“It’s natural to want to have the things your peers do, adopting a lifestyle that lets you have the best of all worlds, but it’s a trap. Don’t let any person, thing or even a lifestyle have the power to control you. Learn to break free and be independent.”
An entrepreneur, actor and designer, Masaba Gupta has earned a name for herself for her bold and unique approach to design. Starting her career at just the age of 19, she launched her very first collection at Lakmé Fashion Week shortly after graduating from SNDT Women’s University.
Founder of House of Masaba and Lovechild, Masaba has always seen her two ventures as her own children and always looked forward to the support and backing of big investors; someone who would care for the ventures as she does.
House of Masaba, her very first brand, is known for its sleek designs that are both experimental and vibrant cater to clients looking for wedding wear, resort wear and festive wear.
Creativity and Commerce
A well known designer today, growing up, Masaba did not see herself becoming a designer. She says,
“I wanted to be anything but a designer. I was not willing to enroll into fashion school. It is just because that was the last resort and there was nothing else, I had to do it!”
Life, however, had other plans for her. As someone with a creative flair, her 15 year journey with House of Masaba has taught her that along with creativity or art, one also has to take into account the commerce, for the brand to stay in the market. Moreover, as she asserts, no market analysis can replace the gut-feeling of the founders that tells them what may or may not resonate with the users. With House of Masaba and Lovechind, she is bringing much more than products, these are daily essentials for each women out there.
Masaba is also one of the first few designers who paved the way for digital fashion shows on Instagram. Today, as she revels, most of her sales are made via digital and direct-to-consumer channels like Whatsapp.
Celebrating Feats
For Masaba, the journey has been long and filled with criticisms, but despite all that she knows the right way forward towards success. Till today, she had collaborated with brands internationally. One of her major feat is to get the official liscence to create products for HBO’s Game of Thrones during its premiere in India, that too, as one of the first brands in India.
She has also partnered with brands like Maybelline, Samsung, and Levi’s, continually expanding her brand’s reach and appeal.
With acting running deep in her lood, she is often also seen in television and in shows like Modern Love and Masaba Masaba, a series where one can see her in her element, juggling both her professional and personal life. However, she says,
“Mom and I are playing fictionalized characters of ourselves in ‘Masaba Masaba.’ The series is a slice of our lives, and reliving key moments, even though fictionalized, took me down memory lane.”
Moreover, her dream of securing a big investment panned out with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. (ABFRL) acquiring 51% stake of House of Masaba for for $12.14 million to develop a new-age fashion and lifestyle business.
The plan ahead is to take their sales to Rs 500 crore in the next five years taking their growth from Rs 14 crore in FY21 to Rs 30 crore in the current fiscal year.
