We have seen many actors channelising their creative energies into starting their own fashion brands. Among them are Tejaswini Pandit and Abhidnya Bhave, two actresses known for portraying varied roles on screen. The two are proud owners of the brand named Tejadnya.
Tejadnya, which is in its fourth year now, has collections of sarees, jewelleries, juttis and mens’ kurtas. Recently, it held an exhibition of its latest collections in the city which was well-received.
Speaking about the brand’s inception, Tejaswini says, “Tejadnya came into existence out of general discussions. There were certain things that I wanted to work on but couldn’t. So we decided to start with a saree brand first. Saree is something that will not go out fashion anytime and it suits every occasion. Also saree is our personal favourite.”
Not being commercial
Tejaswini and Abhidnya don’t look at their brand commercially as they design more on an experimental level. Says Tejaswini, “We are not professional designers, we design because we are passionate about it. We have many repeat customers at exhibitions — they are not in love with us just because we are actors, but also because of the products we deliver to them. If we are good actors but don’t have good designs, why would people come to us? ”
To this Abhidnya adds, “In spite of being non professional designers, we have received amazing response to our designs.”
Their Dagina collection where they embroidered designs based on traditional Maharashtrian jewellery like Kolhapuri Saaj, Tanmani and Putali Haar, on sarees, was appreciated. “These jewelleries have been a part of our traditions for generations but aren’t seen much today. We intend to bring them into vogue,” says Tejaswini.
Unconventionally traditional
The actresses claim that Tejadnya has varied collections of one piece dresses, sarees and dupattas which set the trend of fusion of traditional and unconventional designs. “We have many well known designers who have given a touch of tradition to their designs and even we are doing the same. We intend to take Maharashtrian traditions to a different level and to different communities through Tejadnya,” says Abhindya.
Seconding her, Tejaswini says, “For instance, in our last collection, we had the Shiva Mudra which we are proud of, being Maharashtrians. So we have a tagline that says, ‘Abhimaanach nahi, maaz aahe amhala Marathi aslyacha’ which translates to ‘We are not just proud but arrogant about being Marathi.’ We go beyond traditional designs, and add a twist to them. For example, if we wear an Irkal dress, we click photos wearing that dress with nath and goggles.”
She adds that they bring designs that represent the youth. Even in sarees, they come up with designs that appeal to women of varied age groups. Says Tejaswini, “Any designs that appeal to us, will appeal to people also, as at the end of the day, we are just like them. We have understood the comfort and needs of the common customer.”
Owning the responsibility
Being actresses in their own right, the duo have a responsibility towards their audiences as well for what they promote. Speaking about it, Tejaswini says, “People do follow what we promote, as we are in a responsible position. If they dislike certain things we promote, then they criticise us. While designing, we can’t give away anything for the sake of it, we have to maintain the quality of our work. When we see people wear our designs and being happy about it, it gives us immense satisfaction.”
Abhidnya adds, “When we started designing, we didn’t want to introduce the trend of ‘actresses-turned-designers’. We only wanted to invest our creativity more substantially. And this venture became our creative outsource.”
Both of them add that over time, ‘Tejadnya’ became their responsibility as people started looking forward to their collections. The duo’s involvement in every minute detail, from zero to the finished product, makes them stand apart in the market.
One of the challenges they faced was getting karigars under one roof. They say that it is one of the disadvantages of being non-professional designers as everything has to be started from scratch. But looking at the better side, Tejaswini says, “We have many women and a few physically challenged people working for us. We are happy that we are taking our own people ahead and in a way, creating a platform for them as well. We feel extremely blessed to have them.”
Gaining a foothold in market
Tejadnya has gained a foothold in the market. “People order stuff online that has more options with varied price ranges. But in our case, we don’t have any branches, our collections are available with us and hence they are exclusive. Market is all about trends and we bring in new ones. The next thing we plan to launch is kids’ collection.”
