It happened over dinner at an apartment on Cunningham Road. Housewives Vandana Virwani and Michelle Suri, both 37, thought of ways to get their professional lives back on track. “After marriage and children, we wanted to do something with our lives. One thing led to another and both of us decided to do affordable fashion,” says the Bangalore-born Virwani, who was making candles earlier. “Finding a place was no problem because of my husband Jitu (Jitendra of the Embassy Group).”
Chimes in Florida-born Suri, who spends time with her children in Bangalore every summer: “We signed a partnership in August last year, the very night I flew out of Bangalore. I am the buyer and Vandana is the seller. But we are partners in everything, even when we expand.”
Their new business address is Belle Bella, Embassy Diamante, 34 Vittal Mallya Road. “Bella means beautiful in Italian and since Michelle had a leather accessories showroom La Bella before, we decided to call it Bella Bella and make it our own.”
Bella Bella is for women’s only. “We have prêt lines for children between 2 and 14 years and ladies garments whose sizes range from 1 to 17,” says Virwani. “The store is for college students, working women and mothers.”
It was only a suggestion that blossomed into 1250 square feet of space that was ready in two weeks flat. And it’s already making people wear a smile. Says Virwani: “Everyone loves the jeans (corduroy, sandblasted, embroidery) and the costume jewellery, which is trendy and fun to wear.”
That’s not all. Bella Bella has funky bracelets, hair clips, cocktail rings, necklaces and belts. Says housewife Malini Kini: “Bangalore needed a store like this one.” Bindu Jaisingh, another housewife felt that it’s a “brilliant concept”. Former model Vinita Hegde thinks it’s “excellent stuff” and photographer Soshna Sood feels it’s “truly bellissimo stuff” and dietician Suja Isaac Mathai is won over by the “very friendly staff”.
But putting it together was not easy. “We wanted to be economical and still make the store look plush,” says Virwani. “We got lights and other odds and ends from Russell Market; used leftover wood; interacted with carpenters and painters to make inexpensive yet quality goods. We are still too raw. Can’t make a statement on when we would break even. We don’t know the pulse of the market yet.”
What’s dictating their merchandise is fashion trends abroad. “We source readymades from the US and Brazil,” says Suri. “My job is to know what’s the current fashion in places like Los Angeles and New York and make sure such goods reach Bangalore on time.”
The journey has only begun. “We intend to start a recreation centre and would like to get into wholesale or open franchisee outlets across the city and outside.”
That is, when the duo is not babysitting or doing yoga for atleast an hour a day.
(Published in City Reporter, 2003)