Premium apparel and fashion brand Off Duty has raised Rs 4 crore over multiple tranches from Velocity.in, India’s largest revenue-based financier.
Off Duty was founded in 2019 by Madina S Khan and Shahbaaz Khan with a mission to cater to street-style fashion trends for teens and early adults.
Off Duty’s core products include everyday wear, comfortable denim, pants & trousers, along with the newly launched men’s denim. The brand claims it recorded a whopping revenue of Rs 4.5 crore in the first year and is set to close the current financial year at around Rs 15 crore.
Off Duty, which sells its products across e-commerce platforms and its own website, said it is recognized for its global designs at affordable prices.
According to the founders, they strive to find the perfect balance between everyday comfort and hi-street fashion in young adults. The brand has established a strong foothold in the market, offering its customers high-quality fashion products.
Shahbaaz Khan, Co-founder of Off Duty, said, “We began our fashion journey in the year 2013 with Madish and saw an opportunity in the digital space and took it. We noticed a gap between the fashion trends in India and the international markets and sought to bridge that gap by providing fashion-forward products that people in India could buy.”
Initially focused on shoes and bags, the founders discovered trendy denims while traveling abroad. They began by importing a few designs from China, which quickly sold out after being launched. This led to organic growth on various social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. By 2016, they had begun producing their own designs locally, and in 2017, they secured investor funding.
Off Duty was launched by the company in 2019 following the end of their previous venture. Despite the challenges brought about by the COVID pandemic, the company remained successful in terms of sales. In 2021, they expanded their product line by introducing tops and tunics, in addition to their existing denim and skincare line, Nicci.
Shahbaaz further added, “Off Duty’s success lies in its commitment to scaling with profitability. We keep our costs minimum and make changes to even the smallest expenses on a weekly or monthly basis. We have a small but efficient team who give their all to the company, and we did not lay off anyone during the pandemic. We refrain from discounted selling as we believe it does not provide value to customers. We want our clients to buy our products based on its quality and design, and not just indulge in impulse buying. We want our denim line to be a segment where people come back for different designs, and we have customers who bought from us three years ago and still trust our products.”
Commenting on the investment, Abhiroop Medhekar, CEO of Velocity, said, “We are excited to be partnering with Off Duty. The age group of 15-24 years old makes up a significant 18% of the Indian population. Many young adults in India are interested in fashion, and want to keep up with the latest trends. This can be seen through the growing popularity of young fashion influencers on social media platforms. We are confident in the founders and their approach to catering hi-street global fashion at affordable rates. We expect that this funding will pave the way for Off Duty to reach new heights and inspire emerging D2C apparel brands with their growth.
Source @Indianstartupnews
