Today, we are in conversation with Shreya and Yash Dabriwal who happen to be the founder of Around Always, a brand based in the city of joy, Kolkata.

Let us know about their brand from the duo itself.

1. Name of the founders. A brief introduction about them.

Around Always is a culmination of the vision of Shreya Goenka embodying two ideas – Indian local craft preservation and customer satisfaction through personalized designer products. 

Shreya is a Gold Medallist Textile Designer from NIFT, Batch of 2015. In her childhood, she experienced the local crafts and designs from West Bengal – Kantha sarees, Terracotta toys, Dokra installations, etc.

- as is true for most Indian children for their local crafts. This initial attraction took her to NIFT, where she gained formal knowledge about the global handicrafts industry and learned process-based designing skills.

Shreya is ably supported by Yash Dabriwal. Yash is a rank-holder MBA from IIM Calcutta, a gold medallist Chartered Accountant, and a Company Secretary. He adds value drawing from his ~ three years of experience at McKinsey and his current stint at a leading fintech where he is the Head of Growth.

2. How did you guys decide to launch your brand, and what was the experience like?

People usually associate occasion footwear for women to be uncomfortable, disturbing, painful, and worn for short-term durations. Having suffered from back problems for a large portion of my college years and have had to attend a huge number of family functions every year, it only seemed like a fair problem for me to solve. 

I borrowed immensely from my stint at NIFT. I brought to the fore my ability to create new products by applying fundamental concepts. As my first step, I researched shoe construction and learned about the basics from the already available literature. I ideated on the end product – a combination of some great designs and comfort. Designs came relatively easy since we all have a closet full of heavy occasion wear. Having zeroed in on the first few shoe styles and patterns, I went about my sourcing for materials and skilled craftsmen. I created a few working prototypes – each markedly different from the other, and all of them different from pieces available in the market. With this began innumerable iterations and consumer testing to get the product consumers to love today. 

We have come a long way from there. Now we solve for accurate sizing, width of feet, bespoke shoes to match an attire – all with the purpose to handcraft every bride's shoe and make her special day more memorable. 

3. Initial struggles or any challenges that you guys had to go through.

We were creating something very unique in the shoe industry. Hence, finding suitable talent with the same drive as ours was difficult. The people we encountered along the way had a sharp inclination towards either apparel or towards creating products that sold in volumes. We instead wanted to give a personalized experience to people while ensuring product quality and after-sale service. Basically, we wanted to operate under the idea of delighting a person rather than just making a sale. That mindset was and is a hard find.

4. I know that craftsmanship is very important to you. What else is at the heart of your creation?

While the quality of the end product is definitely a focus, what designs we make daily is just as important. We try and incorporate various embroidery techniques and styles from all of India to bring a richer and more local experience for all customers. The idea is to give them a feel of their culture while being located far away from them or even when they are away from their homes. Our shoe and accessories range sets well with the full spectrum of attires - a Kanjivaram saree, a pair of denims, a traditional Banarsi, and even a designer lehenga.

5. How do you guys stay inspired to come up with new designs?

I am always on the hunt for new design inspirations. One of the common traits in our designs is that we draw inspiration from objects and shapes around us and infuse them in the designs that we create. Aside from this, the more recent trends in the garments industry do direct our thinking in completing the look for a customer. We fuse these inspirations with the personality of our customers or the feelings of the bride. Where we have the more adventurous/extrovert customers, we go for edgy colours like dark green, blues, or brighter yellows; for the ones with subtler tastes, we suggest versatile options in muted pastels for prolonged use say even after their wedding. For the quirkier ones, we sometimes mark the couple's initials on the shoe itself – more like a forever mark of their most important day.

6. 3 USP that gives your brand a competitive edge over your competitors?

We truly understand through our experience what a bride needs for her wedding functions – a great design coupled with extreme comfort. We do just that and nothing more.
We employ a custom sizing technique to provide a shoe fit that is unique to the person – cause comfort starts with accurate sizing. Ditching the standard shoe size is the first step in the process. 
We then create a design that fits the bride's description of a Cinderella shoe. A bespoke design to match her attire makes her a clear showstopper, head to toe.
Thereafter, we accentuate the comfort and looks with lightweight and durable materials selectively sourced to facilitate long-duration wear during functions without those new shoe cuts or bandaged ankles.

7. What do you guys think is the most difficult part of managing your business?

The customizations we offer also entail the biggest difficulties around our business. Since each shoe is made to a unique customer sizing, colour, pattern, and design, it is a herculean task at the least to ensure we deliver everything just as promised. 

We have to make our operations and supply chain agile enough to carter to the demands and customizations of the user.  We try to control each aspect of the value chain instead of outsourcing. From procurement to manufacturing and after sales service to ensure that the customer gets a great and standard experience throughout their journey.

That said, we have set up a robust quality check and after-sales service in place where we go as far as sharing images of their unique pieces to customers just before dispatch. If at all we still have any untoward instances (less than 5% orders) we do offer quick replacement or credits within seven days.

8. How did you guys come up with embroidery and making an amalgamation of it with footwear and other accessories?

When trying to team my occasion wear dresses with footwear, I always found myself at a loss to find the right match. I almost had to make do with a couple of pairs that I rotated for all my Indian ethnic wear. This made me realize the market gap for footwear that had an Indian spin to it, and what better than local embroidery that we all adore. Naturally, with the most important accessory solved for, we discovered the need for a true match with more people becoming conscious about styling themselves for each occasion separately. We started complementing our footwear with other accessories such as earrings, potlis, belts, and neckpieces. We are increasingly building a brand that customers can truly say is 'Around Always.'

9. What are the different types of footwear that people can choose from and also do write a few lines about the best selling designs and why do you think that it became popular among the masses?

There are multiple patterns and designs that customers can choose from. Our specialty lies in mixing and trying different designs on different patterns. So, a bride can select any design from our collection and deploy it on any pattern which she finds comfortable. 

Typically, wedges are our most-selling pattern since it provides the highest comfort and grip. Also, our wedges are significantly lighter and more comfortable than the designer wedges found on the market. We deploy a unique combination of materials in our sole, insole, heels to create a surprisingly lightweight embroidered wedge.

For our most selling designs, we see brides coming with two schools of thought – Versatile pieces and Statement pieces. In versatile occasion wear shoes, we have seen our SHIREEN Wedges do the best. It has just the right combination of a neutral beige base, golden and pearl leaves, and embroidery with customizable colour flowers for highlights. In our statement pieces, NOOREE Wedges have turned out like no other. For the brides looking for a more traditional red and golden combination in a bridal shoe, Nooree offers them the best of all worlds – zardozi work,  intricate golden hand-embroidery on a premium red base fabric.