Men’s apparel brand Snitch sews all sharks together – Gives ‘King of Bling’ Anupam Mittal his own fashion line

• Snitch, a D2C men’s apparel brand got an all-sharks deal on Shark Tank India, securing ₹1.5 crore for 1.5% equity from five judges.
  
• The brand’s ‘King of Bling’ limited-edition collection introduces vibrant colours and patterns for men's apparel.
  
• Snitch is confident it will be a ₹100 crore business in the current fiscal year.
  
• The fast fashion brand claims it is using a sustainable mode by adopting a circular fashion business model.
  

Known as the ‘King of Bling’ on Shark Tank India for his spirited clothing choices, judge Anupam Mittal got his own fashion line on Snitch — one of the brands he invested in on the business reality show. Snitch is one of those rare companies to get an all-sharks deal on the show, securing ₹1.5 crore for a 1.5% equity from all the five judges combined.

Mittal, the founder of Shaadi.com even sat down with the team of Snitch and contributed to the process of introducing blingy shirts, vibrant floral patterns and coloured striped t-shirts for men. Named ‘King of Bling’, the limited edition collection boasts of a splash of colours and patterns, not commonly seen in men’s clothing.

Business Insider India spoke to the founder of the Bangalore-based Snitch, Siddharth R Dungarwal, to delve more into the company that saw investments from all the sharks – Anupam Mittal, Namita Thapar (executive director, Emcure Pharmaceuticals), Peyush Bansal (co-founder, CEO Lenskart), Vineeta Singh (co-founder, CEO of Sugar Cosmetics) and Aman Gupta (co-founder and CMO of bOAt).

‘Everyone wants a right swipe’

The Bangalore-based direct-to-consumer (D2C) fast fashion brand Snitch was founded in 2018 by Dungarwal with the idea of becoming India’s aspirational brand. The company ships more than 2,000 orders a day, Dungarwal said on the show. It sells men’s clothing.

“An estimated 90% of clothing variations are offered in women's apparel. We wanted to offer variety for men’s clothing as well. A simple black T-shirt and jeans just doesn’t cut it nowadays. Men are equally invested in upgrading their lifestyle. They want their clothes to reflect that,” Dungarwal, who is also CEO of Snitch, told Business Insider India.

“In the digital era, especially with apps like Instagram and Tinder coming into the picture, no one wants to repeat their clothes. Everyone wants a right swipe,” he added.

The sales of the fast fashion brand have been on an upswing. In the fiscal year 2022, the company posted a four-fold jump in sales to ₹44 crore from a year earlier. This fiscal, it clocked ₹10 crore in sales in November’s festive season alone.

Self-care for men: Upgrading men’s lifestyle

The company was launched as a business-to-business (B2B) brand, but due to less demand during the pandemic, it converted itself into a D2C brand. The 35-year-old Dungarwal revealed that since the pandemic, self-care for men has rapidly grown. Men- centric brands have also successfully scaled up in the past 5-7 years, he added.

“Before Beardo came, no one imagined there was even a need for beard oil for men. I have previously worked with leading apparel brands and noticed they are only making collections season-wise. There was no Indian brand focusing on men’s fast fashion. We saw an opportunity here and dove in,” Dungarwal said.

Snitch also provides apparel for plus-sized men. A ‘Make in India’ brand, Snitch recently moved to a 30,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehousing facility in Bangalore.

“We want Snitch to be an aspirational brand and might just not be restricted to men in the near future. Snitch wants to be India’s Zara and in terms of price points, we cost ₹300 more than a Max but less than Zara,” Dungarwal said.

Don’t ‘use and throw’

But fast fashion brands across the world – H&M, Forever 21, Zara, Shein to name a few, have drawn flak for mass producing clothes at relatively low prices, and capitalising on the people’s need to be on trend always. This regularly leads to a ‘wear, change and discard’ cycle, making the model unsustainable. So, can a fast fashion brand claim to be sustainable? Dungarwal thinks so.

Snitch claims it is using a sustainable mode by adopting a circular fashion business model. The initiatives are called ‘Relove’ and ‘Resell’, where users can sell Snitch clothes they no longer wear, by uploading the specifics on the Snitch website.

“We were one of the first D2C brands to use plant-based chemical washes. Our polybags are made of corn starch and clothing tags of recycled paper. A lot of our sportswear is made of recycled plastic alongside usage of organic cotton. The entire fashion industry contributes to global emissions, not just fast fashion. We are also trying to better the process of screening Snitch clothes that are resold on the website through ‘relove’,” he said.

The brand is planning to expand beyond its purely online presence to offline stores by setting up 8 digital experience stores across India in the first two quarters of 2023. Snitch is confident it will be a ₹100 crore business in the current fiscal year.

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