These Two Women Entrepreneurs are Building a Niche Fashion Brand for GenZ

Started by Megha Poddar and Shradha Ponappa, Spring Diaries is a Bengaluru-based fashion brand making clothes for women in the age group of 18 to 50.

Fresh out of college in 2015, Megha Poddar and Shradha Ponappa realised one thing – the younger generation needed a clothing brand they could simply resonate with. It led them to start Red Velvet, a fashion brand, which was later rebranded as Spring Diaries.

In 2015, when the seed of thought for Spring Diaries (then known as Red Velvet) was taking roots in Megha’s mind, Shradha already had a small boutique label called ‘Shradha Ponnappa’. Megha, a close friend of Shradha’s sister, instantly fell in love with her designs. She was sure that she wanted to work with Shradha to create a casual clothing line. She loved the aesthetic appeal of the designs and knew that they would garner a mass appeal.

The two of them started the company and tried to work with different manufacturing units and freelancers. When they started their own workshop, they had only three employees. Later, they hired a manager to run the factory operations so that they, the owners could focus on the designs and the growth of the brand. Slowly, the two started hiring more people to manage the store and operations. Today, Spring Diaries is a team of 32 people.”

Started with a total investment of about Rs 50 lakh from a 250 sq ft. store, the brand now occupies a 2,400 sq ft. space, and houses both Spring Diaries and label Shradha Ponnappa.

Spring Diaries also saw a huge spike in business during the lockdown in 2020 due to its online presence. They released a home-wear line that brought more traffic to their website as people started shopping more during the pandemic. 

Spring Diaries witnessed a bottom-line turnover of Rs 50,000 per month in the early days, which slowly climbed up to Rs 1to Rs 2 lakh a month now. The brand is currently catering to a clientele in the age group of 18-50 at the price points between Rs 1,800 to Rs 8,000. The co-founders aim to make the brand a million-dollar business. 

Credits: HerStory

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