Athleisure fashion trend and blur the boundaries between functional active wear with leading players foraying into this space. Mazeix is the latest entant in this space. In an exclusive conversation Manisha Gupta, Founder and CEO, Mazeix sheds light on her start-up venture.
Kindly shed light on your entrepreneurial journey. What inspires you to launch Mazeix? Also shed light on your business model.
The story started when my dependence on atheleisure wear threw a light on the fact that I bought most of my apparels based on availability and not like. The saturation of selective brands was evident and I wanted to break through that clutter to provide premium style at optimum price. It has truly been a roller coaster ride- from curetting a list of brands, travelling globally to meet them, relationship building, to actually launching them. These 8 months of groundwork were a learning experience for me, where I saw my fair share of ups and downs. We offer a thoughtful collection of international brands. We focus on launching the best brands available in the global markets, to empower women with beautiful ready-to wear silhouettes, enhancing their fitness goals as well as sartorial senses. As astrong supporter of women, we at MAZEIX are committed to carrying primarily female-led brands
Are you bootstraped or have raised any sort of funds. Also, highlight your initial challenges?
The whole business is entirely bootstrapped, where challenges like increasing awareness covered the majority of the ballgame. Here, we gained great traction in increasing consumer knowledge while keeping awareness on the tip.
What is your assessment about Athleisure/activewear fashion market in India. According to you, what are the factors propelling growth in this segment.
Like all the new trends, atheleisure/active wear is catching up in India, looking at the plethora of indigenous brands coming up. People want comfort while being stylish- atheleisure being their best bet. MAZEIX provides cutting-edge clothing for the people who want to look fashionable anywhere – be it gym, movie, lunch, shopping, airport etc.
The factors which contribute to the growth in this segment is the demand for atheleisure and age demographics, as well as western trends. The youth is highly influenced by the western fashion icons and atheleisure is big in markets like USA , UK etc. Be it Kylie Jenner, Gigi Hadid or Kim Kardashian, people want to wear what they are wearing. In fact, a lot of Bollywood stars like Hrithik Roshan, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Tiger Shroff launched their own active wear lines.
Kindly shed light on your current distribution including online, offline, SISs and MBOs? Going forward, what are the plans to scale-up the distribution?
Currently, we are only selling online through our website. Moving forward, we have plans to create offline touch points, at different MBOs and eventually opening a MAZEIX concept store.
Tell us about your best selling categories and average price points.
Our best-selling category is the Ultracor and P.E NATION leggings, which are gorgeous as well as utilitarian. In addition to being form fitting, butt lifting, compression feature which gives one their best shape, these leggings provide the ultimate blend of style. As we have all premium luxury brands in active wear – our average price point is around Rs. 8,000.
Going forward, what are the plans to scale up the category range?
We have plans to add new brands every month or two, with tie-ups already in place. Soon, we will have new diversified range in accessories.
Who do you see as your competition?
Since, we have all the niche brands, catering to a segregated segment, we don’t have much competition. But some brands like Under Armour which was recently launched in India has a good collection and price points similar to us.
At last, kindly highlight your growth plans?
We want MAZEIX to be the sole retailer of Active Fashion in India with stores across the country. By, 2020 end we will have a store in Delhi and the next year in MUMBAI, with next step being the launch of coolest small brands.
We intend to showcase new brands on our global platform, helping them to establish their brand, drive revenue, and grow their customer base.
