The entrepreneurial streak is what led Pritika Mehta and Simarpreet Singh to start a brand of socks for the discerning millennial male
Her website calls it a ‘Eureka moment’. The name speaks for itself, its inspirations coming from the city of Soho. I was researching the origins, to realise there is one in New York as well. Pritika’s business bit her while she was studying and working in the United States. She gave up her 9-8pm job, came back to home Chandigarh and started the brand Socksoho. A millennial man’s desire to dress in smart socks and we have an online brand that sells well on the e-commerce platform, www.socksoho.com.
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. Men and fashion has been rather underrated, till some time ago, when men started to experiment with their looks.
Competition and Promotion
Would you expect a data scientist to quit her passion for coding and then step into the arena of business. “I was itching to see what we could do with fashion in India. It is an underrated topic when it comes to men. In the West, men show off their desire for colour as much as women do. ‘So why are not doing it in India?’ was a question I started to ask myself. In 2019, the idea was met with robust R&D of having experimented with 500 different variety of socks, to see which one fit their idea of perfection. The biggest challenge in India is to maintain the quality and look of the product, owing to the fact that by virtue of its basic use, socks are exposed to extreme wear and tear. Water and washing techniques were also factored in.
“We finally came on a perfect fit, made by using premium combed cotton and Scottish Lisle yarns, that are good to go for 500 washes. Since then, there has been no looking back,” shared Pritika over our phone call conversation. The current market is fragmented. We are here to stay for a long time; competition will come but then quality is what will let the customer decide who they want to stick with.
We talked and agreed that the “Indian customer is more price-conscious.” The pricing has been done keeping this in mind, without comprise on quality. Socksoho has already found buyers in Bollywood. Vicky Kaushal is one of them. Even the legendary U2 Rockstars BONO & The EDGE were recently spotted checking out Steve Jobs Edition by SockSoho.
Millennial Men In India
The Indian man is far more conscious about his looks than our previous generations. “They have more disposable income. Additionally, access to fashion has become easy, due to e-commerce. This a winning combination for men in the age group of 20-40years, to experiment with their looks,” shares Pritika. Her discerning customers are in this age bracket. Even the 50 some are experimenting with quirky colours and cartoon characters on their socks.
Men are not scared of experimenting with colour. In fact, colourful socks are being considered a powerful statement in boardroom meetings too. Read more…..
Going ahead….
SockSoho.com does not intend to open up stand-alone stores. Pritika calls it a ‘direct-to-customer brand. The online website and then the referral programme works well for them as of now. “We dont think we will shift to standalone stores or kiosks in the future too.” But there are plans to expand the brand and offer more fashionable options to both men and women in India. With an e-commerce model, the world is definitely her stage, and international business cannot be ruled out.
Orange Is Life 