Extend our activewear products which can also be everydaywear
A homegrown, activewear brand based out of Ahmedabad, the journey of Truerevo started with an agenda to create a product that not only offered a great feel but also motivated its consumers to focus on higher-quality living. The company today boasts of a full range of sports, fitness and running apparel for men & women. Rohan Shah, CEO of Truerevo, spoke to Paulami Chatterjee, about the inspiration behind founding of the brand, the company’s progress through the years and new categories it wants to get into.
What inspired you to start a sportswear company? What kind of market study did you do related to this, and what were the findings?
When we started, there were only big international players in the market. There was no catering to actual performance fabrics in India or for the Indian market. There was a huge requirement for this kind of clothing as there was no real focus on the functionality of the users or catering to the real need of the consumers. Another apprehension was the price points. All the premium sportswear brands had a very high price point and the general population could not afford it. Therefore we wanted to make a product for the general population of our country that everyone could afford and something that also focused on the functionality of people and athletes.
How do you retail your clothes online and offline? What are the marketing strategies you employ?
We retail majorly online, through Amazon, and our own e-comm website. We even sell to 50 countries overseas and currently we have one offline store which we plan to scale up to 100 stores in the next 3 years.
Which are your major markets as of now in India? Do you export your clothes as well?
Since we are primarily an e-commerce company, we are geography agnostic. But we also have a very loyal customer base in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and other metros. However, our sale comes from all over the country. Especially running groups who do regular fitness activities, love to wear our products and our loyal consumers. Yes, we also export to 50+ countries with our major country of export being the United States of America with the UK & Germany being second and third.
5 years down the line, how has your company progressed in terms of overall business?
From the time we launched our Kickstarter project, we’ve come a long way. We are one of the top-selling running apparel brands on Amazon. In gymwear and activewear, our innovation has been growing leaps and bounds.
Considering that most of your apparel is for various sports, what types of performance fabrics do you use and where is the sourcing for these done from?
We use fabrics with moisture-wicking and anti-bacterial finish. Moisture-wicking is basically dry-fit fabric where the fabric takes out the moisture from inside and throws it out so the apparel dries much faster. An anti-bacterial finish helps us reduce the smell of sweat from the fabric drastically during high-intensity activity. In our high-performance garments, we also have a few other features/fabrics like anti-UV and anti-static finishes.
With so much sensitivity around sustainability around the world, how are you as a brand warming up to the idea?
I think the sustainable push is a great thing to have happened to the world and people are getting conscious about our environment. We as a brand have started to explore products made from recycled polyester and will soon be getting into apparel with sustainability as a built-in feature.
What are the new technologies and products you are focussing on at the moment?
In terms of new technologies, we believe that even an average user should have the benefit of using very good performance fabric like moisture-wicking or antibacterial features. But we are also focused on stretch, where the fabric moves with you. This has been included in all of our bottoms for both men and women. New category-wise, we want to extend our activewear products which can also be everydaywear. This category of clothing can be worn at the airport or when you step out or just on a casual day.
What are your competitive advantages over other makers of sportswear?
Our competitive advantage has always been that we never compromise over the quality of our products. We offer quality that is class apart with a very good price point and amazing functionality customised for each category of user.
Where does the manufacturing of clothes happen?
We have our own production units, here in Ahmedabad. We also outsource our products from cities like Delhi, Ludhiana, NCR, Mumbai & Tirupur. But all of the ideation, R&D happens inhouse.
How do you plan to scale up your production process in the future?
We believe that we want to provide our customers with the best possible product and inculcate in it cutting-edge technology and the best fabric. In the future, we are putting up new units with the latest machines for sewing techniques, fusing techniques, and seam sealing techniques and looking to provide high-performance garments to the customer.
