The Six yards of elegance, sarees have a market size estimation of around INR 600 Bn by financial year 2025 (as per Statista reports). In the country , known to have a huge following for the action happening on 22 yards, there is a big market which is catering to the consumers dressing up in the 6 yards of sarees.

The sarees of India come from all parts of the country and have amazing stories about their origins. The recent Republic Day had a special installation in the Kartavya path titled ‘Anant Sutra – The Endless Thread’ to showcase saree, India’s timeless tribute to the fashion world. (as mentioned in the Ministry of Culture article)

Kalaneca , now in the 6 year of official operations and in the 10th year of kick starting the idea, has taken substantial efforts to put Uppada silk sarees on the global map.

In this latest episode of PAC Talks, Ramya Rao , Co founder of Kalaneca shared the journey of the brand that is weaving stories around sarees with a plan to go beyond sarees.

You can listen to complete interview on Apple , Spotify (PAC Talks with VJCV) where we spoke about sarees, dance forms, technology, Gen Zs, and more. The below article is a snippet of the conversation.

Ramya after completing her education, joined HCL Technologies followed by spending around a decade with Reliance Industries. Ramya decided to go full time with Kalaneca in 2022.

The story of Kalaneca is about bringing the dream of a mother into reality. A dream to bring Uppada into the global stage. Uppada is a village situated near Kakinada in the Indian state of Andra Pradesh.

Mrs. Lata Rao noticed the talent of her daughters at an early age. The twin sisters, Ramya and Kavea who took up dancing in the age of 3 , were always close to art.

So when the girls saw the passion with which their mother was supporting the weavers of Uppada , they decided to step in and help turn the dream into reality in the form of Kalaneca.

Ramya talking about the beginnings of Kalaneca mentioned ” It started as a passionate hobby in 2014. My sister Kavea and I were on a call when we just said that it’s time to take the Uppada story to the world because you can only do so much by taking people to Uppada. So it was an idea that stemmed from our inspiration , our mother. “

The first four years , Kalaneca was trying to get in to the rhythm. They started a blogpost page for the brand, handled individual orders and kept the passion alive.

“We were very clear that the name must reflect art . We are classical dancers and art has played an important role in shaping us. We thought of the word ‘Kala‘ and our friend instantly thought of the word ‘nikaah’ signifying marriage so that when combined it truly culminates into marriage of art forms.” – Ramya explained the thought behind the name Kalaneca.

It was in 2018 , the brand Kalaneca started to get going. The customisation kick started in 2019, with the wedding of one of the sisters, Kavea. The dream of wearing a customised wedding saree made them utilise the strength of the weavers to create something unique. This was the beginning of customisations in Kalaneca and now this is the USP of the brand.

The best part is that the customer can customise , get the design on the saree and it will not be used for another customer. The only saree with that design in the world like a patented designed saree.

The target customer group of Kalaneca is in the age group of 30-55. However , the founders of the brand have realised the importance of Gen Z.

“If we do not get Gen Zs as our customers then our scale and size will not grow faster. They call the shots as who is the popular brand. Gen Zs are changing the narrative. Gen Zs have a voice and they are not scared to share it. ” added Ramya.

One interesting collection that caught my attention is the ‘CEO Club’ wear sarees by Kalaneca. Ramya explained the reason for launching this collection: “We believe that we are all CEOs of our lives. So the CEO club is an ode to every one who believes in patience and dedication that takes to not only drape a saree beautifully but also climb the success ladder to become the CEO. Today’s CEOs wear sarees , but we believe it’s not the position , it’s our ability to see the CEO in us that makes part of this CEO club.”

Ramya is currently pursuing her MBA with ISB. She is already putting into use the financial reporting, marketing techniques learned at ISB to take the brand to greater heights. Ramya spoke about the support received from her ISB class mates. She mentioned that they came out with phenomenal ideas , including the use of technology that we at Kalaneca can leverage on AI to create app and have customisations. So the power of customisation is with the customer. 

The customisation process involves creating the ‘graphs’ which are used to make the designs. Once the customer approved the design , the weaving starts and the delivery period varies depending on the intricacy of work.

Talking about the impact of technology especially Artificial Intelligence, the co founder of the brand spoke about the customers who are using AI to create designs. Ramya emphasised on the point that loom will never get replaced. AI can be used for customisations, marketing, etc. She added “We will need it to scale the brand. That is why we are now looking at investment as well. Investment will help us propel for the technological part. I will need heavy investments for creating App, etc. “

The weavers play a crucial part in the journey of brand Kalaneca. Currently there are 75 weavers and 140 looms who weave the sarees for Kalaneca. It was good to hear from Ramya about the impact made by the brand in enriching the lives of the weavers. They feel empowered , they feel are part of the Kalaneca growth story which is very fulfilling. Ramya also added that they make the payments up front to the weavers. She added that Kalaneca believes in ‘You Smile, We Smile‘.

Talking about the interactions of the sisters with the Uppada weavers, the thoughts of weavers, etc. Ramya added:-

“What did they do with our Sarees ? 

‘Penkuti illu’ in Telugu which means small hut. In that small house, one entire room is dedicated to loom.

It is dingy, it is dark, yet an entire family flourish in that.  They are now enjoying it, these two sisters are not coming for themselves they are coming for us . I think that shift has taken 10 years. In 10 years, they have realised and that shift has been remarkable. 

Our weavers are 10 years younger to me, we always maintain the respect. It is not the age that commands respect, it is what you do. You don’t demand , you command respect.”

Couple of years ago, Kalaneca launched a unique curated event called ‘Sarees & Sangrias’ to bring all the offerings under one roof. The initial two years saw only Kalaneca as the saree brand for this event. However after their interactions with WE-Hub they realised that more brands / people want to be part of it. She added that now going forward, multiple single brand will be part of the event and it will be way to build the community. Drive this to various cities across India and even at international . Ramya added that they realised if they want to go far, they have to collaborate , do things together and acknowledged the support of WE Hub (Telangana). It is Win Win for all the brands. 

The formative years of the sisters along with the experience garnered from the corporate life has helped them build the brand. Ramya is a dancer , an ex-television anchor and a certified facilitator having worked in the corporates for more than a decade. She is the daughter of Naval officer and a Republic Day Parade NCC cadet , her experiences and the exposure she received has shaped her personality.

She added “our journey has been diverse, our journey has been mixed, but there’s been one common thread across.It’s to always do what you’re passionate about. Be it in corporate, be it as anchor, and now being as an entrepreneur.”

One of the highlights of the interview was the way Ramya put across the unique qualities of the attire, saree. She emphasised that a Saree is the only garment which does not come with a S,M,L,XL tag. That is why six yards of freedom. You wear it the way you want and express yourself. The sisters have also designed their own special ways to wearing the saree and mentioned that there around 300 ways of wearing a saree.

They have understood the market dynamics now. The focus on silk will always be there for them however the brand has expanded to cotton sarees as well to cater to a wider and regular use customer segment. In addition to this, the brand will soon be entering the men’s attire segment with the launch of kurtas and shirts.

Going back to the art forms and its influence of Kalaneca, Ramya touched up on the nuances. The dancer who carries a tattoo in her arm which reads “I dance, there fore I am“, added that dance is self expression, there is nothing right or wrong. “Whenever you think, you think from the expression point of view. You are weaving the movements when you dance. “

She also spoke about belly dancing and how she has been learning, teaching belly dance for the last 10-12 years. This dance form has a lot of grace and people often confuse it. Ramya credited Meher Malik for playing a pivotal role in bringing belly dancing to India. 

The brand is based in Mumbai. They visit Uppada to meet the weavers and their mother continues her visits to the weavers often for Kalaneca work. In the last decade, Kalaneca have sold around 100,000 sarees and have customers in US, UK, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland, etc. The brand will be soon launching a signature edition saree called ‘The Queen’s Gambit”.

The brand recently got an opportunity to showcase their work at the famous Mumbai Kalaghoda event. This once again helped them to check if they are doing right , if they are in the right space , etc as the Kalaghoda event audience have higher artistic inclination. The brand did really well in the event and some new customer acquisitions also happened for them. She added “We put up weavers photos in the branding at Kalaghoda. We believe that we are here because of them. We are okay if people go directly to the weavers.” 

The sisters are creating the magic together and have indeed brought Uppada to the global stage. The brand is planning to expand and Ramya gave a glimpse of what is getting weaved in the back end. They are working on a concept called ‘Beyond sarees‘ – which will see sarees , styling, voice, movement – a company to help with self expression. A place which will focus on ‘The Freedom to Express.”

Looks like they are playing to their strengths, with Kavea , one of the leading global award winning anchor and Ramya , with her L&D experience clubbed with dance and are curating something special.

It is really interesting to see how two sisters picked up on their mother’s dream, weaved a story around that and planning to take the brand to global audience.  

They do have a unique USP , the bond of twin sisters:

“The best advantage is where we both know when we are in sync and when we are about to go out of sync. It helps in decision making , it helps in staying aligned to the vision . There is no ego because truly we are equals here :)” concluded Ramya.

The saree market is growing and it will be brands like Kalaneca who will picking up the small pies with their unique customised offerings. Personlisation will be a game changer and lots of brands across sectors focusing on this now.