Storm in your tee

Sharktribe.in is an online T-shirt shop that caters to the whims, moods and fancies of generation Y

Storm in your tee

Sharktribe.in is an online T-shirt shop that caters to the whims, moods and fancies of generation Y

When four young creative minds get together, they may choose to do anything from the impractical, extraordinary, bizarre and fun. And the choice they make usually makes sense to those from their generation.

Four 20-somethings with weighty MBA degrees and fancy overseas universities on their resume thought of doing something that had barely anything to do with the degrees they had earned after walking out of their university gates. They decided to make tee-shirts for their generation.

Yes, there was the initial awkward moment with folks at home, but soon it was all settled. "Our families did ask us to rethink our decision, but gave us our spaces eventually and let us go ahead," says one of the partners, Girish Sreevatsan, who did his MBA from Bangalore before joining his classmate from B-school, Arun Vijaykumar, in putting together the online venture sharktribe.in.u00a0 Their MBAu00a0 gyan does come handy in planning the brand's marketing strategy.

The other two partners are Arun's friends from Tirupur, where the brand's operations and manufacturing unit is based out of. "There's Jayakarthik Ravi and Yuvaraj Govindaswamy. While Jay did International Fashion Management from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, Yuvraj studied International Business from Oxford Brooks University," reveals Girish.

They all wanted to take up the challenge of starting their own brand of apparels that will match the quality and designs of international brands and yet be available to the youth at affordable prices.

Hence the crew necks and V-necks are for Rs 499, the polo t shirts for Rs 599 and the limited edition hoodies in grey with the logo of the shark(the brand's mascot that's visible in many of their tees) are priced at Rs 999.

The name Sharktribe was zeroed in on as they wanted a moniker that will reflect the aggression of the youth, and what better animal than a shark to symbolize that?u00a0

Currently they have 40 designs with fewer designs for women(they only do V-necks for women), and are designed by a graphic designer who also studied fashion. "Most of our designs are party inspired -- a DJ playing, alcohol bottles etc. Since our target group isu00a0 the youth, the tees had to be inspired by their lifestyles.
There are Graphitti inspired tees, ones with political messages on nuclear disarmament and some with a bit of sarcasm," states Girish.

A classic example of the latter is a tee with the message, "Go love your own city," which takes a dig on the frequently seen 'I Love NY' tees.

Since Tirupur is the apparel manufacturing capital and the largest export centre of the country, there was no second choice when it came tou00a0 setting their manufacturing unit was concerned.

But they chose Bangalore for the launch event of the brand. City models walked the ramp in their tees at a glitzy affair in a happening baru00a0 on Saturday for the official launch of the brand which took over a year to set up.
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"Bangalore is very urban and is relevant for the brand. We'll soon tie up with a national retail chain and will expand to other items of clothing," promises Girish.

Presently, they ship their tees within three to five days of receiving the orders. And here's the big deal. The prices are inclusive of taxes and shipping charges.

Log onto:u00a0Sharktribe.in
FOR: Rs 499 to 999