THE PURPOSE MANTRA IN D2

STORYTELLING and being a part of the creative process are two areas of keen interest for actor Alia Bhatt. This, along with a “deep love for the environment”, formed the path for her to follow yet another pursuit, which was to be an entrepreneur.

“My mindset has always been that of an entrepreneur and a creator. I want to create brands for our country and be among those who took a homegrown Indian brand to the global stage. That’s always been the endeavour,” she states in a conversation with BW Business world.

The manifestation of this quest was in the form of her direct-to-consumer (D2C) venture, Ed-a-Mamma. As the founder and investor of the company, Bhatt paid specific attention to the starting point and what the brand’s ethos and purpose should be. “For us to protect our planet in the future, we have to nurture very early in our children a love for nature. That’s where our ethos comes from,” she says.

Ed-a-Mamma recorded 10X growth within 10 months of its launch in 2020, becoming a Rs 150 crore business. At that time it was a pure D2C ecommerce brand focussing on children’s clothing. The brand has now scaled up to also become a D2C retail brand present in 22 stores. It has also launched maternity and teenage wear in addition to children’s clothing, bringing different consumer segments into its fold.

The Market Gap

Recalling the brand's journey so far, Bhatt says, "I didn't want to build just a regular fashion-wear brand for girls or women my age. There were already many such brands.

After conducting our research, we found that there was a market gap of sustainable, affordable Indian homegrown kidswear brands."