Apparel March 2020 Apparel March 2020 issue | Page 65

BRAND PROFILE
THE BEGINNINGS
Nemjibhai Shah, a businessman based in
Vadodara began the company in the 1980s from
a store that retailed ready-made garments in the
old city. His son Viral Shah, who was studying
to become an engineer, found the textile and
apparel business more interesting than his
chosen career. Therefore, upon completing his
course in 1991, he began assisting his father at
the store to learn the tricks of the trade.
Unfortunately, unrest in the old city forced them
to shut shop. This prompted the father-son duo
to rent another store in 1993, on Sarabhai Road –
a newer area of the city, where there were hardly
any retail outlets at the time. They named their
store Seasons.
A careful observation of the consumer
preference on Sarabhai Road helped Viral upscale
his ready-made garments to embroidered and
printed ones. “Since the venture was not large
enough to have garments produced outside
the city, it took time to get them stitched as per
specification in Vadodara. The initiative picked up
after a long struggle,” says Viral. During this time,
Viral interacted with friends and textile designers.
He also began working with artisans and garment
designers to learn more about textile techniques
and pattern making. In fact, he enjoyed visiting
garment stores that stocked traditional Indian
textiles with a simple stitch and style.
This conscious learning of the look and feel of
Indian textiles helped Viral further his knowledge
and involvement in the field. It also inspired him
and his wife Meeta, to travel to various textile
centres, procure goods and meet with artisans to
help give a surface design to them. His goal was
to design simple yet stylish garments for Seasons
and expand the horizons of hand-made textiles
and garments.
“SINCE WE WERE NOT LARGE
ENOUGH TO HAVE GARMENTS
PRODUCED OUTSIDE THE
CITY, IT TOOK TIME TO GET
THEM STITCHED AS PER
SPECIFICATION IN VADODARA”
FROM SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP TO
PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANY
As their business grew, the family decided to
change the venture from sole proprietorship
to private limited. Thus, Seasons Apparels
Private Limited was born on July 10, 2006.
The company’s work, portfolio and presence
have been expanding ever since. The past year
has witnessed the joining of Tanvi and Manan,
children of Meeta and Viral. Tanvi has been
working on the company’s e-commerce website,
which was launched on January 30, 2020. She
also handles communications and merchandising
for the company. Manan handles accounts,
finance and operations.
BAGH: OF INDIAN TEXTILES AND
TEXTILE TECHNIQUES
Seasons recently decided to retail its garments
under the brand name Bagh. The focus of Bagh
is to offer garments that showcase the look
and feel of fabrics made from natural fibres and
handmade fabrics with hand-worked surface
design. “In keeping with the approach of working
with natural fabrics and hand-crafted techniques,
Bagh showcases the best of Indian textiles
and printing crafts. The brand’s philosophy is
to combine local printing heritage with natural
fabrics to create a style that is purely indigenous
APPAREL
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March 2020
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