Dhruv Toshniwal, a graduate from Wharton, who has worked in fintech sector US and Mexico. A die-hard fan of Manchester United and a fitness freak. Loves cricket, but not sure which IPL team to support.
Dhruv took a call to come back to India and join the family business of textiles. However, he was craving to do something on his own. He was still looking for ideas when he and his brother Udit — a graduate from Chicago and the creative brain of their company — realised that they are not able to find a perfect fit in trousers in India; at least not something that matched their expectations and requirements from a readymade pant. This got them thinking.
“I struggled after returning to India to find the perfect bottom wear, especially online. The Indian legacy brands had not upgraded themselves to the digital narrative,” says Dhruv. “The e-commerce market was just evolving, and we thought this was the ideal time to tap it. What was need, became a business idea and a passion.”
However, it was only after around 1000 trials on family and friends that Dhruv and Udit decided to finally launch their The [Pant] Project. If you are wondering why the rectangular brackets for ‘pant’; it’s simple —they are redefining the word ‘pant’.
“The idea was to innovate and give a variety of bottom wear for every individual’s need,” informs Dhruv. “Therefore, we have high quality fabric that performs best for the client. We comprehended that most preferred pants that they could wear from work to party. We have pants in all weather fabric that’s wrinkle free, stretchable, and thermoregulatory, breathable,” he elucidates.
Dhruv has an interesting observation about the client profile in India. “India is like entire Europe in one country. There’s varied profile — East, West, North, South, Central — all are different.” Can you elaborate? “Well… for example, in Southern States people are conservative and prefer core colours. Northern States are more flamboyant, willing to push fashion boundaries and experiment with colours; they would be willing to wear a pastel pink or coloured camouflage.”
Is that the reason they chose Rishabh Pant as their Brand Ambassador for their men’s wear? “Well… yes, one of the reasons was that he is flamboyant… but he is also authentic and a youth icon. He is honest in his expression.”
After working in US, Mexico… how was India? What was the basic difference he found? “The India I left was unaware of e-commerce, fintech etc. Today, even a paanwalla accepts digital pay option,” Dhruv tells. “Also, the logistics and infrastructure has improved immensely. We found that the supply systems and logistics are incredibly good. That helps us deliver in flat 10 days after receiving the order online.”
Is the project now on auto pilot with all systems in place? “That’s a scary thought,” says Dhruv. “Today we service 10000 customers a month. And we are managing it well. But when the volume grows to say 30000 or 50000, we will have rethink about the systems, upgrade them and face new challenges. We can never be on auto pilot.”
Dhruv speaks about his project passionately and it is obvious that he is a workaholic. How does that go with his wife, knowing that he is recently married?
“Thankfully she understands the startup world as she herself works in the same zone,” Dhruv says with a laugh.
And work-life balance otherwise… how does he manage that? “My life is simple. I am an early riser and ensure that I have enough time for family, work and my health — workout etc.”
Any interests other than work? “I love sports. I follow football and cricket quite closely. Man U is my favourite team in the Premiere League and I am happy that they are doing well this year... after a long time,” Dhruv signs off.
