Brands
Lakshita lights up Karwa Chauth with biggest festive bash across 21 stores
MUMBAI: Who said festive shopping had to be a serious affair? This season, Lakshita is rewriting the script with its ‘Chandni Raatein’ pre-Karwa Chauth party, rolling out the biggest retail celebration of its kind across 21 outlets, including 11 sparkling new stores.
The brand has gone all out to make shopping feel like a festival in itself. Think free mehendi, bangle and gajra counters, curated hampers brimming with Karwa Chauth essentials, live music, dhol beats, and even a spread of snacks to keep spirits high. Customers walking in aren’t just browsing clothes, they’re stepping into a carnival of colour, tradition, and togetherness.
“Festivals are about memories, and we wanted to give our customers an experience as joyful as the occasion itself,” said Lakshita, co-founder and managing director, Sachin Kharbanda. “With mehendi, bangles, hampers, and festive music, we’ve created an atmosphere that mirrors the spirit of Karwa Chauth.”
The move marks a milestone for the ethnic wear retailer, with Lakshita expecting a 50 per cent surge in footfall as shoppers embrace the chance to dress up, indulge, and celebrate under one roof. The festive merchandise has been carefully curated in hues that echo the season, ensuring every shopper leaves with both style and stories.
By transforming the ritual of shopping into a pre-festival gala, Lakshita has set the tone for the celebrations ahead, proving that sometimes, the real magic of tradition lies in how you choose to celebrate it.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
