Visiting exhibitions and trunk shows have become a staple diet for many a fashionistas across the country, all of these efforts to find one exclusive designer piece that no one owns but herself. However, there is a barrage of exhibitions happening across the city leaving the fashion forward consumer in a dilemma of where to go in a limited time.To curate an exhibition that appeals to the taste of the discerning buyers and stand apart as an exhibition to look forward to in such a scenario is indeed a feat. Trendsetters of Ahmedabad were seen browsing and buying exclusive pieces of jewellery, accessories and apparels at RedPolka Show being held today at Reflections Gallery.RedPolka, an online portal that aims to give impetus to indigenous products that are crafted with skill by designers and artisans from across the country, is founded and spearheaded by Ms.Vishakha Singh. The portal that also holds on-ground events & exhibitions prides itself on its curation.
Team Ciceroni brings to you excerpts of email interaction with Ms.Vishakha Singh.
1) What led to the inception of RedPolka?
I have been in the business of brand building for companies like CNBC TV18, formulating business strategy for Times Now and doing shopper marketing for multiple years. Understanding consumer behaviour is an integral part to formulate & execute marketing strategies.
I learnt a lot more on shopper behaviour during my stint at Future media, a Kishore Biyani venture. After almost a decade of work life at various corporates, I launched my own venture on Shopper Marketing. Experiences with that firm formed the genesis for Red Polka, which was launched in 2015.
RedPolka is an online portal that curates and showcases indigenous labels from across the country. In order to make it more accessible to the shopper and cater to their need of ‘touch and feel before buying’ we conduct exhibitions of these brands pan India.
2) RedPolka is an online destination to bring brands and people closer. How many brands have already worked with RedPolka since its inception? How many of these brands have been from Gujarat?
Till now we have worked with 275+ brands and the count is increasing. We have kept the curation as our USP. Thus we decide which brands do we want to feature and which not.
Designers based from Gujarat have contributed to almost 15% of these total pie of designers that we have worked with.
3) You must be getting lot of inquiries to get featured on RedPolka.com. How do you sift through the design aesthetics?
At Red Polka, our emphasis lies behind finding the story behind the brand/design. We try to gauge the brand’s ambition to get discovered and we, in turn, help in promoting it with vigour.
We try to answer these basis questions when picking brands/designs:
– Where is the brand from?
– What is their story?
– What is the unique and interesting element in their design?
We feature a blend of boutique designers from across the country that spans from Delhi and Dehradun to Bangalore and Pondicherry. Red Polka stands all about discovery and curation of great designs.
4) With an extensive experience of brand building & marketing in media houses & retail giants, how challenging is the brand building exercise in an over-cluttered digital market?
All markets are cluttered.Period. It is about connecting with the brand and defining the shopper-brand experience. Digital space is great for discovery and we focus on building long-standing relationships with our shoppers by engaging with them through curated collection that grabs their attention.
5) How many shows have you done in Gujarat? What is the shopping behaviour like vis-a-vis a metro city like Mumbai or Delhi?
This is our 2nd show in Gujarat. We have seen that Gujarat has its own sense of style, and is tilted towards quality of fabric and ethnicity in design. As far as my experience goes, clothing and accessories work better as opposed to lifestyle products that work well in metros.
I cannot really say if it is a very price-conscious market.
6) What difference do you notice as a curator when you showcase in Ahmedabad?
We curate according to the season. The last time we organised a show in Ahmedabad, it was before Diwali; hence the mood was very festive and celebratory.
This time around at RedPolka Show, we plan to showcase trendy stuff across clothes, accessories and lifestyle.
7) Is RedPolka a portal for luxury connoisseurs or for young urban working class or college crowd?
Our focus has always been the urban working class segment.
8) What are your personal favourite labels featured on RedPolka?
All brands on the website are hand-picked and feature unique products. Choosing one over the other is next to impossible
9) What is your personal style like?
Jackets, closed shoes and donning block colours.
10) Where are the next RedPolka exhibitions happening in 2017?
After Ahmedabad on Jan 12, our next show is in Bangalore on Feb 3, 4, and of course, the rest will follow.
This is the glimpse of the RedPolka Show at Ahmedabad.
You can reach out to RedPolka : www.redpolka.com
