OdishaLIVE Bureau
In an exclusive interview with OdishaLIVE Team Raas Co-Founder Rashmi Mohapatra speaks about Raas & the journey.
Odisha is finding mention in the circles of Fashion industry both national as well as international and this wouldn’t have been possible without the contribution of Ikkat brand, Raas by entrepreneur Rashmi Mohapatra and globally acclaimed fashion designer Pritam Panda.
Raas over the years has won many hearts and is enroute to achieve even greater acclaims.
The minds behind Raas have started this label not only to provide the modern Indian fashion to their customers but with a touch of culture & as a social up liftment for the local weavers.
Designer label with blend of Culture
The social cause that drives this brand makes each piece they create much more than just what you wear. Raas over the course of four years has beautifully engraved its name in Odisha’s handloom sector and ikkat collections nationally.
Being able to fuse art emerging from the interior areas of Odisha with high-class designer wear for the fashion-frenzy millennials is quite a task and Raas has blended and showcased it well through their collection.
Odisha is blessed with brilliant artisans, weavers and craftsmen and now it is open for the world to experience the Raas feeling. Beyond helping weavers, Raas is spreading the name of Odisha’s craftsmanship across the world. It was one of the few labels that were presented at ‘Who’s Next’ trade fair in Paris and in a show in London.
The idea of Raas
Rashmi Mohapatra, the brain behind the venture tells us how she always wanted to start something of her own which would help promote Odisha. When she was in Gujarat, she always wondered whether she would ever get a chance to go back to Odisha and put her dream into action. But fortunately, her husband was posted back in Bhubaneswar which marked the beginning of the journey for Raas. She is very fond of dressing up and spreading fashion ideas and also has a keen liking for handloom products. With this inclination and her inner drive towards social help, she started Raas along with internationally renowned fashion designer Pritam Panda.
“Raas is a beautiful name. The name struck me with a vague idea that the name of all my family members had the initials R and S. But the name born out of this idea was extra-ordinary and represented my business very well” says Rashmi Mohapatra when asked about the significance of the business name.
“Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of
everyday life.” —Bill Cunningham.
Innovative Designs
She goes onto tell how each design that they come up with is unique and they have come up with more than 150 designs of their own. Each piece that they sell is one of its kind. Their design team does the market research and trend analysis before coming up with the ideas. When asked whether they design according to customer demands or according to their imagination,she says that equal preference is given to both. They believe in the strength of free flow of thought as well as the need for customer satisfaction.
Raas has no direct competitors because no other enterprise does what they do. While they enjoy monopoly in their niche, in the broader arena, other handloom brands do exist but Raas is set apart from them because of their contemporary designs, modernized garments, experimental fashion pieces and most importantly because of their colorful Ikkats. The market is filled with dual toned ikkats while Raas plays with several colors in their design and have exquisite designer pieces made out of organza, motif work, tussar and mulberry silk.
Social Responsibility
Raas mainly works to support the weavers of Odisha who face a lot of challenges in their daily life. The living conditions are very bad and they are in need of serious support to lead a sustainable life.While each piece that they come up with takes rigorous work for months together, the return they get is bare minimal. Raas weaves gets most of its pieces weaved from weavers of Nuapatna, Odisha. The brand is loved for the good cause it works for and is a favorite spot for handloom lovers.
Big names like Shabana Azmi, Archita Sahu,Sona Mohapatra & other well known celebrities have been spotted wearing Raas. It has been participating in several fashion exhibitions and shows, their showcase at Bangalore Fashion Week being one of them. Mrs.Mohapatra tells us that the foreign customer base loves the rich work of our handlooms and they are also seeing a drift in demand from the neutral colours to more vibrant & colourful collections.
When asked about social entrepreneurship, she tells us how challenging it is yet she enjoys it as the reward she gets helping the weavers & promoting their work in a global scenario. Initially we took advice from Odisha’s top women entrepreneurs on how budding entrepreneurs need to start their business out of sheer passion. According to her, perseverance is the key to success. For women of our state, she says that the time has come to show their strength and how they need to come out of their cocoons and do something on their own. One essential tip she gives is to plan strategically before starting a business since as women, they have to play multiple roles and balancing social life with work life is important & family life holds the key.
Future Plans
Mrs. Mohapatra has several plans in mind for Raas like smart inventory management by scaling up production and sell across online portals. But her major objective is for the betterment of weavers. She plans to start a society or a weavers’ community where she would have proper infrastructure for weaving, housing facilities, creche and education facilities for children and work for women. She truly feels their pain and aims to end it. She also seeks help from all the people in the state to join hands in promoting the talent & lesser known things about Odisha.
When asked if there are any new creations that customers should be excited about. She tells us that Raas always comes up with something exciting and new all the time. On a parting note, she gives us a hint on their work on tussar silk and tells us to wait for the surprise.
Buyers can connect with Raas through their official Facebook page @RaasByRashmi.
Report: Shubhangi Dash Edit: Sriram Singh Rattan
