For the love of high street

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For the love of high street

LoveGen, a fashion brand started by three Mumbai girls, is all about clothes you will love because of their easy pricing - and breezy style

By Sujata Assomull

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Published: Fri 30 Jun 2017, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Fri 30 Jun 2017, 2:00 AM

For the haute set in India, high street is where the action is. Recently, we saw Sonam Kapoor and her sister Rhea launch Rheson, a high street line that includes dresses, concept saris and handbags. Then, there is Delhi's fashion high priestess Kalyani Saha, who started Lulu & Sky. But if you are looking for a "Made in India" high street option that is also targeting the Middle East, then Love Genration is the label for you (it is spelt without the 'e' on purpose and, in the industry, the brand is simply known as LoveGen).
The three women behind the brand are Nandita Mahtani, Bhavana Pandey and Dolly Sidhwani - all established names in the Indian fashion industry. Nandita is a well-known fashion designer, a regular on best-dressed lists besides being besties with Gauri Khan; Bhavana Pandey, wife of actor Chunky Pandey, who worked on projects with luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior and Cartier; and Dolly Sidhwani already had her own e-commerce brand Noble Faith and is also the wife of film producer Ritesh Sidhwani.
The chic trio have been friends for 15 years now, and decided to band together and start their own business venture with one aim: to be price-sensitive yet stylish. Prices start at INR999, which is around Dh55. As girls who truly love fashion, they know what the average girl wants to wear. and as girls who have been exposed to the best, they will not compromise on quality. Says Nandita, "I knew if I started another venture, it had to be huge and needed the right partners. You cannot be possibly wearing only luxury brands - I think all of us wanted to create something we could live in." Despite the fact that all these three women are known for their own style, if you follow their brand's Instagram account (@iamlovegen), you will notice that they like to highlight real and everyday women, who wear their designs. This is where Love Genration stands out. As Dolly says, "LoveGen does not have a celebrity ambassador, as we believe we want our brand to target all kinds of women, not one specific type." This comes through in their designs - easy to wear, in breathable fabrics like cotton. Shift dresses, cold shoulder tops and denim shorts dominate their collection. this is clearly a brand for those with a breezy take on fashion.
But don't let their easy style sensibilities fool you; the girls have a solid business plan, and this is not a case of just jumping onto the e-commerce bandwagon. "It is exciting to see the three of us come together as we each have a very distinct and different way of working," explains Nandita. "Bhavana handles the PR, marketing and positioning of the brand. Dolly and I focus on designs; while I design and style the clothes, Dolly executes the sketches into production. So we each have our department, which obviously is integrated to make LoveGen the best high-street fashion brand worldwide."
While they are concentrating on the Indian market for the time being, their launch was in Paris at the Who's Next trade show last year.
In India, LoveGen is available at select Shopper's Stop stores as well as websites such as Myntra, Amazon and Jabong, other than its own website. Just before Ramadan started, LoveGen came to Dubai for a pop-up.
Bhavana came to oversee the Dubai event and says, "We got a great response at Posh Rack in Dubai, everyone loved the clothes and we are super excited to launch our website in the UAE very soon! We want our shoppers to be able to follow the brand from anywhere in the world and always be updated with our newest styles." This region will be the first market that LoveGen will be available in internationally.
And while the three girls want LoveGen to go international, it is very much a born-in-Mumbai label - its boho style captures the vibe of this seaside city. Which means there is always a resort feel to all their designs. Bhavana says, "We want women to love our clothes," and it looks like that they are well on track to spread their fashion mantra.
sujata@khaleejtimes.com


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