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BIGGEST LESSON WE LEARNT IN 2020 IS TO BE SELF-SUFFICIENT & SELF-RELIANT: MEHER ROHATGI

Meher Rohatgi, co-founder, Atelier Mon, recently sat with NewsX for an exclusive interview as part of its special series NewsX India A-List. Meher spoke to us about her brand, its focus, and the growing demand for semi-precious stones jewellery in the country. The impact of Covid-19 on her business and the market was also addressed. […]

Meher Rohatgi, co-founder, Atelier Mon, recently sat with NewsX for an exclusive interview as part of its special series NewsX India A-List. Meher spoke to us about her brand, its focus, and the growing demand for semi-precious stones jewellery in the country. The impact of Covid-19 on her business and the market was also addressed.

Speaking about the conceptualisation and ideation of Atelier Mon, Meher said, “When I launched the brand in 2008, there weren’t many people working with semi-precious stones, it was either precious stones which is a big part of the market or artificial jewellery. I was working with semi-precious stones as I noticed that gap in the market and felt that with more and more women in the workplace, they were looking for something fun to wear every day which didn’t burn a hole in your pocket but were natural stones, of good quality and with variety. There are so many natural stones out there, it’s been a great journey and that was the genesis of Atelier Mon.”

Talking about the immediate response back then and over the years, she said, “When I had just launched, it was a way of educating customers about semi-precious stones, which was very interesting. People didn’t understand as they only knew of sapphires and emeralds but we had amethysts, citrine, so it was fun bringing this into the market and people discovering a whole new type of jewellery. Slowly, there was an appreciation and that grew as people realised there’s a whole world of jewellery out there with variety and can spruce up an outfit. Then people understood semi-precious stones so the demand just blew up and that was fabulous.”

Speaking about the availability of Atelier Mon products and where they can be found, Meher said, “My main market was the international market, especially America and we supplied to chains like Anthropologie, and Harvey Nichols. We are available in about 200 stores worldwide and over the past two years, I’ve seen a lot of interest in the Indian market and my attention has shifted to our domestic market. We’ve tied up unique stores like Ogaan, Ensom, Aza and they stock my label. We have our flagship store at Delhi International Airport, Terminal 3 and are available online as well. Our website launched around three years ago and that has been the main focus.”

She explained the USP of Atelier Mon, “What has been the most important thing for me is to create a brand which works with very high-quality stones, each and every stone is selected by me personally. I wanted to offer high-quality stones which were cut beautifully, handcrafted by artisans but at the same time, I wanted to keep it affordable since I wanted this to be a women-led brand, for women and they should have options, not worry about the price, and yet have very good quality jewels. So, that is our USP. We have designs for young adults, working women, and 60+. I like to design something for everyone and every occasion.”

Relaying the impact of Covid-19 on her business and how she mitigated that, Meher said, “When the pandemic hit in March last year, it was something we didn’t expect and thought it would be a month or two months of lockdown at most. We took it as a break to reassess things but it went on till September-October. My biggest concern was the employees, I wanted to make sure they were safe. We saw a slowdown in demand, everyone’s attention wasn’t on fashion and jewellery, it took a huge backseat. These were completely unprecedented times. Around September-October, we saw the demand creeping back and for Christmas, we got back to our usual capacity and demand increased. We ended the year on a really good note. The main opportunity that arose last year was, it gave us the time to take a good, hard look at our business model to streamline things. It was a lovely pause, we took that opportunity and decided to be more efficient, look at our supply chains and this is something we never get time to do so it was a good thing. The biggest change was that everything went online. Our jewellery is affordable and creates a statement. With this trend that we’ve got, just put on a nice pair of earrings and you’re ready for your meeting. We saw a good demand to grow for that.”

Referring to the government’s initiative of becoming Atmanirbhar and ‘go vocal for local’, she asserted, “The biggest lesson we learnt in 2020 is to be self-sufficient and self-reliant. With borders closing internationally, businesses that were dependent on international demand took a big hit is what happened to us initially. Luckily, for the past two years, my focus had already started to shift and I saw India as the biggest opportunity and realised the importance of focusing on the domestic market and supporting other local brands. That is something we cannot drop, it’s a worldwide trend to shop locally and focus on your own market while being completely self-reliant so that come what may, you are protected. That is something we’ll see continuing and will be my primary focus. 2020 sealed and locked it in.”

Advising the budding and upcoming entrepreneurs, Meher said, “Always have a positive outlook, every challenge is an opportunity, so try to find that opportunity. Invest in a really good team because one of the most important things I realised over this past year was that everyone was hands-on and how my team came through, they were willing to do everything and go above and beyond. Invest in the right people, relationships, look for opportunities to better yourself and do a lot of research as nothing can ever take place of good research.”

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