Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt plans to expand her fashion direct-to-consumer (D2C) start-up Ed-a-Mamma's business to UAE and Europe next year. The actor told PTI that Ed-a-Mamma is her first entrepreneurial venture that focuses on sustainable clothing for kids at affordable price points.
"I would like to focus on expanding outside India and add more categories to the brand. We started with a kids wear brand and are launching maternity wear this year. I would like to expand more into the infant segment. I would like to even add more vertical categories in and around the space of family care," Bhatt said when asked about her plans for the next two-three years.
Ed-a-Mamma was started in October 2020, after Bhatt saw a lack of world class home-grown brands providing sustainable clothing options for kids at affordable prices. The company has been selling through online platforms like FirstCry, AJIO, Myntra etc.
When asked about international business plans, the actor said "The UAE is first on our list. Once that gets kicked off, I think by next year, we should be up and kicking in UAE and then kind of expand to Europe as well. Maybe, a year after that, focus on the rest of the world," Bhatt said.
The actor has put a team of 60 people to work at the company. Ed-a-Mamma started with 160 product options and now has over 1,800 options, which has been designed and made by the company at its own facility, she added.
"In the first two years, I did not associate my name with the brand to test if the product will sell on its own or not. In the last three months our sales have gone up by 10 times. Now we are getting into retail. We have partnered with Lifestyle and Shoppers Stop. Our products will be available at 40 outlets by the end of this month," Bhatt said.
The actor said that along with the business, Ed-a-Mamma, as a brand, is more about storytelling to create better understanding of the planet and make children more sensitive about it.
"You are investing in children because you want them to be more sensitive towards the planet and the generations to come should also have the same ethos. The storytelling should tie-in from all aspects. While retail is one part of it, education and storytelling is another part of it. That's also something that I would like to look at," Bhatt said.
