The year 2020 wasn’t all negative as many would think. It has also been a year of courage, grit and determination to rise up to the challenges life threw at us. As we get ready to bid goodbye to the year, we bring to you the stories that lift our soul
Despite sleep being the most crucial aspect of one’s life, people tend to not value it. Rather they ignore it! This drove RUHI MEHRA to create awareness around sleep and its importance. With loads of research and self-experimentation, Ruhi achieved the concept of sleeping with minimal and comfortable sleepwear for better sleep. She also curated a unique design idea, especially for women to give them freedom to not wear inners at night.
And all this happened during the period of Covid-19 and subsequent lockdown which, Ruhi says, gave her enough time to experiment the product as people were facing difficulty to sleep. The idea behind the concept was to create awareness of wearing the right clothing to sleep, she says.
Born and brought up in Mumbai, Ruhi worked for the hospitality industry for over 15 years and never ever imagined getting into the fashion and apparel industry. Although like most of us, she too looked out for comfortable clothing at night. The young entrepreneur talks to SAURABH TANKHA about the country’s first concept driven premium quality sleepwear brand, Ruh, for men, women, and kids.
What prompted you to start this venture during the period of Covid-19?
I have been working on this for a long time before Covid-19. As sleep was taken for granted by everyone around me and being a fitness enthusiast, seldom I used to hear people saying, “We feel bloated, don’t feel fresh enough, have headaches, poor digestion, my skin looks dull…” My first question to them used to be – Have you slept well? To which their answers would be no. So I knew then people give a lot of importance to their lifestyle, food, water but no one talks or aware about the most important factor in their lives called sleep. During the lockdown everyone was as it is super-stressed about sleep and sleep patterns. This is when I knew, there’s no better chance to educate and create awareness and launch my venture.
Did people around warn you to not venture in the market during this phase?
I believe when something has to happen will happen. In fact, I would like to take the entire Covid-19 and lockdown phase positively. It gave us all a lot of time to self-reflect and slow down our fast-paced lives. So people around me gave my concept and me a lot of time to hear me out, take my advice, be open to suggestions, try new things to get a goodnight sleep, my family and friends were super supportive and encouraged me throughout this and mostly believed in me and the timing.
What were the challenges that you came across during this phase?
I feel was the most difficult and challenging part of the entire process. A lot of time initially went researching and putting the concept in place with all positive results but now, what next was the most important thing. From paper to prototype was the task. I had no contacts, no manufacturing team, absolutely nothing. I knew I had to start from scratch on my own as it was a concept that even made it more difficult for me to have it explained all the time I started any conversation. But by god’s grace, it finally started and with the right people and right team on board there was no stopping. I started enjoying this challenge.
Did you do any research to do before introducing Ruh in the market?
The concept was research, regarding why one should prioritise sleep and its benefits, so how to make your sleep better, what should one do before going to bed, what should you wear to sleep, what temperature should your room be when you sleep, what promotes sleep, what are the benefits of sleep on the human body? All sought-outs were given importance – gym wear, party wear but what about sleepwear? Natural organic fabrics, eco-friendly? All these were our major research components. Along with that one major design was developed for the women. We have filed a design application for our unique design for the women of giving them the liberty to be inner wear free as to feel like wearing nothing whether in a family or in front of guests. They need not be conscious anymore was the objective. So that was another part of the research.
How competitively is the brand priced?
Quite fairly as per the market segment. We are selling our concept and creating awareness. Plus it’s not just a sleepwear it’s a concept and completely different from the regular nightwear in the market. It’s a therapy, not just sleepwear!
