Mumbai: Fashion and luxury are undergoing a transformative journey, with sustainability, innovation, and consumer resonance at the forefront. In this dynamic landscape, The House of Fashionv3rse (THOF) emerges as a beacon of change, challenging traditional norms and redefining the premium retail environment in Bharat.
Led by visionary Mithun Bhardwaj, THOF is not just a marketplace; it's an ecosystem of powerful brands united by a commitment to quality, sustainability, and disruptive narratives. From democratising India's manufacturing infrastructure to curating compelling in-house brands, THOF embodies a new era of luxury—one where innovation, technology, and aspirational values converge to shape the future of fashion.
Indiantelevision.com caught up Fashionv3rse founder Mithun Bharadwaj to gain deeper insights on the brand's genesis, future of fashion industry, its connection to LVMH and much more…
Edited Excerpts:
On envisioning the future of the fashion industry, particularly in terms of sustainability and innovation, and your brand's alignment with these trends
It is now obligatory to move towards sustainable practices, it’s not left to choices anymore. We are all responsible in every way to contribute, however we see this in-depth responsibility in the current format of many brands and especially marketplace models hence we decided to declutter the current clutter they have been building. We were more than ready to bring in an ecosystem such as ours to make a paramount change at large, first we don’t need so many products and brands just to fill in spaces and some underrated agenda of a marketplace but we need the right stories and brands which is there to fulfil a lifestyle need without being in abundance most of which is ideally useless, if you will pick up their data, you would realise how many of those products actually bring in the revenue, why build so much in the first place with no direct supply chain control and sell at deep discounts to entertain return and return by confusing a consumer and hence, a group of selected brands with complete control of supply chain was the first step followed by operating, going to operate with compliant factories which are fully equipped towards conscious practices and our narrative and categories themselves are an equivalent to conscious consumerism not only in the product but also in the buying and selling behaviour. We are going to call our cloud factories “craftsmen workshop” with ethical practices.
On the evolving landscape of luxury and brands staying relevant in an ever-changing market
Luxury market is to hit a $82 billion market by 2030, with Jio Plaza opening up to major global luxury brands, increasing credit penetration in India and many such factors, it is screaming for us to build homegrown premium brands, however when people launch brands, most of them launch it with an idea of inventory building rather it should be focused on deep rooted consumer connect and problem solving capabilities in some form, sales will become its by-product and inventories will be planned better. The spending capacity and demographic dividend and the traditional root of India being driven by a status quotient, it is all lining up well to give our consumers the right set of luxury which is also accessible for a larger audience and once you find your niche, you won’t struggle to stay relevant.
On your inspiration behind embarking on the journey of creating THOF, and how does your vision for the brand differ from traditional fashion ventures
It’s a mix of many factors, the most important of which was to upgrade both the brand eco-system and consumer offering. The industry has evolved, the platforms haven’t. Their innovation is limited to offering more discounted offers and adding more brands and killing the environment. They are all decades old. Again, there is a dire need for a vertically integrated platform and a group which dares to build an audacious vision. Circling back to fusing in the rich backend manufacturing infra of our country to the frontend consumer and bring them what they ship to global brands.
Even the biggest of the export houses are doing millions of dollars of revenue are job workers for international brands feeding and funding the west everyday unknowingly and knowingly and here we are more than ready with our appetite for consumption which is being spoilt everyday by people not thinking big and entering just watching shark tank India with no agenda to bring in change but get valuation and funding as an ultimate goal. Such major loopholes helped us channelise THOF as a game changer.
On THOF's "Ghost factory" model and its democratisation of India's manufacturing infrastructure while maintaining a focus on sustainability and quality
Ghost factory aka cloud factory model is one of the most interesting part of our backend supply chain. When you partner or bring in a large compliant factory producing millions of pieces as your confounding team, you have chances of being lost as a new kid on the block in that unit. We were cautious of such an outcome, also technology works the best in an environment built to control the supply chain and since we are integrating blockchain for traceability and sustainability, the cloud factory set-up inside a compliant factory made a lot of sense from every perspective.
On an in-depth understanding of LVMH and its connection to THOF
LVMH is one of the largest and richest group in the whole world. We are all talking about Thrasio model or Mensa brands or house of brand etc, however these guys did it back in the day, they launched primary brands and acquired the rest, build a platform with over 75 brands today catering to lifestyle categories, it’s a beautiful business model if decoded, but one has to stick to the whole playbook and thesis of what they do and how they do it. They do not sell products, they sell status and aspirations, it isn’t just about the price point, it is the innovation and concept which plays the hero and that’s what intrigued us the most.
India is ready in every form to have a structure as such, we cannot go back in time and spend 100 years as them to build legacy brands but we can build brands which can turn into legacy as today, in the digital era , we literally follow dog years. So, we are targeting all the categories that LVMH captures today, that is, fashion & lifestyle, alcobev, diamonds and beauty and hence we have concocted strong beautiful narratives in our brand portfolio with very strong and powerful brand names.
On THOF's purpose-led approach resonating with consumers, especially Gen-Z and Millennials, and contributes to the brand's success
Today consumers aren’t searching for products, they are searching for something in the product and that something is what we are creating. The youth is aware, today someone sitting in New York and Kanpur are literally watching the same content at the same time, the differential is the accessibility to acquire the same products today, that is what we are here to bring in and solve that aspirational quotient by building it into reality. The brands are an in-house portfolio, each one of them are concocted to cater to different senses of a human desire and want. We see a lot of need based products in the market today, unlike we are going to fulfil the “want”.
On THOF comparison to cricket formats like test matches, one-day cricket, and the IPL
IPL is the most intriguing format of cricket. It fuses entertainment with sport, hence we say Amazon & Flipkart are like the test matches, the first format of e-commerce industry who got the ball rolling, Myntra, Ajio & Nykaa, are like the one day cricket, which upgraded the lifestyle of the consumer and now THOF is the IPL which is going to disrupt by building a community of successful people consumed by those who would love to be successful and practice and manifest it from today. Every brand of THOF is like a team of IPL, with its own narrative, strength, strategy, determination, energy and people from multiple advents of industry and co-owning it with us to multiply the power of each brand and bring in their expertise.
On THOF's attempt to change the way people in India think about luxury by using technology and innovation behind the scenes, similar to big brands like Balenciaga, Amiri, Off White, Cartier, Hermes, and Tiffany's
It’s simple, luxury isn’t defined by price points, luxury is to have the right products, & THOF is going to offer the best products and statement pieces. With the integration of tech into product and understanding the playbook of these global brands, THOF is all set to disrupt and build India’s brands with global impact.
On your plan to reshape the premium retail environment in Bharat and ensuring the products you provide resonate with the values and aspirations of today's youth
We are all set to democratise the rich backend manufacturing infrastructure as we have deeply penetrated in the area & guess what, the infusion of the same with is topped with some super interesting brand concepts, statements & aspiring product lines which is the key to disruption. Our firm grip on creates and storytelling, is further enhanced by our innovative "ghost | cloud factory" model which is termed as “Craftsmen Workshop “, which has transformed the way we execute this vision. Our in-house brand concepts are exceptionally compelling & by harnessing a fraction of your existing capacity, we are set to catalyse exemplary revenue growth within a few short years, culminating in a remarkable consumer community. We are here to exclusively feature in-house brands under one ecosystem, each with its own captivating narrative. This model, combined with our "variable Asset Light" approach, sets us apart as a venture with enormous potential which will lead to great profitability as well.
As mentioned above THOF is going to be vertically integrated with control over the supply chain, pricing, designs, innovation, tech and the operations by democratising the rich backend infra of our country to front-end consumers. Reshaping the premium market in every way possible by capturing a large pie of the market cap.
On Mithun Bhardwaj's leadership transforming Fashionv3rse into a unique marketplace, distinct from traditional retail platforms
Delhi has been famous to produce great minds and personalities such as SRK in his domain to Virat in his… Mithun Bhardwaj comes from the similar genre of personality but in the fashion & lifestyle industry, said by many veterans and advisors around. He is a commercially patriotic mind with a great mix of business brains and remarkable creativity. His vision is crisp and clear and so is the business model. THOF isn’t a marketplace selling many brands and products, THOF is an ecosystem of powerful brands backed by a robust supply chain control with a bold narrative and vision and only a true leader can dare to challenge the status quo and shatter the traditional definition by exhibiting brilliant theories under one roof.
