Couple bets on making Indian men fashionable

Hyderabad: Sometimes, success stories may not be filled in with sweat and toil. It may read like fairy tales, albeit splintered with some hiccups for awhile. The story of Chandrika and Raamz, two young designers, is also somewhat similar, as it narrates how an ordinary guy Raamz, without a professional training in fashion, went on to decide  on the fashion of celebrities and in the process met his better half also.

“Though I am a management graduate, I was always interested in fashion. After completing my studies, I set up a design studio at Kundan Bagh in 2007, which was my foray into business. Despite coming from a management background, running a business was an entirely different ball game. While the studio has picked up gradually, I always wished to do something big and I was badly in need for a big break,” said Raamz, the co-founder of Raamz & Chandrika, one of the first designer couples in Hyderabad to specialize in men’s wear.

And Raamz got his long-waited break unexpectedly in a busy shopping mall — in most success stories, the success or failure is determined by the entrepreneur’s ability to utilise the one opportunity that lady luck provides.

“While I was shopping in the mall, I noticed a person, who appears like director Sukumar. I went  to him and realised to my shock that I was not wrong. He was the director. I introduced myself and about my studio to him and he asked me to come to his office,” recalled Raamz, sitting beside his business and life partner Chandrika.

More often than not, Lady Luck doesn’t roll out red carpet for success and people would require some perseverance to get things their way. “Fashion world is a tough place to work as the competition is cutthroat. Hundreds of designers would long for getting a break in movies. After waiting for sometime due to Mr Sukumar’s busy schedule, I managed to meet him. As Lady Luck smiled at me, he liked my designs and roped me in for his film.”

In the meantime, Chandrika joined Raamz in business and later went to become the life partner. Chandrika had graduated from NIFT Chennai in 2012. Thereafter, the duo set up a new brand Raamz & Chandrika, which they want to take national.

While Raamz works on developing silhouettes, Chandrika’s interest lies in fabrics, embellishments and logistics. The duo have designed dresses for Tollywood stars like Rana Dagubati, Akhil Akkineni, Nithin, and Jagapati Babu.
“As our long term aim is to join national fashion world, we debuted at the Lakme Fashion Week in February 2017. For the Geo Metron collection, we created fabrics using handlooms and no power looms and got great appreciation,” said Chandrika.

Going forward, the fashion designers want to set up their exclusive outlets in different cities on franchisee model, beginning with Vijayawada and Bengaluru. “We know that we are venturing into a space that boasts of big names. And we also don’t have enough funds to take our brand nationally. So we have decided to take baby steps towards our goal,” he explained.

Experts feel that luxury segment for men has just begun in India and this segment would evolve in the next five years. And Raamz and Chandrika feel they are at the right place at the right time.