Graduating in Passion and Perseverance!
Vishakha Agrawal founder of bootlegged ethnic label Resham – House of Silk is a refreshing designer who at the tender age of 20 is holding the reins of her brand and aspires to take it global with the help of her family.
In a candid conversation over how it all started, Vishakha chuckles “I recall I was in the 6th grade when all fellow classmates were busy doodling teenage aspirations; I just plainly dreamed to be the youngest female entrepreneur
A dream that I realized being the youngest designer in my own family where Fashion was a routine conversation thanks to my Papa’s flourishing textile business.
Inspired and mentored by him, I got motivated to set sail on my own and my brand finally bore wings getting launched on 2nd October 2020.
Looking back I pride myself that I was just 18 and pursuing my studies and could still do my own label’s successful launch in spite of no academic education in fashion.
One of the core reasons of the development of Resham – House of Silk was that I wanted to make my own signature mark of doing something, an entrepreneurship shot just like my dad did and benefitting for life!
Commenting on the major highlights of the brand Vishakha comments “Being a home grown brand that voices for local artistry and sustainability, we had a lot of challenges for our first release, a ‘wedding collection’ which was our first launch.
The pandemic made it difficult for a team of efficient and experienced Karigars amidst all the restrictions; however we did a perfect launch!
We were asked by one of our clients to design exclusive designer’s dresses, lehengas, sarees and gowns for their entire wedding which was held in June 2021.
We also went big for our one-year anniversary celebration and collaborated with the TV star Harsha Khandeparker. It was an amazing feat for a small business like us. “
Voicing in brief on label’s business side “We aim at empowering women, we are opening new doors of opportunities for our local artists and we are constantly working towards our sustainability goals.
We even weave our own products or the materials that are sourced are all locally sourced.So, the saree or dresses that you see, everything is handcrafted by skilful craftsmen/craftswomen. Slowly, we are also experimenting with prints, paintings to make our brand more inclusive.”
In terms of the future horizon with a timeline of five years Vishakha says that she would like to see the brand reaching global heights for exhibiting local craftsmanship of karigar work.
A big believer in sustainable fashion, Vishakha is leading her team on this one and hopes that in the near future the entire fashion industry too adapts to it.
On a conclusive note, when asked on what is the one advice that she would recommend to new aspiring entrepreneurs, Vishakha though being just 20 smiles and says “Too tiny to advise the designers but as I have said before, you do not need a degree to be a designer.
Explore your creativity and never be afraid to be unique. Your brand is like your child, you need to nurture it, be patient and most importantly, you have to keep trusting the process.”
Vishakha genuinely got the draft of being a good leader along with the resilience to handle the hiccups of nurturing a young label and the business of fashion.
Instead of curling her sail when the times were tough during the pandemic, she rather pressed further with full sail and tackled each adversity and in time she graduated in high colors.
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Kudos to you and your team! Young entrepreneurs like Vishakha Agrawal must be supported in more ways than one, cause they deserve the next rung of growth!