Hyderabad: Susmitha Lakkakula has set up her own clothing line called Cloud Tailor after she finished her master’s degree from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, MBA from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kolkata, and worked in lucrative paying jobs at Wipro, Dell, and Quantum but her desire to do something unique led her to start her own business.
Every woman wants to have her own style, and stand out from the crowd. Even after scouring through hundreds of designs, the search for the perfect dress goes on. However, not everyone can afford high fashion thus to provide designer clothes at affordable prices, Susmitha used technology to her advantage to create a variety of designs much to the satisfaction of her customers.
Susmitha is a double postgraduate and a software engineer by profession and a mother of two. She had an impeccable sense of style for as long as she remembers and would get her clothes stitched the way she wanted.
The postpartum weight gain and shortage of good tailors especially during the lockdown, made her come up with the idea of an online clothing store. She launched her online boutique, Cloud Tailor in 2020, and got an app developed for the same. She opened physical stores in the city and within no time, the clothing line gained around 16,000 customers.
The customers can specify modifications and choose from the designs on the app. Once they fill up the details, the designer will contact the customer. If the customer is based in Hyderabad, the designer would visit them to take measurements. For non-Hyderabadi customers, this is done through video calls.
The app even has a 3D designing feature for customers to understand how a specific garment would look. There are 45 people employed at Cloud Tailor who have turned over it into an impressive clothing line.
Susmitha is in plans to open boutiques in Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, and Delhi. She got investments worth Rs 7 crore from venture capital funds such as 35 North Ventures.
Susmitha Lakkakula said, “We thought all are doing normal boutique, let us add software with boutique thus we came to an idea of an app. We started developing an app, Cloud Tailor, through which customers can order anywhere in the world. We take measurements online with video calls, stitch costumes and send them to their location online.”
Speaking about the prices, Lakkakula adds that the prices are high if customers choose designer costumes for special occasions like marriages, functions, otherwise people customize costumes for normal kurta, daily wear, and office wear. The costumes for middle-class, and upper-middle-class people are available in the cloud tailor app.
Susmitha specifies that the designers are advised about the costumes and fabrics that suit customers as per their bodies. The app guide customers about fabrics and take measurements online. It is around 8 thousand billion dollars market. Currently, there are 45 members of staff and 50 members of a software team. Recently we tied-up with Reliance and are planning to come up in other locations.
Highlighting issues of being a working mother, she said that it is not easy to work with young family members as she has a 2 years old girl and has faced a lot of challenges. The people have questioned why is she doing all this. "People asked me to go office on time and return home to enjoy with family but I can't. I want to fulfill my dream of cloud Tailor," concludes Susmitha.
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