Brands
“We launch new styles based on customer feedback”: The Pant Project’s Dhruv Toshniwal
Mumbai: Comfortable and customisable bottom-wear is more than just clothing; it’s a statement of personal style and well-being. In a world where individuality reigns supreme, the right pair of pants can enhance confidence, mobility, and overall satisfaction. Whether for a casual outing or a professional setting, the significance of tailored comfort cannot be overstated, making it a cornerstone of contemporary fashion and everyday life.
Embracing this ethos, brands like ‘The Pant Project’ have taken the lead in crafting bottoms that seamlessly blend comfort with style, catering to the diverse needs of a dynamic and discerning customer base. The Pant Project is a timeless fashion brand that provides custom-made bottom wear through its e-commerce platform for consumers all across India & the world. The company came up with the idea for the brand in December 2019 and officially launched in October 2020. The Pant Project has envisioned crossing 100 crores in annual sales by 2025 and aims to become a household name and wardrobe staple in India
Delving deeper into the world of bottom wear, Indiantelevision.com caught up with The Pant Project founder Dhruv Toshniwal.
Edited Excerpts:
On The Pant Project setting itself apart in the competitive world of fashion and its contribution to your impressive growth in recent years
The Pant Project is leading the way in custom-made apparel in India by providing seamless digital tailoring to the age-old sizing issues that men and women face when buying bottom wear. The Pant Project allows you to customize your pants to fit and style preferences, and lets you choose from an array of over 250 plus styles of formals, chinos, cargos, jeans, joggers, shorts and more. To make sure customers are happy with the fit, the firm also provides free shipping and free alterations.
The Pant Project also provides complimentary personalised monogramming, making it possible to create an individualised wardrobe where each pant is truly yours. The brand has a focus on sustainability and uses cruelty-free merino wool, organic cotton, and 100 percent recycled polyester and Liva eco viscose. All these unique points set us apart from other players in the competitive world of fashion.
On challenges have you faced in scaling your business as a bootstrapped brand and the strategies that have proven most effective in overcoming these challenges
The challenges have been many – as a bootstrapped brand, we concentrated on assembling a small but effective team that could get the job done. We focused on building the best product in the market so that customers fall in love with our brand and share the word of mouth with others. We have also found innovative digital marketing strategies such as our Pantologists (“The Pant Pros”) campaign which has allowed us to increase awareness of our brand, while maintaining the cost of customer acquisition within a reasonable range.
Our focus on making customers happy with total dedication to the work at hand is the secret that makes us thrive.
On The Pant Project balancing comfort, style, and affordability in their product design, and the considerations that go into creating bottom-wear that resonates with a diverse customer base
The demand for comfortable clothing remains constant, regardless of how quickly trends come and go. The Pant Project aims to make world-class products that form the core of your everyday wardrobe. We ensure we source the highest quality raw materials, and do not compromise on our stitching quality. We launch new styles based on customer feedback, for example our six-pocket cargo pants were launched because customers were asking for multi-purpose pants that they could use while traveling that would have space to store their phone, wallet, keys and other belongings. We also focus a lot on fabric innovation and technology, launching products like our all-weather essentials which are wrinkle-resistant, water-repellent and thermo-regulatory. We have customers of all ages, shopping for pants for all occasions, so we design our product range to have a wide range of options for our diverse customer base.
On The Pant Project ensuring a consistent and inclusive fit for customers with varying body shapes and the measures that are in place to provide a seamless and confident shopping experience
We have data on over 200,000 body types in India, and have used this to determine the best slim, tapered and relaxed fit for our customer demographic. We offer sizes ranging from waist 26 to 50 plus, and we try to make the ordering process as simple as possible with our digital sizing guides and size charts. In case customers need any assistance, we have a team of stylists who are available seven days a week to help serve our customers.
On particular innovations or unique features that you’re excited to introduce to your customers
Brand investments in front- and back-end customer experience enhancement through technology are ongoing. Since 90 per cent of Pant Project consumers shop using their phones, the company is collaborating with a software company based in San Francisco to improve the user interface and user experience, especially on the mobile site. The brand has also used technology to allow customers to track their pants at each stage of the production process, allowing visibility into estimated delivery times and reducing anxiety amongst customers as to when they are going to receive their custom-made pants.
The Pant Project’s IT team is structured in a hybrid fashion, with developers in Mumbai and Bangalore and partners in Delhi and San Francisco. The brand has been able to attract top personnel to develop cutting-edge technological solutions such as a proprietary order management system that allows the company to operate at scale and make 500 plus custom-made pants each day as per each customer’s unique preferences.
On The Pant Project’s vision and mission for the next three years
The Pant Project has seen strong growth on its own website, and has recently launched on Amazon and Myntra. We want to continue growing in the future with an omni-channel strategy, and will be launching our first set of retail experience stores. The brand aims to continue to expand its digital and physical presence across India, and offer a wider variety of products to its growing customer base. We have already served over 100,000 customers in our first three years of operations, and now our goal is to serve one million customers in the next three years. We want more and more people to experience our brand and share their experience of comfort and convenience, so that we get recognised as the go-to place for pants, and become the #1 brand in bottom wear in the country.
Brands
JioHotstar EVP, head subscriptions (SVOD) and media Piyush Kothari exits
Streaming executive signs off after 6.5-year run across DisneyStar and JioStar
MUMBAI: Piyush Kothari, EVP and head subscriptions (SVOD) and media at JioHotstar, has stepped down from his role, bringing the curtain down on a 6.5-year stint spanning the DisneyStar and JioStar eras.
Kothari shared the update in a note reflecting on what he called a “transformative” phase for the media industry and a personal journey through the fast-evolving world of streaming and sports entertainment.
“The last few years have been transformative for the media industry and experiencing this journey up close over the past 6.5 years with DisneyStar and now JioStar has been a thriller,” he wrote, thanking colleagues and collaborators who shaped his time in the business.
Kothari joined JioHotstar in November 2024 as EVP, head subscriptions (svod) and media, where he oversaw subscription revenues and subscriber growth for the platform’s svod business.
Before that, he spent over five years at The Walt Disney Company in a series of leadership roles. His last position there was head of product, growth, partnerships and international expansion for Disney+ Hotstar, where he led efforts to scale subscription revenues across direct to consumer and partnership channels. The role also involved overseeing the service’s standalone businesses in markets such as Singapore, Canada and the UK.
Earlier, he served as lead, corporate office and strategic projects, working across the company’s entertainment, sports and streaming businesses. He also headed business operations at Mashal Sports, the entity behind the Pro Kabaddi League, where he helped steer the league through key commercial milestones including a five year broadcast and streaming media rights deal.
Alongside his operational roles, Kothari also served as nominee director on the board of Mashal Sports and was a director on the board of Novi Digital, the company that operates Hotstar.
Before entering the media and entertainment space, Kothari held senior roles across consulting, fintech and conglomerates. He worked with Welspun Group as head, group executive office, with Aditya Birla Group as joint president and business head, digital, analytics and strategy at Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank, and earlier served as vice president in the chairman’s office at the group.
His career also includes stints at Accenture as principal, Accenture Strategy, and earlier at Shell in channel development and sales.
Reflecting on his time in the media sector, Kothari said he leaves with a lasting belief in India’s subscription economy. He also joked about picking up a new affection along the way.
“Carrying with me love for kabaddi, a deep belief in the potential of the subscriptions business in India, and fond memories and friendships,” he wrote, adding that he is now “onward to the next chapter”.
