“I STILL COME ACROSS WOMEN STUCK WEARING A BAD BRA. I WANT TO TELL THEM, I CAN HELP YOU”
200 PER CENT GROWTH IN REVENUE FROM 2014 TILL NOW
After a ten year-long advertising career, it was a bra-fitting session in New York that changed Arpita Ganesh’s life forever. From a company that retailed international brands, she went on to establish Buttercups, a lingerie brand with elegant bras for working women. “We opened a store in Hyderabad initially and lost a lot of money. With bras from international brands costing `5,000 each, it wasn’t very affordable. However, we realised women really appreciated the bra-fitting part,” says Ganesh. Taking a cue from this, she wanted to take the entire bra-fitting experience online and launched an app, A Bra That Fits (ABTF) which saw as many as 40,000 downloads. “The app required you to measure yourself and answer a series of questions that would give your bra size in different brands. But, there were still gaps,” she says. It was then in 2014 that Buttercups, a dedicated brand to fill these gaps was launched. Finding funding for an Indian lingerie brand wasn’t easy and she took the crowd funding route where 100 women first put in their money. “Most lingerie brands in India cater to 25 to 35 age group and still focus on ‘sexy’. We want to be a brand that can hold its own in the international market and be recognised for elegance, aesthetics and above all, the fit.” Though she admits the fashion industry in the country has come a long way with women being conscious of what they wear, the lingerie market she says will still take time. “For one, we still don’t have any courses that deal in lingerie fashion. It is very difficult to find Indian lingerie designers,” she says.