CAPSUL was founded by Meenakshi Singh and Bhavisha Dave as a digital shop and platform for the streetwear community. Streetwear has always been about their personal sense of style, and their interest in it was heightened when they realised the size of communities in the streetwear world and the platforms afforded to them. It was during their time at PUMA, which exposed them to amazing projects with streetwear brands and culture leaders, that they realised the power of collaborations. Simultaneously, they witnessed interesting youth collectives making their presence felt in India. Indian millennials and Gen Z were looking for authentic streetwear that was easily accessible. They saw a gap in the market and decided to start CAPSUL. They truly believe in the ethos of streetwear being centred around freedom of expression. We’re in conversation with the duo about their intentions and more.
How do Bhavisha and Meenakshi work together?
Like two halves of a whole. Both of us bring different strengths to the business — we sometimes jokingly say CAPSUL was forged by fire and ice! Since we have worked together for over a decade, our unique process of knowing each other well, respecting each other, and having utmost trust in the other, always allows us to look at every aspect from all sides.
What does your curation process look like? What makes you pick a label?
It started off with what we’d like to wear, or have the men in our lives wear! Since then, with a few seasons under our belt, we now use some data points to guide us in picking a mix of styles that are commercial, and the one with which we’d like people to experiment. For instance, heavyweight, boxy shorter tees were introduced by us via three to four styles a couple of seasons ago, and now they’re the hottest selling tee style on CAPSUL. So a mix of what we want to see plus giving it a season or two to see how the community responds, before we go all in. For brands, we have a list we’re looking to onboard, and basis that priority list and the openness of the label to work with us, we onboard them.
What are your thoughts on streetwear in India? Do you think we are redundant or there's actual growth in terms of innovation and design?
Streetwear in India is still at a nascent stage. Currently, the larger audience still prefers hype over experimentation. But we’re already seeing a change. And this change is going to be constant. There are quite a few brands that have a unique point of view and we’re super excited by the coming up of these brands. With time, we expect a much larger number of brands repping Indian streetwear on a global stage.
Finally, what's keeping you busy right now?
We have three new brands we’re launching before the end of the year. CAPSUL will also introduce its new, dynamic, brand identity to the community and we’re super excited about that. Some elements will be unveiled at our pop-up on the third of September in Mumbai. And finally, we’re busy with the planning of our one month Delhi pop-up, which should go live in the third week of September.
Text Unnati Saini
Date 25-08-2022