The [Pant] Pro-ject by siblings Dhruv and Udit Toshniwal is a homegrown brand based out of Calcutta that was born during the pandemic and offers digital solutions for custom tailor-made pants. Their family has been associated with the apparel industry for over 45 years. The idea was born when they came back to India from the US and struggled to find the right fit for their pants. “We came up with The [Pant] Pro-ject to make custom-made pants for Indian men that are as good as the best in the world. The USP is although we had exposure to the best of global brands, we have taken all these and customised it with our fit,” they said. In their collaborative journey, Dhruv with finance training helms the business side of the passion project, and Udit, with a design and fashion background, looks after product and marketing. Here’s a chat with the siblings about their journey so far.
CUSTOMISATION- THE USP:
Udit: One of the factors we go by is true waist. When we buy pants at a readymade store, they may say it is a 34 waist but it measures differently. We have studied all these measurements. A purchaser can either measure with measuring tapes and give us the size or take their pair of favourite pants and lay them down flat for measuring what that waist is and then we calculate accordingly.
Dhruv: We provide a fit guarantee. We pick up the pants from the customer’s house and we ship them back without any additional charge for alterations. We have built videos on our website to guide people to the right fit according to their body type- slim, tapered or relaxed. We also have a quiz on our website and it helps the buyer guesstimate the best pants for the buyer’s size. Customers can customise it with their specific length and waist. Every pattern is uniquely generated for that customer’s specifications. Waistband technology or flex-tech as we call it makes it stretchable. In terms of advanced customisation, we have monogramming. Someone can choose their initials and put them near the pocket, they can choose buttons or hooks, a roll-up hem or straight hem, pleats or creases, raise and zipper or regular pockets.
THE PROCESS:
Dhruv: The customer visits our website and decides which pants to buy. He can reorder with the same measurements once the information is on the website. Our process is automated and sophisticated as we use cutting-edge technology. The pattern used is made by using CAD software and it is precise to the exact body measurements. It is digitally cut for body measurements and we have a tailoring unit for stitching.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION:
Dhruv: The raw material we use is recycled polyester from PET bottles. Viscose as a raw material is already plant-based but we use liva eco-viscose and this is from the canopy cover agreement, which means a new tree is planted every time we get viscose from an existing tree. We use mulesing-free wool and our BSI-certified organic cotton. On the production part, we use renewable solar power in our factory and ethical labour practices as per international labour norms. There is low to no-waste in the production process as we have a low inventory to no inventory model system wherein every pant is made to order. We have wastewater processing plants where there is zero discharge of harmful chemicals. We have plastic-free packaging.
PRODUCT RANGE:
Udit: We go right from formal pants and power stretch smart casual pants to chinos, joggers, cargo, jeans and shorts. We have pants for every occasion. We started with men’s formal pants. Now, we have a range of women’s wear pants. We have a product line called all-weather essential and it has a nanotechnology finish. But all the technology in our fabric is infused with stretch because we believe in comfort. Other than the natural linen fabric we use, all the other fabrics have stretchability.
Dhruv: All-weather essentials are also wrinkle-resistant pants. They are cool in summer and warm in winter, water-repellent and stain-repellent. We have developed a range of innovative fabrics like these all-weather essentials. We are constantly giving the customer high-performance pants that are comfortable and easy to care for.
THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME:
Dhruv: It is very direct at what we do. We want to do the best in pants. The logo has brackets in it, like in the dictionary, because we are redefining the category of pants in the way customers shop for pants and attempting to revolutionise it. If we break the logo down, it reads ‘the pant pro’ and that’s because we are an expert in this category.
RESPONSE TO DIGITAL CUSTOMISATION:
Dhruv: One-third of customers come for repeat purchases within three months of buying. They love our fabric and fit and that is what we have built our brand on. We started on our own website and we are also present on Amazon and Myntra. We have seen growth across categories, channels and customer profiles.
Udit: In India, the educated and conscious consumer wants to take ownership of their wardrobe. A lot of brands are promoting trends but our product is the core. With that, we are giving stretch and comfort. We are offering it all digitally. The shift in consumer habits that happened during the pandemic with the digital influx helped our brand to grow.
GLOBAL COLLABORATION:
Dhruv: We recently collaborated with master Italian designer Guido Bertagnolio. He has 60 years of experience with global brands like Armani and Kenzo. We got him to take on a young project like ours because he wanted to bring luxury workwear to the Indian consumer. We curated this range of premium fabrics largely using Merino wool, infusing it with recycled polyester for durability and avoiding shrinkage. We built this capsule collection of 16 products that are going to be the epitome of workwear for the Indian customer. These are shades and styles curated by Guido.
Udit: I had gone to Italy to visit a premium fashion trade fair and met Guido there. He told me in Europe the patronage for good fashion is changing. People over there have started to buy fast fashion but he saw in India tailoring and good workwear are still available. So, he thought that it was almost like a revival and wanted to make Italian fashion available to a new consumer in India. He believes that that sort of core product has to exist. This collaboration between an Italian designer and a homegrown brand is a good synergy of classic and new for us.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Dhruv: We must have become a household name in India already from the kind of feedback we get. In future, we see ourselves as a digital as well as a physical presence. We were going to open a physical store but the pandemic hit and we moved digital which was a blessing for us. Pant sale was difficult during the pandemic as people were not buying formal pants and that is when we. started with joggers and athleisure.