Raghavendar Balasubramaniam, better known as Raghav, grew up in the busy neighborhood of T. Nagar. Anyone familiar with the locality instantly recalls the bustling traffic and hoards of crowding outside the largest houses of the oldest fashion and jewellery brands in Tamil Nadu. The sidewalks and entrances of these large franchises are lined with smaller street vendors pitching the latest bling at competitive rates. Anyone soaked in this environment is bound to take interest in the fashion industry in some way or the other.
Circa 2012, Raghav had just returned from Mumbai with a degree in fashion management from NIFT after realising that he did not want to pursue engineering. He was in casual conversation with his childhood friend D. Kumar (who had a degree in computer science but followed his passion for creativity through filmmaking and editing) when they decided they would start a business together.
The first idea, from the top of their heads, was to start a graphic t-shirt company—perhaps the bustling commerce from their childhood in T. Nagar had something to do with it. However, they weren’t going to be just another t-shirt company. They wanted to start a movement. “It is very common to see people wearing prints of Che Guvera and Bob Marley without really…