Bridge to luxury fashion for the younger ones

Kids wear

In the ever evolving fashion industry, kids’ fashion is also growing and evolving from a largely unorganised market into a more organised one.

In an attempt to fill the void in the kids’ apparel market, Neha Sachar Mittal and Karina Rajpal decided to develop an Indian fashion brand — ‘Kidology’ — that would appeal to the growing segment of discerning consumers in India and abroad. 

Conceptualised in 2010, the brand offers occasion wear for kids from the age group of 0-10 years and offers customised options for teenagers and parents.

“Today things have come a long way as consumers are aware of the options and have a higher willingness to spend on kids’ apparel. With the brand, we took the initiative, pushed the envelope and tried to change people’s mindset,” says Rajpal.

 According to her, the market of kids’ fashion is still young and has undergone a huge change in recent years, with more domestic and international brands for kids now available in the country through different distribution channels.

“Kids apparel focused fashion weeks, dedicated section for kids’ apparel brands at leading malls across the country, kids’ centric e-commerce portals are trends which didn’t exist when we started. They demonstrate the direction in which kids’ apparel segment is heading,” she says.

The various styles of the brand incorporate Western, Indian, as well as fusion inspirations with contemporary designs and high quality fabrics. Special attention is given to fit and comfort including using non-abrasive fabrics and adjustable features. With a line that encompasses prêt as well as couture pieces, the ensembles here are priced at
Rs 3, 000 to Rs 30, 000.

In addition to their in-house collections, they also have designers like Gauri and Nainika, Gaurav Gupta, Siddhartha Tytler and Malini Ramani on board.

Also, they provide customisation features where they design apparels according to occasions, theme parties and according to what the parents want.

“In the last five years we have seen some unique requests from our guests where they want an outfit for their child, similar to what they are wearing for an occasion like a wedding. Similarly we get a lot of orders for theme parties which include everything ranging from a princess theme to an underwater theme and even a cupcake theme,” says Rajpal.

However, with other kids brands like Mothercare, Tommy Kids, Burberry Kids, Armani Junior, etc. what exclusive does Kidology offer?

“Being a ‘bridge to luxury’ brand, we try to provide something in which children feel special. In terms of comfort, we try to offer other child friendly elements such as attached dupattas to keep the garment in place and leave a child free to play.  We use non-abrasive fabrics such as cotton, taffeta and silk. We also make sure embellishments are placed in such a way that does not make them uncomfortable,” explains Rajpal.
Mittal and Rajpal now plan to focus more on untapped markets in occasion wear for pre-teens and teens, “mini me” matching outfits for parents and kids, and more customised outfits for theme parties.

“We want to create an occasion wear line in the price range of Rs 3,500 to
Rs 4,500, so as to appeal to a wider client base.  We will also experiment with a brand’s monogrammed fashion line of apparels and accessories,” says Rajpal.