Dhruv Toshniwal & Udit Toshniwal
Founders The Pant Project
Made-to-order pants
Launched a year ago, Fashions Pvt Limited conceptualises and sees D2C brands through their lifecycle. Currently, it has two brands under its umbrella -- Aanswr.com, which is a curated marketplace and pantproject.com - a made-to-order brand for men's pants. In an interview with Paulami Chatterjee, the founders speak about the inspiration behind the Pant Project brand, the various branding strategies they are implementing and their long-term sustainability goals.
What led to the founding of the brand?
We realised that men found it very hard to find well-fitted pants in India. There are very few affordable international brands that they can shop for; besides, retail pants don't always fit well and cannot be customised. The other alternative is tailored pants that are expensive and the shopping process can be long and tedious. Pant Project aims at filling this gap. Pant Project provides custom-made pants for men in premium fabrics at high street prices. The fabrics available include polyviscose, wool blend, cotton, knits and linen. We offer 3 fits that one can choose from -- slim, tapered and relaxed. You can select your waist size and length, and there is provision for in-between sizes as well. From casual, semi-formal to formal we have you covered.
Who are your target audience?
Pant Project has pants in all fabrics for all men in the 20-60 years age group. At Pant Project you can find dress pants, semi-formal, smart casuals, chinos etc made to order. Every man that wears pants is our target audience.
What is your retail and online presence like?
Initially, the plan was to launch the brand as a brick-and-mortar store at Kalaghoda in Mumbai. However, with the pandemic we had to remodel our sales channel and we are now a digital first e-tailor. Currently, we sell our products through our own website.
What is the USP of your products?
We have quite a few USPs -- premium quality fabrics; stretch in fabrics; made-to-order; machine-washable and curated. We provide free shipping and free alterations and have a 24/7 stylist who can guide you through the shopping process.
Which are your major markets?
Currently, we are selling all over India. The plan is to expand internationally.
What is your market positioning?
Affordable luxury is how Pant Project positions itself.
What are the steps towards brand building?
We currently have a brand presence on Instagram and Facebook. We plan on launching a YouTube channel as well. We have a very comprehensive marketing team. From strategising, to copywriting, performance marketing on Facebook, Instagram, Google ads, SEO, email marketing, etc everything is done in-house.
What are the price points for each product category? Which category sells the most?
The poly viscose, cotton and knit pants retail at ₹2600 including whatever customisation is selected. Woollen blends and linens sell in range from ₹3500 to 4200 and power stretch knitted pants at ₹2600. The category that sells the most is the power stretch knit pants.
Which other product categories do you plan to move into the future?
We want to be a one-stop-shop for all things menswear--a solution to a man's wardrobe. Our next launch is going to be made-to-order shorts, and thereafter expand to made-to-order shirts and jackets, thus offering customers a made-to-order suiting solution.
Where are your manufacturing facilities based at?
Our fabrics and garments are manufactured in-house in our factories in Rajasthan and Daman.
How is the supply chain expected to change with increasing digitisation, AI, VR etc? And how is this going to impact the business of sourcing?
With rapid digitisation, we can leverage AI to help customers take more accurate measurements of themselves. AI can help suggest pant options to customers based on their past purchases, choice, body type and style. In the future, we can also use AI to have virtual changing rooms for customers to try on pants virtually to see how they look before placing an order. We are also looking at automating our pattern making and cutting process.
Sustainability and circularity are the buzzwords today. How do you incorporate them into your product lines?
Since we are a made-to-order brand, all our products are made once we receive an order. Hence we are never left with any stock/wastage. Since all our fabrics are of very high quality, our pants are very durable and will last you long. All the polyester we use in our pants is recycled polyester. We are introducing a line of sustainable fabrics as well such as hemp and rose fabrics. We don't use plastic in any of our packaging.
What are your long-term sustainability goals?
We want to have a 0-waste policy. We want to leverage technology to predict shopping patterns and trends and quantities so we can stock only what's needed. We plan on introducing sustainable fabrics as a category. We are also looking into upcycling people's old pair of pants. (PC)
This article was first published in the February 2021 edition of the print magazine.
Published on: 05/04/2021
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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