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Already a premium name in South India, to the Bangalore-based husband and wife team, fashion is about more than just a one-person
approach to sales and marketing - which is the way it works with the rest of pack.Their mission statement even reflects that idea. "This is as much a corporate business like any other". Nirmal is prone to
say - and this is a man who practices what he preaches, as his own organisation bears out. Sarita and Nirmal Mandoth have been designing clothes for export and domestic markets for the last eight years. While Sarita is
a trained designer, Nirmal has no training other than an instinctive knowledge of what works well on the human body. "India's most famous and successful painter M.F.Husain - and what training did he have? Like him,
I may not be a trained designer but my creations can hold their own against anyone else's designs," he says confidently. "I know my work, and my clothes are proof enough of the knowledge that goes into each
creation." In these ten years, the duo have put up two factories from scratch, take on 160 people and reached current daily turnover of 50 to 100 garments.At the same time, they have also had many successful
exhibitions all over the world - in the USA, Dubai, Sri Lanka, to name a few places. Their most recent accomplishment was the mega finale to the India Independence Celebrations in the UAE last August. As to expansion,
they are now looking at catering to requests from clients in Delhi, Mumbai and other metro cities to make their clothes available closer to home: before new millenium, they will be selling in outlets across the country.
Already their clients include such prominent Indian families as Bangads, the Rathis and the Bhogilals.
The mandoth's line include the following three labels: Nirmal Mandoth: The newly launched menswear collection
which emphasises quality and well-tailored silbouettes.
The highlights of this line are the unusual collars, jacket shirts and the indian front, regular classic bundhagalas, kurta sherwanis
and the unusual Mughal-inspired Multhans.
Sarita Mandoth:
The signature line for women has a predominant Indo-west feel to it, with each garment being exclusively designed to suit the personality of Sarita's clients. The ladies pret line, this consists of well-cut classic lines at affordable prices.
Mandoth Pret:
The big secret, this is Nirmal's new line - which will be launched in a couple of months. Nirmal and Sarita Mandoth currently retail through their own stores - one in Bangalore and two in Chennai. They also retail at other hi-profile stores in the South.
Sarita Mandoth wins Entrepreneur award: One more feather in this enterprising lady's cap has been the "Young Entrepreneur Award", given by the Association of Women Entrepreneures
of Karnataka (AWAKE) in March this year. Considering the fact that the fashion fraternity still hasn't received a full fledged industry status, it is an acknowledgement to the organised approach that Sarita and Nirmal
have taken to treat their business as any other in the corporate sector. This is also the first award in recent time of its kind to have gone to a fashion designer |
