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 to the bizarre and fun. Typically, the choices they make might make sense to those from their generation.

Flower Double V-Neck T-shirt

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 their impressive qualifications. They decided to make T-shirts for their generation.

"Our families asked us to rethink our decision, but gave us our space to go ahead, eventually," says partner, Girish Sreevatsan, who is an MBA from Bangalore. He joined his classmate from B-school, Arun Vijaykumar, and together they started the online venture, sharktribe.in. These guys ensure that the MBA gyaan is handy in planning the brand's marketing strategy.

Other partners, Jayakarthik Ravi and Yuvaraj Govindaswamy are Arun's friends from Tirupur, the base for this brand's operations and manufacturing unit. Jay studied International Fashion Management from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK while Yuvraj earned an International Business degree from Oxford Brooks University.

They wanted to take up the challenge of starting their brand of apparels that would match the quality and designs of international brands and yet be affordable to today's youth. You can pick crew necks and V-necks for Rs 499, polo T-shirts for Rs 599 and the limited edition hoodies in grey with the logo of the shark (the brand's mascot) for Rs 999.

They zeroed in on Sharktribe as they wanted a moniker that will reflect the aggression of the youth, and what better animal than a shark to symbolise that?

Currently, 40 designs are up for grabsu00a0 though they do fewer designs for women(only do V-necks); all designs are courtesy a graphic designer who also studied fashion. "Most designs are party-inspired ufffd DJ in his console or alcohol bottles for instance. Since our target group isu00a0 the youth, the tees were inspired by their lifestyle. Messages range from grafitti to political messages on nuclear disarmament and even a dash of sarcasm," shares 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 in India, it was easy to plumb for it as their manufacturing base.

"We'll tie up up with a national retail chain shortly, and intend to expand to other items of clothing as well,"
promises Girish. Presently, they ship their tees in 3-5 days of receiving an order. And here's the big deal: the prices are inclusive of taxes and shipping charges.