October 2019 Edition Apparel October 2019 issue | Page 75

BRAND PROFILE
me to put forth the idea of founding a workwear
label to Bharat; and after a few discussions,
we decided to take a leap of faith and put
everything into the idea that we now call QUA.
The label’s name is inspired by the Arabic word
qua, which means power. It sits in sync with the
brand philosophy as we aim to represent Indian
women who are independent, well-travelled, and
ambitious. We envision QUA to be the first brand
that women think of when they think of building
their professional wardrobes.”
ESTABLISHING THE LABEL
Rupanshi had been inclined towards fashion
and style from quite a young age, and when the
siblings decided to go ahead with the idea of
starting QUA, she dedicated a year to learning
the nitty-gritties of the trade by reading up on
women’s workwear, the garment industry, and
apparel imports, as well as speaking with industry
insiders. “The learning we have acquired since
starting up QUA—be it about fabrics or designing,
manufacturing or even the importing process—
has been tremendous. Even though the two of
us are engineers by education and do not have
any formal designing degree, we have always
had an entrepreneurial spirit as our father was an
accomplished businessman.”
In the process of establishing their label, Bharat
and Rupanshi conducted focus-group surveys,
wherein they discussed workwear-related issues
with numerous women. Further, Rupanshi tried
workwear from multiple brands to understand
the availability and offerings in the segment,
and ways in which they could distinguish
themselves. “Through these surveys, we found
that most women were not satisfied with the
kind of workwear the current Indian market was
offering. They mentioned that they had to either
shop overseas for good-quality workwear or
compromise on quality completely. I personally
felt that with so many women spearheading
various sectors in the corporate realm today,
BHARAT AND RUPANSHI
CONDUCTED FOCUS-
GROUP SURVEYS,
WHEREIN THEY
DISCUSSED WORKWEAR-
RELATED ISSUES WITH
NUMEROUS WOMEN.
there is no time like now to introduce them
to a quality-oriented workwear label, as the
requirement for a professional wardrobe is only
going to increase.”
She adds that reports by various organisations
state that the percentage of women in salaried
jobs in urban areas has increased from 35.6 per
cent in 2004 to 52.1 per cent in 2017; that the
online Indian fashion market is poised to reach
US$14 billion by 2020, and that in it, the share of
women’s Western-wear will be 18 per cent.
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
QUA’s design philosophy is to craft clothes that a
working woman would like to wear in styles that
are classic and timeless; those that can be mixed
and matched and played up by accessories.
The brand’s focus is primarily on three aspects:
function, fabric, and fit. The first is to ensure
that the garments are as comfortable—for long
work days and daily commute—as they are
good-looking; that they have functional elements
such as pockets for storing essentials, buttons
at the right places, colours that are not flashy,
and appropriately placed necklines. The second
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