makati from White Print for our first AlterNative women’s day video. White Print is India’s first lifestyle magazine in Braille and we couldn’t be happier about this association.

After that, we launched our Summer of Hope collection online during the Pandemic with some quarantine photography featuring Karuna Valecha. And the results are fitting of a celebration which coincided with our second birthday! We happily turned 2 over the weekend on the 7th of June!

If you believe in our brand, do give us feedback on reachalternatives@gmail.com.

We would be happy to hear from you!

You could also write to us in case you want to collaborate with us, be our model, shoot for us, buy from us or feature us. Don’t forget to tell your friends about our growing brand! When we are not working on building AlterNatives we dabble in other creative pursuits. Karunafreelances as an illustrator and Graphic Designer, while Gowri immerses herself into Writing, Marketing and Digital Film Production.

In all Fairness

every colour was

always lovely.

But after selling

gallons of insecurity

in exchange of

infinite self esteem,

a landmark move

seems long overdue.

Change in Thinking

is always more welcome

than changing colour of

chameleon skins

that try to fit in.

For those who didn’t wait for

beauty creams to

give them ego massages,

found their fairness

in non judgment.

And their loveliness

in their personalities.

-Gowri Shenoy

Written and Painted in light of Fair & Lovely annoucing only a change in name instead of discontinuing the brand.

of us have to die

before the virus gets to us?

How is it that a crumbling economy gives us an occasion

to bake cakes at home.

While most overeat,

the migrants are unable to

digest their reality.

As finding hobbies and losing souls

go hand in hand,

a city that never sleeps

is now a city that silently weeps.

The freedom found on streets

suffocates the less fortunate,

as closed windows give some a breather.

Hunger does play games

with the mind, body and soul.

And yet none of them win!

How does one

work from home

without work or home?

As birds come

and sing along.

To remind us that

jungles can thrive

without humanity.

We all hear them

the same,

from the streets

or houses.

Mankind seems invalid

as the Earth continues its trip

around the Sun.

We continue to get

our sunshine on time.

But finding breakfast isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

As human pride cloaks

human insignificance,

a tiny little virus

that started as an invisible thing

continues to get attention.

How’s it that the universe

is always expanding

and yet there’s no

extra room for humanity.

Artwork by Aarushi Kumar, Kassa Jaipur.

Left loneliness behind,

without finding a person.

“Risky business”, you might say.

“It paid off!”, I’d retort.

As curiosity kept me company.

I got over looming loneliness.

While old habits die hard.

New hobbies find a way to live.

While people come and go.

Moments don’t seem to have that peeve.

What a fool was I

to keep looking for other souls,

when what truly fed me

were stories well told.

Probably princesses didn’t know

anything better than to keep waiting.

If only they picked up the shining armor.

With conviction. With belief. Sans doubting.

Why does “happily” have to be only

Of the ever afters.

When unloning is what you could do

happily right now.

- Gowri Shenoy

You’ve been perfecting that smile of yours.

But you’re laugh is no fun now.
It was real before.
It’s plain rehearsed now.
I cracked almost funny jokes for you.
But now you laugh only to cues.

My memories of you are more vivd than the films you do.

The makers of rubbish
get you to talk crap.
You do it with perfection.
But it’s no spec on the hours of Non-stop. Crap Talk. We had.

Somewhere between the selfies, you got famous.
The world knows you now,
But I don’t, dude!

You settled for a button operated likes.
But that set off the fuse in my head.
Strangers of a certain ‘typ’ seemed to get your attention.
While you put our friendship in detention.

It’s strange that my dark space
Didn’t blind you…
But the flash of the bright shutterbugs did.

My wounded heart wouldn’t compare to that
Heart on insta.
Which gets red with a single click.
Clearly a dick.
But you’re a girl in a flick.
You’re for the selfies.
There’s no van to rest your vanity.
Not even a van to bring you back to reality.

So to have a word with you might I have to line up?
To press the right buttons? To get that heart red.

To brighten your face.
To run along side you,
In your pageant rat race?
I’d have done it, dude!
But….

Somewhere between the selfies, you got famous.
The world knows you now,
But I don’t, dude!

Picture: Pinterest

Extravagant birthdays and flamboyant wedding parties almost always have grand dinner buffets. But at the end of these parties, nobody seems to care about the amount of food being wasted. It’s a sad reality, especially since millions of Indians sleep hungry everyday.

As per shocking stats, more than 10 million people die of chronic hunger and hunger-related diseases every year.

Now, there’s a beacon of hope for the starving and underprivileged in the form of a modern-day Robin Hood Army.

Eradicating Hunger

Robin Hood Army (RHA) is an NGO that has devoted itself to collecting surplus food from wealthy restaurants and other sources, and distributing it among the less fortunate.

This outfit doesn’t just have an apt, intriguing name — it also has presence in 64 cities globally.

What is an international movement today was started in Delhi in 2014 by a bunch of do-gooders.

RHA came to life when founder Neel Ghose decided to give away good food to the needy one cold evening in Delhi, and continued doing so regularly.

Pretty soon, this act of kindness garnered a lot of attention on social media. A flurry of volunteers became ‘Robins’, taking food from the privileged and giving it to those in need.

Tell Me More…

Designed to serve the street citizens, this unique organisation embodies the millennial work culture and ethics.

With no offices, no assets, and no liabilities, Robin Hood doesn’t accept any monetary donations. Their wonderful philosophy of ‘think less, do more’ is the driving force behind the fabulous work they do.

Some of the finest restaurants have joined hands with them, providing them with quality food over the weekends. Some of the noteworthy ones include The Lalit (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh, and Udaipur), Mumbai’s suburban bar The Daily, and Connaught Royale in Delhi.

Food wastage is also avoided in many tier two cities daily, thanks to the Robins. With more and more restaurants becoming mindful about wastage, the on-boarding of partners has been on the rise.

One for the Kids

RHA now facilitates education for street children, with innovative teaching methods like playing YouTube videos and giving performance incentives during classroom sessions. They also give them personal care lessons and have enrolled many of them in schools.

What’s more, RHA has been providing medical assistance to street kids by giving them basic first aid and care to recover from injuries.

We had the opportunity of speaking to a Mumbai Robin, Pooja Dagli, a 27-year-old corporate lawyer who has been working with the organisation for a year and a half. Not only did she give us insight into all the lovely work they do, but also left us with a beautiful thought that every millennial could relate to.

“What I took up to kill Sunday boredom, soon grew on me to become my responsibility. And today it means legacy to me,” she proudly said.

Robins across various cities seem like an enthusiastic lot, and they make it a point to meet every weekend for their humanitarian efforts.

So if you have nothing better to do on a Sunday, you could join them too. Visit their site to know more about becoming a partner, a volunteer, or a teacher at RHA. Because that’s some food for thought — rather — thought for food!

Image Credit: Robin Hood Army

Originally commissioned by: https://www.indibeat.in/society/meet-millennial-robin-hoods/