Unapologetically Indian: Masaba Gupta’s Bold Fashion & Beauty Statement
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Masaba Gupta, designer, actor and founder of the fashion label House of Masaba, is now stepping into the competitive beauty industry with her new brand, LoveChild. Known for her innovative approach to fashion, Gupta is navigating a saturated market where celebrity-led beauty brands—such as Katrina Kaif’s Kay Beauty and Deepika Padukone’s 82°E—are vying for consumer attention. Despite this clutter, Gupta is banking on LoveChild’s unique focus on Indian skin tones and affordable pricing to stand out. “LoveChild is about product and not my personal PR” she asserts.
In 2022, Gupta secured Rs 90 crore in funding from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, accelerating her growth plans. House of Masaba, which currently operates 19 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs), will expand to 22 by the end of FY25. LoveChild is also scaling rapidly, with 16 standalone stores, 7 kiosks, and presence in key retailers like Shoppers Stop and Nykaa. Gupta plans to close FY25 with over 50 retail points for her beauty brand.
In this interview for ETBrandEquity’s October 1, 2024, digital cover, Gupta reflects on the challenges of balancing creative control with commercial pressures, her expansion strategy, and how she differentiates LoveChild in a crowded market. The conversation offers insights into her approach to risk, scale, and navigating India’s evolving fashion and beauty landscape.
Edited Excerpts:
LoveChild represents a significant expansion into beauty. How do you envision this brand evolving in a crowded market, and what unique space do you aim to carve out for it?
It is going to be product-led. It will be a brand that offers something for everyone within the Indian skin tone bracket, which is one of the largest in the world. We grew up seeing these international beauty giants coming to India, taking a share of the Indian market but not focusing on Indian tones. We were offered foundation and concealer that didn’t even suit our skin colour, so we had to mix two or three shades to match our complexion. We would get a lipstick and think, “Love it, so aspirational,” yet had to mix it with some Indian lipstick colour. I didn’t want to offer India a watered-down version of a brand aspiring to be global. We wanted a brand that is deeply Indian and genuinely caters to Indians globally.
Secondly, my philosophy for this brand is very clear when it comes to product categories. Luckily, we haven’t dabbled in skincare at all. I don’t think you have the right to be in skincare just because you are a celebrity or a brand created by someone without a background in skincare. We are going to focus purely on categories we understand, which are lips, face, and eyes. The third thing is the India connection—if you delve into tier II and tier III markets, there are girls who love makeup and aspire to wear a good product every day. They were largely alienated by beauty brands in terms of communication; nobody was speaking to them in the Hindi they speak.
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How do you want the brand to be perceived?
The first product we launched was a sweat-proof or humidity-proof foundation, which is essential in a country like India. We are not trying to be a “me-too” brand; we are not trying to be a brand that calls itself premium for the sake of it or is ridiculously priced just to be taken seriously. No, I want people to know that LoveChild is at an affordable entry-level price and is still taken as seriously as some of the biggest giants in the industry. Lastly, I wanted to ensure that distribution was very strong. Having a brand, marketing it, and creating a story around it that stands for something, but not being available to buy anywhere—that’s something I disagree with as an entrepreneur. We are in almost 11 or 12 Shoppers Stop Beauty (SS Beauty) stores offline. We are available on Nykaa online and offline, in 18 House of Masaba stores, and will soon be available in modern and general trade shops.
All these risks have paid off, and today, 50% of our online sales come from the US and international consumers,Masaba Gupta
Who are you targeting with LoveChild? Who do you think will buy the products?
We no longer look at beauty consumers in terms of age brackets; we consider lifestyle brackets. For example, if I have a 31-year-old who is working, living away from her parents in the city, able to decide how to spend her own money, and passionate about fitness, on Instagram, and likes to wear her own makeup—she can influence her mother, who is 65 or 70 and has probably owned only one makeup product her whole life, which is kept in her refrigerator. The challenge for us is to convert both the mother and the daughter to buy LoveChild.
Your designs and ventures often defy traditional boundaries, merging creativity with commerce. What role has risk-taking played in your journey, and how do you decide which risks are worth taking, both in fashion and in your new business ventures?
Eight years ago, I would not have thought of something like LoveChild because I would have said it was too ambitious a project. But I think the risks I’ve seen pay off in fashion—one of them being, we opened one store and expanded in apparel. Between 2018 and 2020, it was rapid expansion. It was also the first time we went out and raised money. Around me, no other designer was raising money or trying to expand with such a rapid plan. Everything we set out to do in that period was scary, but it paid off. We said we didn’t just want to be a boutique brand but a retail network available to many more people in many more cities. We are probably one of the very few Indian brands with a very strong e-commerce business, which was a turnaround during Covid. We decided to ship worldwide without the structure or manpower. All these risks have paid off, and today, 50% of our online sales come from the US and international consumers. But I don’t think too much about risks—I have a very strong gut feeling. In today’s market, you need to be extremely agile, and you must know what you don’t want to do.
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The partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail helped you expand House of Masaba. How do you balance creative control with the commercial aspects of a business when working with large corporations?
To be honest, any corporation that wants to take creative control away from you is shooting themselves in the foot. Why would they want to do that? Vice versa, if I tried to take control of logistics, management, or finance from them, I’d be shooting myself in the foot too. It’s crucial to understand that when you tie up with a corporation that large, you must believe it’s a great balancing act. When I signed with them, I remember that in every conversation we had, we kept returning to one simple fact—they believed in creativity and letting creative resources thrive, while being the backbone and support when needed. That synergy is essential.
To be honest, I see a lot of what I do as an act of rebellion. I know it sounds negative and aggressive, but I truly believe there are things people think I can’t do, and I want to prove them wrongMasaba Gupta
It can’t be just the money. What inspired you to say yes to the partnership, and how do you see them helping you?Capital is the least of it, and it’s everything else that matters. I like the (Aditya Birla) Group and how they operate. I think they run their business with the highest principles and morals of corporate governance, which I’m a big fan of. Integrity plays a vital role in everything I do and anyone I partner with, even if it’s just for a 20-minute engagement. They don’t come in just as investors but as strategic partners too. They’ve run Peter England and Van Heusen; they’ve made four or five investments in the designer fashion space. This partnership will help me fast-track the brand’s journey without compromising on aesthetics or what we’ve always stood for. What would have taken me 20 years, with the right capital from the right partner, will take about 10.
As an entrepreneur, how do you handle moments of self-doubt or external pressure, especially as a woman of colour leading a fashion and beauty empire?
The moments of doubt are also the moments that drive innovation, scale, and passion to really say I can do more. To be honest, I see a lot of what I do as an act of rebellion. I know it sounds negative and aggressive, but I truly believe there are things people think I can’t do, and I want to prove them wrong. Being a woman of colour, there are times I don’t get the same importance as a mega-superstar beauty brand, but I like to come back and say, “Let my product speak.” It’s not about me or my following but the product. My personal PR can’t drive a whole brand forever—it has to be about the product. Beyoncé once said to someone, “You’ve been picked to break generational curses,” and I really believe that. The moments of doubt exist, but I see them as positive pressure.
Your work in fashion has made you a pioneer in fusing Indian and modern design sensibilities. How do you see Indian fashion evolving in the global context, and where do you see House of Masaba fitting into that future?
I’ve always believed India will only succeed globally if we wear India on our sleeves unapologetically. I’ve had experiences with merchandisers and buyers in the West who sometimes look down on us and expect us to water down and present something that works for them. The exotification of India is suddenly very hot. For many years, we as Indians didn’t understand or embrace it, but the world embraced it before we did. An international brand opening a store in India becomes a huge thing because they come here and say, “This is who we are—take it or leave it.” That’s the approach that will work for India in the West—where we go and say, “This is who we are. We’ve long been offering you the best embroideries in the world for your garments, and now you can buy them on ours, possibly at a higher price.” The aspiration for Indian brands will be driven if we say, “This is who we are—take it or leave it.” That’s why I’m proud of the home-grown brands that have gone global and are succeeding.
For me, I’m taking my global expansion a bit slow because I have a lot more to achieve in India. I’m more in awe of India than the West—the market here is very deep. We have a long way to go with both beauty and apparel before we’ve fully penetrated India. Maybe in three to five years, we’ll start selling the House of Masaba story to the West with both beauty and ready-to-wear.
What do you think is the most significant challenge facing modern entrepreneurs today, and how have you navigated it?
The most significant challenge is the work-life balance and the conversation around it. I was 19 when I started my business, and start-up culture wasn’t a thing back then. There was no endless supply of money, and you only had so many years. There was a tight grip, and we worked day and night. I worked 24/7, even in my sleep, and that was the need of the hour. A lot of modern entrepreneurs today are questioning why we’re burning out so soon, why we’re finding it so difficult to build or retain a team. Social media has made everything look so successful and easily within your grasp that we’re losing out on the finer details of the fact that, in order to start a venture and be around, you need to work damn hard. It’s not just a product of exceptional PR or getting the best marketing team or hiring the most expensive CEO. It starts from the ground up, where you say, “Before I see a spark of success, I will have to work 24/7, 365 days a year.” The second challenge is the loyalty of your team—how do you keep people happily engaged? And lastly, getting noticed, which is also the most important thing. You can get a news flash or a top celebrity to wear my clothes and get seven influencers to talk about it in 48 hours, but do I have a manual in front of me to forecast how my business will look in seven years?
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Digital Cover – October 1, 2024: This fortnight, on the cover we have Masaba Gupta who says, “A lot of what I do as an act of rebellion,” speaks about unapologetically embracing roots, breaking barriers, and building brands that celebrate Indian heritage while challenging global norms.
Masaba Gupta on the Cover of ETBrandEquity
“>
Masaba Gupta, designer, actor and founder of the fashion label House of Masaba, is now stepping into the competitive beauty industry with her new brand, LoveChild. Known for her innovative approach to fashion, Gupta is navigating a saturated market where celebrity-led beauty brands—such as Katrina Kaif’s Kay Beauty and Deepika Padukone’s 82°E—are vying for consumer attention. Despite this clutter, Gupta is banking on LoveChild’s unique focus on Indian skin tones and affordable pricing to stand out. “LoveChild is about product and not my personal PR” she asserts.In 2022, Gupta secured Rs 90 crore in funding from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, accelerating her growth plans. House of Masaba, which currently operates 19 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs), will expand to 22 by the end of FY25. LoveChild is also scaling rapidly, with 16 standalone stores, 7 kiosks, and presence in key retailers like Shoppers Stop and Nykaa. Gupta plans to close FY25 with over 50 retail points for her beauty brand.
In this interview for ETBrandEquity’s October 1, 2024, digital cover, Gupta reflects on the challenges of balancing creative control with commercial pressures, her expansion strategy, and how she differentiates LoveChild in a crowded market. The conversation offers insights into her approach to risk, scale, and navigating India’s evolving fashion and beauty landscape.
Edited Excerpts:
LoveChild represents a significant expansion into beauty. How do you envision this brand evolving in a crowded market, and what unique space do you aim to carve out for it?
It is going to be product-led. It will be a brand that offers something for everyone within the Indian skin tone bracket, which is one of the largest in the world. We grew up seeing these international beauty giants coming to India, taking a share of the Indian market but not focusing on Indian tones. We were offered foundation and concealer that didn’t even suit our skin colour, so we had to mix two or three shades to match our complexion. We would get a lipstick and think, “Love it, so aspirational,” yet had to mix it with some Indian lipstick colour. I didn’t want to offer India a watered-down version of a brand aspiring to be global. We wanted a brand that is deeply Indian and genuinely caters to Indians globally.
Secondly, my philosophy for this brand is very clear when it comes to product categories. Luckily, we haven’t dabbled in skincare at all. I don’t think you have the right to be in skincare just because you are a celebrity or a brand created by someone without a background in skincare. We are going to focus purely on categories we understand, which are lips, face, and eyes. The third thing is the India connection—if you delve into tier II and tier III markets, there are girls who love makeup and aspire to wear a good product every day. They were largely alienated by beauty brands in terms of communication; nobody was speaking to them in the Hindi they speak.
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How do you want the brand to be perceived?
The first product we launched was a sweat-proof or humidity-proof foundation, which is essential in a country like India. We are not trying to be a “me-too” brand; we are not trying to be a brand that calls itself premium for the sake of it or is ridiculously priced just to be taken seriously. No, I want people to know that LoveChild is at an affordable entry-level price and is still taken as seriously as some of the biggest giants in the industry. Lastly, I wanted to ensure that distribution was very strong. Having a brand, marketing it, and creating a story around it that stands for something, but not being available to buy anywhere—that’s something I disagree with as an entrepreneur. We are in almost 11 or 12 Shoppers Stop Beauty (SS Beauty) stores offline. We are available on Nykaa online and offline, in 18 House of Masaba stores, and will soon be available in modern and general trade shops.
All these risks have paid off, and today, 50% of our online sales come from the US and international consumers,Masaba Gupta
Who are you targeting with LoveChild? Who do you think will buy the products?
We no longer look at beauty consumers in terms of age brackets; we consider lifestyle brackets. For example, if I have a 31-year-old who is working, living away from her parents in the city, able to decide how to spend her own money, and passionate about fitness, on Instagram, and likes to wear her own makeup—she can influence her mother, who is 65 or 70 and has probably owned only one makeup product her whole life, which is kept in her refrigerator. The challenge for us is to convert both the mother and the daughter to buy LoveChild.Your designs and ventures often defy traditional boundaries, merging creativity with commerce. What role has risk-taking played in your journey, and how do you decide which risks are worth taking, both in fashion and in your new business ventures?
Eight years ago, I would not have thought of something like LoveChild because I would have said it was too ambitious a project. But I think the risks I’ve seen pay off in fashion—one of them being, we opened one store and expanded in apparel. Between 2018 and 2020, it was rapid expansion. It was also the first time we went out and raised money. Around me, no other designer was raising money or trying to expand with such a rapid plan. Everything we set out to do in that period was scary, but it paid off. We said we didn’t just want to be a boutique brand but a retail network available to many more people in many more cities. We are probably one of the very few Indian brands with a very strong e-commerce business, which was a turnaround during Covid. We decided to ship worldwide without the structure or manpower. All these risks have paid off, and today, 50% of our online sales come from the US and international consumers. But I don’t think too much about risks—I have a very strong gut feeling. In today’s market, you need to be extremely agile, and you must know what you don’t want to do.
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The partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail helped you expand House of Masaba. How do you balance creative control with the commercial aspects of a business when working with large corporations?
To be honest, any corporation that wants to take creative control away from you is shooting themselves in the foot. Why would they want to do that? Vice versa, if I tried to take control of logistics, management, or finance from them, I’d be shooting myself in the foot too. It’s crucial to understand that when you tie up with a corporation that large, you must believe it’s a great balancing act. When I signed with them, I remember that in every conversation we had, we kept returning to one simple fact—they believed in creativity and letting creative resources thrive, while being the backbone and support when needed. That synergy is essential.
To be honest, I see a lot of what I do as an act of rebellion. I know it sounds negative and aggressive, but I truly believe there are things people think I can’t do, and I want to prove them wrongMasaba Gupta
It can’t be just the money. What inspired you to say yes to the partnership, and how do you see them helping you?Capital is the least of it, and it’s everything else that matters. I like the (Aditya Birla) Group and how they operate. I think they run their business with the highest principles and morals of corporate governance, which I’m a big fan of. Integrity plays a vital role in everything I do and anyone I partner with, even if it’s just for a 20-minute engagement. They don’t come in just as investors but as strategic partners too. They’ve run Peter England and Van Heusen; they’ve made four or five investments in the designer fashion space. This partnership will help me fast-track the brand’s journey without compromising on aesthetics or what we’ve always stood for. What would have taken me 20 years, with the right capital from the right partner, will take about 10.
Masaba Gupta, Designer and Founder of House of Masaba, LoveChild
As an entrepreneur, how do you handle moments of self-doubt or external pressure, especially as a woman of colour leading a fashion and beauty empire?
The moments of doubt are also the moments that drive innovation, scale, and passion to really say I can do more. To be honest, I see a lot of what I do as an act of rebellion. I know it sounds negative and aggressive, but I truly believe there are things people think I can’t do, and I want to prove them wrong. Being a woman of colour, there are times I don’t get the same importance as a mega-superstar beauty brand, but I like to come back and say, “Let my product speak.” It’s not about me or my following but the product. My personal PR can’t drive a whole brand forever—it has to be about the product. Beyoncé once said to someone, “You’ve been picked to break generational curses,” and I really believe that. The moments of doubt exist, but I see them as positive pressure.
Your work in fashion has made you a pioneer in fusing Indian and modern design sensibilities. How do you see Indian fashion evolving in the global context, and where do you see House of Masaba fitting into that future?
I’ve always believed India will only succeed globally if we wear India on our sleeves unapologetically. I’ve had experiences with merchandisers and buyers in the West who sometimes look down on us and expect us to water down and present something that works for them. The exotification of India is suddenly very hot. For many years, we as Indians didn’t understand or embrace it, but the world embraced it before we did. An international brand opening a store in India becomes a huge thing because they come here and say, “This is who we are—take it or leave it.” That’s the approach that will work for India in the West—where we go and say, “This is who we are. We’ve long been offering you the best embroideries in the world for your garments, and now you can buy them on ours, possibly at a higher price.” The aspiration for Indian brands will be driven if we say, “This is who we are—take it or leave it.” That’s why I’m proud of the home-grown brands that have gone global and are succeeding.
For me, I’m taking my global expansion a bit slow because I have a lot more to achieve in India. I’m more in awe of India than the West—the market here is very deep. We have a long way to go with both beauty and apparel before we’ve fully penetrated India. Maybe in three to five years, we’ll start selling the House of Masaba story to the West with both beauty and ready-to-wear.
What do you think is the most significant challenge facing modern entrepreneurs today, and how have you navigated it?
The most significant challenge is the work-life balance and the conversation around it. I was 19 when I started my business, and start-up culture wasn’t a thing back then. There was no endless supply of money, and you only had so many years. There was a tight grip, and we worked day and night. I worked 24/7, even in my sleep, and that was the need of the hour. A lot of modern entrepreneurs today are questioning why we’re burning out so soon, why we’re finding it so difficult to build or retain a team. Social media has made everything look so successful and easily within your grasp that we’re losing out on the finer details of the fact that, in order to start a venture and be around, you need to work damn hard. It’s not just a product of exceptional PR or getting the best marketing team or hiring the most expensive CEO. It starts from the ground up, where you say, “Before I see a spark of success, I will have to work 24/7, 365 days a year.” The second challenge is the loyalty of your team—how do you keep people happily engaged? And lastly, getting noticed, which is also the most important thing. You can get a news flash or a top celebrity to wear my clothes and get seven influencers to talk about it in 48 hours, but do I have a manual in front of me to forecast how my business will look in seven years?
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Masaba Gupta, designer, actor and founder of the fashion label House of Masaba, is now stepping into the competitive beauty industry with her new brand, LoveChild. Known for her innovative approach to fashion, Gupta is navigating a saturated market where celebrity-led beauty brands—such as Katrina Kaif’s Kay Beauty and Deepika Padukone’s 82°E—are vying for consumer attention. Despite this clutter, Gupta is banking on LoveChild’s unique focus on Indian skin tones and affordable pricing to stand out. “LoveChild is about product and not my personal PR” she asserts.
In 2022, Gupta secured Rs 90 crore in funding from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, accelerating her growth plans. House of Masaba, which currently operates 19 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs), will expand to 22 by the end of FY25. LoveChild is also scaling rapidly, with 16 standalone stores, 7 kiosks, and presence in key retailers like Shoppers Stop and Nykaa. Gupta plans to close FY25 with over 50 retail points for her beauty brand.
In this interview for ETBrandEquity’s October 1, 2024, digital cover, Gupta reflects on the challenges of balancing creative control with commercial pressures, her expansion strategy, and how she differentiates LoveChild in a crowded market. The conversation offers insights into her approach to risk, scale, and navigating India’s evolving fashion and beauty landscape.
Edited Excerpts:
LoveChild represents a significant expansion into beauty. How do you envision this brand evolving in a crowded market, and what unique space do you aim to carve out for it?
It is going to be product-led. It will be a brand that offers something for everyone within the Indian skin tone bracket, which is one of the largest in the world. We grew up seeing these international beauty giants coming to India, taking a share of the Indian market but not focusing on Indian tones. We were offered foundation and concealer that didn’t even suit our skin colour, so we had to mix two or three shades to match our complexion. We would get a lipstick and think, “Love it, so aspirational,” yet had to mix it with some Indian lipstick colour. I didn’t want to offer India a watered-down version of a brand aspiring to be global. We wanted a brand that is deeply Indian and genuinely caters to Indians globally.
Secondly, my philosophy for this brand is very clear when it comes to product categories. Luckily, we haven’t dabbled in skincare at all. I don’t think you have the right to be in skincare just because you are a celebrity or a brand created by someone without a background in skincare. We are going to focus purely on categories we understand, which are lips, face, and eyes. The third thing is the India connection—if you delve into tier II and tier III markets, there are girls who love makeup and aspire to wear a good product every day. They were largely alienated by beauty brands in terms of communication; nobody was speaking to them in the Hindi they speak.
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How do you want the brand to be perceived?
The first product we launched was a sweat-proof or humidity-proof foundation, which is essential in a country like India. We are not trying to be a “me-too” brand; we are not trying to be a brand that calls itself premium for the sake of it or is ridiculously priced just to be taken seriously. No, I want people to know that LoveChild is at an affordable entry-level price and is still taken as seriously as some of the biggest giants in the industry. Lastly, I wanted to ensure that distribution was very strong. Having a brand, marketing it, and creating a story around it that stands for something, but not being available to buy anywhere—that’s something I disagree with as an entrepreneur. We are in almost 11 or 12 Shoppers Stop Beauty (SS Beauty) stores offline. We are available on Nykaa online and offline, in 18 House of Masaba stores, and will soon be available in modern and general trade shops.
All these risks have paid off, and today, 50% of our online sales come from the US and international consumers,Masaba Gupta
Who are you targeting with LoveChild? Who do you think will buy the products?
We no longer look at beauty consumers in terms of age brackets; we consider lifestyle brackets. For example, if I have a 31-year-old who is working, living away from her parents in the city, able to decide how to spend her own money, and passionate about fitness, on Instagram, and likes to wear her own makeup—she can influence her mother, who is 65 or 70 and has probably owned only one makeup product her whole life, which is kept in her refrigerator. The challenge for us is to convert both the mother and the daughter to buy LoveChild.
Your designs and ventures often defy traditional boundaries, merging creativity with commerce. What role has risk-taking played in your journey, and how do you decide which risks are worth taking, both in fashion and in your new business ventures?
Eight years ago, I would not have thought of something like LoveChild because I would have said it was too ambitious a project. But I think the risks I’ve seen pay off in fashion—one of them being, we opened one store and expanded in apparel. Between 2018 and 2020, it was rapid expansion. It was also the first time we went out and raised money. Around me, no other designer was raising money or trying to expand with such a rapid plan. Everything we set out to do in that period was scary, but it paid off. We said we didn’t just want to be a boutique brand but a retail network available to many more people in many more cities. We are probably one of the very few Indian brands with a very strong e-commerce business, which was a turnaround during Covid. We decided to ship worldwide without the structure or manpower. All these risks have paid off, and today, 50% of our online sales come from the US and international consumers. But I don’t think too much about risks—I have a very strong gut feeling. In today’s market, you need to be extremely agile, and you must know what you don’t want to do.
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The partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail helped you expand House of Masaba. How do you balance creative control with the commercial aspects of a business when working with large corporations?
To be honest, any corporation that wants to take creative control away from you is shooting themselves in the foot. Why would they want to do that? Vice versa, if I tried to take control of logistics, management, or finance from them, I’d be shooting myself in the foot too. It’s crucial to understand that when you tie up with a corporation that large, you must believe it’s a great balancing act. When I signed with them, I remember that in every conversation we had, we kept returning to one simple fact—they believed in creativity and letting creative resources thrive, while being the backbone and support when needed. That synergy is essential.
To be honest, I see a lot of what I do as an act of rebellion. I know it sounds negative and aggressive, but I truly believe there are things people think I can’t do, and I want to prove them wrongMasaba Gupta
It can’t be just the money. What inspired you to say yes to the partnership, and how do you see them helping you?Capital is the least of it, and it’s everything else that matters. I like the (Aditya Birla) Group and how they operate. I think they run their business with the highest principles and morals of corporate governance, which I’m a big fan of. Integrity plays a vital role in everything I do and anyone I partner with, even if it’s just for a 20-minute engagement. They don’t come in just as investors but as strategic partners too. They’ve run Peter England and Van Heusen; they’ve made four or five investments in the designer fashion space. This partnership will help me fast-track the brand’s journey without compromising on aesthetics or what we’ve always stood for. What would have taken me 20 years, with the right capital from the right partner, will take about 10.
As an entrepreneur, how do you handle moments of self-doubt or external pressure, especially as a woman of colour leading a fashion and beauty empire?
The moments of doubt are also the moments that drive innovation, scale, and passion to really say I can do more. To be honest, I see a lot of what I do as an act of rebellion. I know it sounds negative and aggressive, but I truly believe there are things people think I can’t do, and I want to prove them wrong. Being a woman of colour, there are times I don’t get the same importance as a mega-superstar beauty brand, but I like to come back and say, “Let my product speak.” It’s not about me or my following but the product. My personal PR can’t drive a whole brand forever—it has to be about the product. Beyoncé once said to someone, “You’ve been picked to break generational curses,” and I really believe that. The moments of doubt exist, but I see them as positive pressure.
Your work in fashion has made you a pioneer in fusing Indian and modern design sensibilities. How do you see Indian fashion evolving in the global context, and where do you see House of Masaba fitting into that future?
I’ve always believed India will only succeed globally if we wear India on our sleeves unapologetically. I’ve had experiences with merchandisers and buyers in the West who sometimes look down on us and expect us to water down and present something that works for them. The exotification of India is suddenly very hot. For many years, we as Indians didn’t understand or embrace it, but the world embraced it before we did. An international brand opening a store in India becomes a huge thing because they come here and say, “This is who we are—take it or leave it.” That’s the approach that will work for India in the West—where we go and say, “This is who we are. We’ve long been offering you the best embroideries in the world for your garments, and now you can buy them on ours, possibly at a higher price.” The aspiration for Indian brands will be driven if we say, “This is who we are—take it or leave it.” That’s why I’m proud of the home-grown brands that have gone global and are succeeding.
For me, I’m taking my global expansion a bit slow because I have a lot more to achieve in India. I’m more in awe of India than the West—the market here is very deep. We have a long way to go with both beauty and apparel before we’ve fully penetrated India. Maybe in three to five years, we’ll start selling the House of Masaba story to the West with both beauty and ready-to-wear.
What do you think is the most significant challenge facing modern entrepreneurs today, and how have you navigated it?
The most significant challenge is the work-life balance and the conversation around it. I was 19 when I started my business, and start-up culture wasn’t a thing back then. There was no endless supply of money, and you only had so many years. There was a tight grip, and we worked day and night. I worked 24/7, even in my sleep, and that was the need of the hour. A lot of modern entrepreneurs today are questioning why we’re burning out so soon, why we’re finding it so difficult to build or retain a team. Social media has made everything look so successful and easily within your grasp that we’re losing out on the finer details of the fact that, in order to start a venture and be around, you need to work damn hard. It’s not just a product of exceptional PR or getting the best marketing team or hiring the most expensive CEO. It starts from the ground up, where you say, “Before I see a spark of success, I will have to work 24/7, 365 days a year.” The second challenge is the loyalty of your team—how do you keep people happily engaged? And lastly, getting noticed, which is also the most important thing. You can get a news flash or a top celebrity to wear my clothes and get seven influencers to talk about it in 48 hours, but do I have a manual in front of me to forecast how my business will look in seven years?
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