A Label for All Seasons

Seasons Apparels Private Limited is a success story of effort, perseverance and passion for Indian textiles and a tale of the revival of old textile heritage. Brinda Gill interviews textile merchant Viral Shah on the expansion of his business from one shop to an apparel entrepreneur.

- 

THE BEGINNINGS

Nemjibhai Shah, a businessman based in Vadodara began the company in the 1980s from a store that retailed ready-made garments in the old city. His son Viral Shah, who was studying to become an engineer, found the textile and apparel business more interesting than his chosen career. Therefore, upon completing his course in 1991, he began assisting his father at the store to learn the tricks of the trade.

Unfortunately, unrest in the old city forced them to shut shop. This prompted the father-son duo to rent another store in 1993, on Sarabhai Road – a newer area of the city, where there were hardly any retail outlets at the time. They named their store Seasons.

A careful observation of the consumer preference on Sarabhai Road helped Viral upscale his ready-made garments to embroidered and printed ones. “Since the venture was not large enough to have garments produced outside the city, it took time to get them stitched as per specification in Vadodara. The initiative picked up after a long struggle,” says Viral. During this time, Viral interacted with friends and textile designers. He also began working with artisans and garment designers to learn more about textile techniques and pattern making. In fact, he enjoyed visiting garment stores that stocked traditional Indian textiles with a simple stitch and style.

This conscious learning of the look and feel of Indian textiles helped Viral further his knowledge and involvement in the field. It also inspired him and his wife Meeta, to travel to various textile centres, procure goods and meet with artisans to help give a surface design to them. His goal was to design simple yet stylish garments for Seasons and expand the horizons of hand-made textiles and garments.