Established in 2020, the brand was serving over 1000 customers monthly within a year
Bengaluru: Sol’eart is the amalgamation of bead art and quirky fashion, influenced by pop art that mirrors the contemporary lifestyle of today. A footwear & accessories brand born during Covid, the brand has touched the right chord with every soul they have touched through its creation.
Creating to inspire
The global footwear industry is highly competitive and fragmented with a few major players and an endless list of smaller players, which includes designers, marketers, manufacturers, retailers, etc. Again it’s divided into two sectors athletic and non-athletic. “We belong to the non-athletic, designer specialty category. When we started building on our concept during the pandemic; there were only a couple of players in our category in India, What we noticed, is in the last couple of months a lot of small-time players started exploring this category. The audience is always looking for innovation and uniqueness in the product, hence how innovative and how unique your product makes it stand out,” Nital Ganatra, founder, Sol’eart Fashion explains.
Keeping in mind the need gap in the market, Nital began to innovate with art through her creation to appeal to every woman who wants to stand out in their footwear. She adds, “Our aim, as a brand was to create footwear with stories, create footwear that one can wear with any attire, can dress up or dress down, wear to an evening soiree or even to go for a coffee with a friend or attend a meeting. When one wears our footwear she experiences art, comfort, and her personality on her foot. Our intention was to use our Indian artisans to create designs that stand out, we wanted to create art rather than just creating footwear that is available everywhere”.
Balancing art with the right techniques
70% of the material used in Sol’eart’s footwear or packaging is easily recyclable. They are proud of the handcrafted, cruelty-free, vegan backbone that the team is able to build at the core of the brand.
Her knack for footwear juxtaposed with her education in fashion and design, helped her lay the foundation of her brand. The brand is growing bit by bit, driven by Nital’s passion and penchant for creating something unique. However, she says that what is driving the brand to grow is the motivation that she gets from customer reviews and the widespread appreciation she garners for her product from all across. “Even though we have just about started, along with appreciation we have had to face multiple hurdles. For us it had to be, being identified as a brand known for its individuality rather than being like some of our peer-established brands. From finding the perfect product to being a manufacturer, to countering plagiarism, to educating clients about our products, this has been an eventful journey so far.
But, it has all just started and as they say, we learn every day as we fail or progress.” she muses. “What makes us stand out is we are able to offer personalisation in making footwear. We have been able to have direct customers who get in touch with us to customise sizes, heels, etc. We even offer wedding customisation for the bride/groom team,” she adds.
Future positive
Understanding consumer needs and trend patterns is extremely important. So, Nital and her team believe in building longevity with timeless and quality designs. By being direct to the customer/consumer in every approach, the brand wants to offer a holistic and authentic experience to its customer base. The brand takes every aspect of customer-facing processes seriously and has a robust back-end team and relies on logistic partners like Delhivery and Shiprocket to tackle logistics and shipping, efficiently.
Further, Nital when talking about the brand’s future plans says, “Our plans are to spread our wings internationally as well. We have already put into play our expansion plans by being a part of international market weeks. We are positive that by early next year, we will mark our international presence as a brand”.
Brownie Points
- Sol’eart started with a small idea and had 30 customers in the first month of its journey. Today, in a year’s time the brand is serving over 1000 customers every month.
- The brand has made its presence felt in designer specialty stores online. As well as managed to successfully launch their website, counting rapid sales online as well.
- Within a year of its existence, the brand has spread its wings to international markets as well.
- The brand takes pride in its packaging measures too, which is also 100% sustainable.
First appeared in The India D2C Yearbook 2022
