“Jewellery,
accessories, bags, shoes, dresses, swimwear, resort wear, men’s wear… we are putting everything in
one destination store,” emphasises Pallav Ojha, the Chief Innovative Officer
and Co- Founder of COMO – Designers Collective. The plans have been drawn up
and around 50-100 of the best designers will be coming to Goan shores this
festive season, to create some beautifully crafted, affordable designer wear.
The first COMO store
opens in Campal, Panjim next month and will specialise in western evening and
resort wear at the most affordable price point. “The flagship store is opening
in Goa as I always wanted to come back home. My whole family is here and people
who are associated with and are in Goa are excited. You have to make Goa the style
destination,” says Pallav, who has co-founded the collective with Amit Bakhale.
He further adds, “We
wanted to do it in one month’s time but since the Indian Beach Fashion Week
takes up so much of bandwidth, we thought of completing it and moving to COMO.
The idea is that we are not doing bridal and Indian wear. We believe there is a
huge scope for western wear, swimwear and resort wear, which is designer wear.
We realised that there is a strong need for designer wear which is affordable.
We have briefed our designers to work on a collection that can be retailed at a
price point of Rs 3,000 to Rs 15,000, without compromising on the design
ideologies and quality”
Speaking about the
collection, Pallav identifies the challenges that went into getting designers
on board for the store. “Collection and price point were major factors for us
as we didn’t want the price point to go beyond Rs 10,000. that was challenging.
Designers feel that their product has to be valued at a particular price but we
also feel it is high time that Indian designers go into selling to a larger
audience than just a selective audience. We discussed with them a price point
from Rs 3,000 to Rs 15,000 and other challenges. But this is the only platform
for them to scale to this limit. They usually sell though a small boutique of
their own or certain multi-designer stores, where they could do only Indian
wear. We are not limited to one store; we will have ten stores. We start with
Goa and move to other cities.”
Pallav and Amit had a
clear focus when it comes to fashion in Goa. “My focus is to cater to Goans.
Goa has five star resorts and tourists will come in and shop, but my main
objective of COMO is for Goans. They may not buy swimwear or resort wear
because they are already here. The biggest sell in Goa will be party, evening,
lounge and cocktail wear. The designers showcasing at IBFW always said we want
more business from a commercial angle. Though we host buyers, we feel that if
buyers don’t buy, COMO will buy your designs,” says Pallav, who is originally
from Assnora.
The brand has looped
in over 50 designers, including Goan designers. “Riddhi and Siddhi Mapxenkar
have always been there with us and they are loved by everyone in Goa. They will
not be doing the Indian line but only western wear. We want Goan designers
keeping in mind the infrastructure that you need to support the store. If we
say we want 50 pieces in 15 days, there should be a quick turnaround. A lot of
Indian designers in the past have lost to the international stores like
Harrods. These grand stores came to India and saw the creativity with Indian
designers but they could not cater to the stores,” he explains.
Keeping up with the
latest trends, fashionistas will not be disappointed when they walk into COMO.
“We will have a product cycle which will be refreshed in 15 days so every time
you walk in, you will be greeted by freshness,” promises Pallav.
For
online shoppers, COMO online will be coming up by February or March next year.