With Emphasis On Indian Sensibilities And Diversity

Coming from an entrepreneurial family, it didn’t surprise people around AKSHAY MIRCHANDANI when he was juggling with varied business ideas at a very young age. In fact, it was encouraged, he admits. Today, Siciliano's shoes have been worn by personalities like Yuvraj Singh, Amaal & Armaan Mallik.

Akshay Mirchandani was quite focused on starting a footwear brand of his own. However, he didn’t want to make any hasty decision. He set a goal and allocated a realistic time frame to achieve it. First, he invested generously in market research and identifying the brand’s future consumers. While performing market research, it was discovered that only a few brands in the market were offering quality leather products for men. And most of those were exorbitantly priced. There was a sizeable portion of the men’s population that was not being catered to due to these reasons.

“We had identified the missing piece of the puzzle. Our next goal was to create this so-called missing piece and fill the gap for these consumers. We were successful in creating a line of men’s leather shoes, which was not just true-to-cost, but top-of-the-line in terms of quality and finish. After seeing a growth every year in our sales, we launched a premium collection last year, which has been very well received too!,” explains Akshay about the beginning part of his journey. Today, Siciliano shoes are worn by personalities like Yuvraj Singh, Amaal and Armaan Mallik. It’s an absolute honour, stresses the founder of the footwear brand.

Coming from an entrepreneurial family, it didn’t surprise people around Akshay when he was juggling with such varied ideas at a very young age. In fact, it was encouraged, he admits. “During the last few years of my college, I developed a keen interest in fashion, particularly footwear! I was that friend who would walk up to a birthday party with a handmade gift. It was one such occasion when I decided to paint a white converse shoe with my own design as a gift,” recalls the founder.