Siblings in real life aced the fashion industry and took it by awe with their newly introduced line of styling brand named-LA MIRA. As grand as it sounds, it offers grand luxuries of comfort and style at the same time. Hinal Varma, being influenced by celebrity styles and trends, decided to open her own line of style range which breaks the existing monopoly of compromised comfort in stylish clothes. As the two sisters were taken under the influence of trends and style amidst lockdown, they emerged as fashion guides for the rest and made it big with LA MIRA.
Scroll down to know more about Hinal Varma and Sonal Varma’s take on changing fashion trends with comfort and style in this uniquely created QNA session with Storiyaan.
Interview
Questions and answers
During your stay in London, what was the greatest fashion distinction that you found between the Indian dress-up and that of Londoners?
Well, people in London don’t care about what they wear. There’s no judgment in clothing and fashion sense is very liberal there. However, in India, one needs to consider many points even before buying, there are stigmas all around and people are very judgemental by their clothes.
The aim of La Mira, as you mentioned, is to provide people with comfortable clothes that belong to the current trend as well. But we have often seen comfort being compromised to follow trend and vice versa. How did you manage to overcome this hurdle?
Compromising comfort is something that is going to remain, no matter what. However, this is a personal choice that people are free to make. Some people wear very bold and pretty clothes and are very open and confident in their skin. So, overcoming this hurdle is only based on personal preferences of comfort.
Could you tell us about the stumbling block that sparked your interest in fashion and how did you cultivate it personally over time?
My interest in fashion increased with me growing up and also as I saw the world experimenting with fashion. I have a habit of buying trendy clothes, looking at celebrities, what they wear and how they carry themselves and eventually build my personal statement style.
Being sisters as well as business partners, how do your overcome conflicts in opinion regarding your products when such situations arise?
Sonal and I have different departments. She’s a fashion designer so she keeps up with the trends, immersed in styling and all. Whereas I look for marketing strategies. But we help each other out if we’re stuck anywhere, so we have conflicts, of course, but we make sure that our conflicts don’t affect our work.
Would you say that the lockdown acted as a boon that provided you the opportunity window to explore your love for fashion?
During the lockdown, me and my sister saw a lot of e-commerce websites being creative so we thought of doing something together and studying e-commerce websites for clothing, we chalked out our plan, pitched the La Mira idea to our parents, and they supported us and we haven’t stopped ever since. So, I’d say lockdown was a boon for me.
Talk to us about your research methodology when it comes to designing a new product for your brand to keep up with the motto of your La Mira.
There goes a lot of research and understanding into the trends. Our target audience is mainly liberal and price-conscious and we make sure that we cater to all kinds of audiences even if they’re conservative. We aim our outfits to be welcomed by all kinds of customers while making our styles both dynamic and of top-notch quality.
Indian society is extensively diverse when it comes to fashion. How do you manage to cater to the needs and tastes of such diverse consumers- the ones with a more conservative approach to the ones with a more liberal approach towards dress-up?
There is no particular approach, I use Google and Pinterest and we get a lot of our sourcing from there. We see the type of trends going on all over the world and take inspiration as we see fit. We make questionnaires, conduct a survey, which is mainly internal and the ideate it.
Being fashion-heads yourselves, you might have come across the ripped-jeans feud on social media that has been going on for quite some time now. What is your personal opinion on the issue?
To be honest, it’s the most useless feud to ever exist. Why would people even engage themselves in this? Wearing ripped jeans is a choice of an individual and they don’t have to wear other’s opinions because they don’t have the right. People who want to and love wearing such jeans will wear them no matter what society says.
What would be your message to the readers trying to take their first steps into the world of fashion?
My message to my readers will be that- If you’re passionate about fashion, go ahead and fulfill them. It becomes a process that needs a lot of patience, dedication, hard work, and effort. I give all my best wishes to everyone pursuing this field.
The fashion industry, like all others, has its downsides. If you could change any aspect of the fashion industry, what would it be?
One aspect of the fashion industry that I would like to change is sustainability- a major challenge in not only the fashion industry but other industries as well. Its introduction will be beneficial for the surrounding and also millennials who want environment friendly brands.
What has been the most remarkable aspect of your personal growth since you embarked on your entrepreneurial journey?
For starters, I’ve learned how to be an entrepreneur, learned my responsibilities, how to keep my employees satisfied, and keep them motivated and inspired. I’ve learned how to be patient when things go wrong which I think is the most important lesson I learned as a part of my personal growth.
Rapid-fire
One fashion icon you grew up admiring: Princess Diana and Audrey Hepburn
La Mira for you is : It’s a baby.
Your greatest inspiration: Family.
Your greatest achievement: When I started La Mira, we got our first order, our parents were so proud.
Fashion for you is: Being comfortable in whatever I’m wearing
Denim or chinos? : Denim