Spreading creative energy through luxury fashion and retail – Roshni Talera’s story

When both Vanity Fair and Vogue feature a brand among the world’s best, there’s not much left to the imagination about its success, right? Mysore Saree Udyog (MSU) might be a household name in southern India today, but during the brand’s launch back in 1932, my family had started it with the intention of manufacturing and supplying real gold threads, commonly known as Zari. Over the past 9 decades since its launch, we slowly expanded MSU into the manufacture and retail of authentic silk yarn and fabric, and the success of the brand today speaks for itself.

In the course of the 2 years that I worked in my family business at MSU, I established a fashion and lifestyle brand called Gyachi, meaning ‘creative energy’. Gyachi was the outcome of a gap in the counter within our store and the market at large – a need for unique and highly design-driven gifting and accessory products that we already had the backend support for. It was also a platform created to give artists from different walks of life a place to share their ideas through design, bring awareness, promote themselves and explore their creative ideas. The brand caters to highly design-focused accessories like scarfs, stoles, bags and trunks. We capture Indian arts and crafts in a contemporary context and create ethnic products focused on weddings.

In 2018, I started another new venture called Curatoria. A pop-up retail space in a high-traffic zone, it provides brands a platform to create powerful displays, engagement programs for potential customers, and also focus on sales. It is an end-to-end hassle-free experience that includes everything from visual merchandising assistance and marketing to modular furniture, maintenance and cleaning.

Since both these ventures were really close to my heart, I wanted to grow them, improve their positioning, and bring in new ideas for innovation and improvement. This is when I decided to join the Luxury Management program at SP Jain. The course helped me understand the luxury industry and work with some of the industry’s top leaders. SP Jain gave us access to great mentors from across the world and also allowed us to personally explore and understand the management of the world’s best brands through multiple study tours. Even the support I got from the faculty for my live project helped me a lot in putting the theory I studied into practice.

There are many things I learnt during the past few years which helped me get where I am today. If you wish to build your career in a similar field, these might be of some help to you:

• Do not stick to just books and classwork. A lot of research individually, as well as interaction with your professors, is very beneficial.
• I did not work in an industry hub ever. But this is something I would highly recommend if you wish to gain expertise in the field.
• It is always better to have a specific set of goals that you want to achieve during the course and after. It helps apply the knowledge you gain in a more practical manner.
• If you plan to work in Italy, learn Italian. It is definitely an add-on to your profile.
• Explore more than just the course. Travel on weekends. Participate in whatever events and clubs you can and make good connections.

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About the Author: Roshni Talera (MGLUXM’17)

Roshni Dinesh Talera is a Luxury Management graduate from SP Jain’s MGLuxM class of 2017. She is currently a part of the Second-Level Management at Mysore Saree Udyog LLP, the Co-founder and Creative Director of Gyachi (Unit of Mysore Saree Udyog), Founder of Curatoria LLP (Pop-up retail spaces), and a Business and Strategy Consultant at a Textile Museum Project in India.