We are currently expanding AI styling capabilities
The Chic Indian is a contemporary fashion-tech platform redefining the discovery of India’s emerging and under-the-radar labels. Curated with a sharp editorial lens, it brings together capsule collections from homegrown designers who blend Indian roots with global sensibilities. Beyond curation, the platform introduces innovations like ‘Access Pricing’—a reward-based system for members—and an AI-driven stylist that personalises searches, addresses outfit dilemmas, and bridges cultural nuances in styling choices. With a focus on inclusivity, sustainability, and storytelling, The Chic Indian aims to build a community-first space that celebrates design and offers consumers a seamless journey of discovery.
Speaking to Fibre2Fashion, Founder Puja Goyal Sarvaiya shares the inspiration, curation philosophy, role of AI, and her long-term vision for transforming India’s fashion-tech landscape.
What inspired you to launch The Chic Indian, and how did your background in brand strategy shape its vision?
It began with a simple idea of building an intelligent, intuitive and well curated platform that I would have liked to personally shop from and resonated with. A platform that not only spotlights but is a one-stop shop for younger, contemporary Indian labels and their narratives, building enduring value between them and customers through a reward-based system that I have termed as ‘access pricing’. I saw a gap in the market—at the time, there was a dearth of a style-forward website with an opinionated perspective on fashion that matched the premium UI/UX of internationally known discovery platforms. I wanted people like me to feel the joy of discovery and to have found something they could add to their closets, more intentionally and in a personalised way. While building in 2024, I had a clear vision of leapfrogging with AI—while options are unlimited, online shopping can be overwhelming, and people usually struggle with styling or being able to put looks together. This can now be achieved with a humanised AI stylist that makes searches and user journeys seamless with faster results in as little as under 3 seconds. Choosing AI in a cluttered fashion e-commerce market and building with it, instead of implementing it later on, was a strategic call I took at the time.
The Chic Indian already houses over 40+ homegrown labels. How do you select and curate brands, and what do you look for in emerging designers?
I have worn many of the labels on board to Paris and London Fashion Weeks and have a personal connection with some of them. There are various factors considered while onboarding—such as quality, unique sensibilities, storytelling, sustainability aspects aside from design, category, price points and whether or not the label is widely seen in the market. A lot of the labels were previously part of my ‘Instagram directory’ and are now seen together on The Chic Indian. I have chosen labels and designers that I would wear and those that appeal to me.
Beyond curation, your platform also offers Access Pricing with up to 20 per cent discounts. How do you balance affordability with supporting designers fairly?
Access pricing or members’ pricing rewards one up to 20 per cent off on every purchase, every time one makes a purchase on the platform. This discount or rather reward for choosing ‘Made or found in India’ is only visible to those that sign up to become valued members of the platform, a way for labels to give discretionary discounts to customers unlike seasonal sales or a First Buy offer. One keeps coming back to the website and is able to save a lot more in the long run, rather than waiting for the sale period.
You have embraced inclusivity and sustainability by offering gender-neutral and pre-loved styles. How do these values shape the future of Indian fashion discovery and The Chic Indian’s brand DNA?
Inclusivity and sustainability, along with body-positive clothing, are vital to the future of Indian fashion discovery and core to our brand DNA. My own love for collecting vintage and pre-loved pieces since my early twenties has shaped The Chic Indian’s ethos—we want people to embrace the cyclical nature of fashion and value pieces that outlast trends. Gender-neutral fashion was also an intentional choice, as millennials and Gen Z increasingly prefer fluid styles beyond streetwear. We cater to this modern, non-conformist audience that seeks diversity, practises sustainability, and values authenticity.
Indian wear is deeply tied to occasions and traditions. How does AI adapt to contexts like weddings, festivals, and family gatherings where styling choices carry cultural weight?
It is an exciting time to be in the AI fashion space; advanced tech can understand cultural nuances as we have trained it to do so. One can search for traditional or occasion Indian wear and describe the event they would like to wear it for and receive emotionally intelligent responses that correspond to the request. With The Chic Indian’s AI stylist, customers can search by describing something as descriptive as a ‘modest outfit for a puja with grandparents’ to ‘outfits for Navratri festivities in New York’. They can also drag or drop an image to visually search the platform. The AI stylist fills in the void contextually where there are gaps in descriptions, keywords, tags that do not always match the product or what one is envisioning to find and that is culturally relevant.
AI is often associated with automation, but you describe it as a way of delivering relevance. How does your platform ensure that recommendations are personalised and culturally nuanced rather than generic?
The Chic Indian’s AI Stylist is trained to answer in a human tone and not simply as a Q&A. It is also trained to answer all kinds of styling dilemmas and occasion-led scenarios one would seek assistance for in real life. One could be looking for outfits for dates, dressing for an art event, modern Indian outfits for weddings, looking for office wear—this particular one could lead to sarees (if gender was mentioned as female), which are considered as relevant formal apparel to wear in offices in India. Today AI styling assistance can cater to diverse regional tastes across India.
With thousands of options online, shoppers often face decision fatigue and outfit anxiety. How does your AI Styling Assistant meaningfully address these challenges?
Our AI stylist makes shopping smarter and more personal by narrowing searches based on size, age, body type, and skin-tone-friendly colours. It also considers scenarios, occasions, moods, and styles to surface the most relevant options. With a built-in size calculator for fit confidence, it reduces returns and enhances satisfaction. By understanding micro-trends and offering contextual, human-like interactions, it eases the paradox of choice and makes shopping seamless and enjoyable. It turns data into decisions while offering contextual suggestions, making shopping feel personal.
Visual search is a powerful tool. How do you see it changing the way Indian consumers engage with fashion, especially for occasion wear?
For long, we have used tools like Google lens to locate and discover styles, often finding relevant matches. In an ephemeral world, a visual search tool makes it easier to locate something that may have been seen on a TV show, on an influencer or celebrity, on an Instagram story that did not tag the label, or from one’s own closet to find similar matches. A visual AI commerce search capability like that of The Chic Indian’s can effectively locate from premium homegrown labels and reduce purchase fatigue from constant scrolling. The future is AI reliant; the visual tool will become more prevalent as a tool to snap and find all kinds of fashion including occasion wear.
How do you envision merging physical retail experiences with your AI-driven online discovery model?
Retail formats need reimagining now with AI capabilities in mind. People still largely prefer shopping offline for sizing, fit checks, quality, availability at hand and comparison. The Chic Indian envisions hosting showroom styled experiential pop-ups with AI touchpoints to bridge the offline and online worlds with AI styling tools available for customers to experience the tech, and in order to see a larger offering than what an offline format would present.
In the future of fashion-tech, how do you see the balance between technology and human creativity evolving?
I see a symbiotic relationship rather than the popular notion of machine learning replacing human creativity. Take, for instance, with The Chic Indian—I believe that tech is a mere enabler to the art of curation; it does not impede it but helps customers make more informed choices from some of the choicest products made by talented homegrown labels. I see it as a collaboration that fosters growth in the same direction.
Beyond discounts and price wars, what does it really take to build digital platforms that celebrate design, culture, and storytelling?
Premium and mass-premium shoppers are thoughtful; instead of being convenience-first, they seek meaning-first brands and products. A platform must stand for something. For us, it is about championing emerging Indian labels—our very name, The Chic Indian, tells that story. We support local design movements and curate with intention through an editorial lens. There is merit in having a distinct point of view, as that is how communities are built. We emotionally anchor ours through narrative integrations, taking customers behind the scenes with ‘Born in India’—a section dedicated to stories from our labels—and ‘Symposium of Style’, our blog that reflects our thought process.
Many global fashion-tech platforms have entered India but struggled to capture the Indian aesthetic. What do you think they often miss about Indian wear and shopping habits?
The Indian aesthetic is often misconstrued as purely ethnic or traditional—limited to festive or occasion wear. What they miss is that homegrown labels also cater to everyday wardrobes, where the true ‘Indianness’ lies in fabrics, weaves, craftsmanship, and techniques rather than just silhouettes. Owing to India’s diversity, global platforms frequently adopt a one-size-fits-all approach, overlooking local cultural and social nuances. Moreover, India is a price-sensitive market, where even premium shoppers value deals and perceive them as markers of great value—something many international platforms fail to emphasise.
In your view, why is discovery becoming such an important theme in global fashion e-commerce today, especially in markets with overwhelming choice?
In the blink-and-you-miss-it world, it is rather easy to be lost in the sea of content and the sheer volume of products making it cumbersome for customers to find what they want. In the age of (and adoption of) quick commerce, everyone is looking for instant gratification. However, curation brings curiosity and that is the true differentiator in discovery models, i.e. they may want something but do not know where to find it. A tighter curation also leads to quicker decisions as too many options can also paralyse consumers. Discovery enables surfacing of relevant products and helps with building loyalty with customers.
Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for The Chic Indian, and how do you see the intersection of AI and fashion evolving in India over the next decade?
We are currently in the development phase of introducing conversational commerce across social media and communication channels, while expanding AI styling capabilities and immersive try-ons. AI is a growth catalyst for fashion, and India is poised for significant expansion with its rapidly growing digital-savvy consumer base. Personalised shopping journeys, powered by algorithms that analyse individual tastes, browsing patterns, and purchasing habits, will be further enhanced by virtual try-ons and augmented reality. Decision-making will increasingly be influenced by AI-generated fashion content and virtual influencers. With both backward and forward integrations, AI will not only make the industry more consumer-centric, agile, and innovative but also help preserve and promote India’s cultural roots.
