We are producing comfortable products for the modern man
DaMENSCH is a dynamic Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) essential wear brand founded in 2018, renowned for its innovative and sustainable menswear, with a focus on comfort, contemporary style, and consciousness. The brand, a leader in the innerwear segment, has rapidly grown to prominence, achieving significant milestones in quality, durability, and consumer reach, making premium clothing accessible to a wider audience. In an interview with Fibre2Fashion, Co-founder Anurag Saboo talks about delivering slow fashion to the Indian men.
What are the biggest challenges brands face when trying to incorporate sustainability into their business models?
Sustainability is the most overused word currently. The challenge is to be authentically sustainable. There is a lack of a very strong supply chain that supports sustainability and ethical practises throughout the entire production process, and that is the biggest challenge that brands face when it comes to incorporating sustainability in business models.
What trends do you predict will dominate men’s fashion in the coming years, particularly in terms of sustainability and innovation?
Slow fashion is the future as people are moving away from brands that offer just trendy clothes with logos, and instead there is an increased focus on better quality. Earlier it was looked down upon, though we have all reused clothes, and it is now considered ‘cool’. People now have an understanding of the impact of their actions on the planet and we see a more conscious movement towards slow fashion. Thus, we can predict that slow and sustainable fashion will dominate not just men’s fashion but all aspects of our lives.
What inspired you to create DaMENSCH, and what is the overarching vision behind the brand?
When I passed out of IIT Delhi, the e-commerce boom was at its peak. I joined Snapdeal and gained insight into how it works. For my next venture, I joined the founding team of Nykaa which deepened my understanding on the ins and outs of product management and expansion. My mother was the inspiration for me to start my venture because I had witnessed her train women to start small enterprises. She was my role model when I was younger, and I was always eager to start something of my own. I loved books on start-ups and watched Shark Tank, which motivated me further. In 2018, I realised that the time is just right to jump into entrepreneurship, and along with Gaurav Pushkar, I founded DaMENSCH. We wanted to redefine men’s essential wear in India as it is a segment that is often ignored. We innovated in the apparel sector, and set out to expand our brand across different channels and also geographies. With the best-in-class fabric, we ensure that the products adhere to slow fashion. I am a vegan and a firm believer in environmental sustainability; thus our products always score high on sustainability. We now sell men’s innerwear, outerwear such as boxers, shorts, trunks, vests, T-shirts, joggers, sweatshirts, hoodies etc.
In a market saturated with fashion brands, what sets DaMENSCH apart? What unique value or experience do you aim to provide to your customers?
Our brand is an indigenous player that creates comfortable products for modern men, catering majorly to the slow fashion demands. DaMENSCH is the fastest innerwear-first brand to cross the ₹100-crore mark and open multiple exclusive retail stores across India. We encourage consumers to stock their closets with garments that can be worn several times, promoting a sense of sustainable apparel. Thus, we are showing the path to our consumers to come out of the trap of fast fashion, and understand the essence of slow fashion as it impacts our wallet, our lifestyle and also ultimately the environment and the planet.
How does DaMENSCH’s earth-centric approach integrate sustainability into your product lifecycle?
We are producing comfortable products for the modern man, and we are quite proud of our one million unique consumers. We deliver ‘slow and sustainable’ fashion in the form of clothing that may be used repeatedly and in various ways. A DaMENSCH product is usually the most often used one in a consumer’s wardrobe because we offer the greatest quality essential wear at mass premium to premium price points. Our product portfolio comprises of innerwear, loungewear, topwear, and bottomwear. With our headquarters in Bengaluru (India), we have established ourselves as the go-to brand for consumers seeking ‘Fashion That Thinks’.
What makes the fabric used in the Constant collection unique, and how do you ensure its longevity?
A lot of thinking goes into ensuring that the products are unique. For instance, our collection of Constant T-shirts is made of interlocked fabric that is used in baby clothing. It is super soft and shiny. This Supima cotton inherently has better colour retention and with high IQ dyes, one can be assured that the fabric will not fade away, thus having a longer life. It is more breathable, thus becoming a wearer’s favourite during the hot and humid season.
Can you elaborate on the innovative technologies like bacteriostatic function, deo-soft freshness, and MicroModal fabric used in your products?
The Modal fabric is a lot more sustainable and softer. The Deosoft fabric made from deo cell and modal is engineered to kill odour and ammonia, which ultimately makes the fabric a better choice.
Do innovations like the Deo-Soft Inners and Neo-Skin Bamboo Vests signify a shift away from conventional innerwear designs?
Vests made with anti -microbial bamboo fabric are three times softer than cotton and they absorb moisture easily. It is especially made for Indian summers which is followed by the monsoon where humidity can wreak havoc. Their biggest advantage is that they are anti-odour, which solves another major problem. This innovation in fabric along with perfect sizes make DaMENSCH casual everyday innerwear a must have in every wardrobe.
How does your design philosophy balance functionality, comfort, and style in men’s fashion?
Our products made with finest quality fabric are made with colours that do not get washed away easily. Thus, they can be worn again and again. They are functional yet comfortable. For those who love to experiment with colours and prints, shorts and trunks are available in interesting prints that help men to be happy from within even during a boring day.
With your recent expansion to 25 stores in India, what are DaMENSCH’s future plans for growth both domestically and internationally?
As India’s fastest growing D2C essential menswear brand, DaMENSCH opened its 25th outlet in the national capital within a span of one year. In fact, DaMENSCH is the only innerwear brand to have so many offline stores in the country. We have a strong presence in the domestic sectors in cities like Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. We intend to expand to about 100 locations with our outerwear and also covering 400 general trade outlets. As for online, we intend to aim for a 100 per cent growth.
Has digital marketing transformed the way fashion brands reach and engage with their audiences?
Digital marketing has influenced businesses across verticals, and provided avenues to establish a stronger rapport with the consumers. Besides, it is also an effective tool to engage and influence the consumers towards facets that usually go unnoticed. For instance, as a menswear brand, we encouraged all men to embrace their emotional and vulnerable sides, in a non-preachy manner. In fact, our most recent campaign #SupportDaMEN focuses on a very critical aspect related to men, i.e. their mental health, which is rarely talked about. We understand that our consumers think from their hearts, and they must be made aware about issues that often go unnoticed or unaddressed with respect to men. Such digital campaigns convey the ethos and philosophy of our brand, and establish a formidable bond with the consumers.
With the rise of e-commerce, how do you perceive the changing dynamics between brick-and-mortar stores and online retail in the fashion industry?
Even though DaMENSCH has always relied on a multi-channel strategy, offline remains a priority channel for us. Our physical locations are unique in the sense that they are completely consistent with the experience our customers receive when they shop online. Furthermore, we have filled our stores with all categories and goods so that customers may touch and feel their premium prowess before making a purchase decision. By the end of FY24, we hope to have at least 100 stores.
Interviewer: Shilpi Panjabi
Published on: 26/12/2023
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
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