It is no secret that Indian women love silver jewellery, having styled it with pride and elegance for centuries. In the 21st century, Instagram stores and websites dedicated to the sale of silver jewellery, offer the most innovative pieces at the most competitive prices. Shyle, better known as @shylebyastha on Instagram, is one such brand that is carrying the mantle forward in designing and displaying a variety of silver ornaments.
Founded by couple-preneurs (couple entrepreneurs) Astha Katta Sirohiya, who is also the Creative Head, and Radhesh Sirohiya, who also heads Growth and Operations, this brand began by showcasing its first collection at an exhibition in Jaipur in October 2017, before moving to being an exclusive Instagram shop.
“I would style and shoot our designs early morning as Radhesh would photograph me before leaving for office. I made sure that my Instagram content was never compromised and tried to showcase the collection in the best possible way within our limited resources. I travelled frequently to Jaipur to understand the market, work on designs, and pick karigars. Fortunately, within 4-5 months, we could see the numbers coming in. That’s when Radhesh quit his job to join Shyle full time, and we moved back to our home town of Jaipur,” Astha shares.
Both founders have a background in Business—Astha has an MBA degree in Marketing and Radhesh has a B.Tech from IIT Roorkee. Before Shyle, he worked at Reliance, Flipkart, and startup ventures like LazyLad and Crownit.
Having become a leading silver jewellery brand in the four years since its launch, the founders believe there is a lot that sets Shyle apart from others in this field. Their products are made with pure 925 silver, which is free of nickel and cadmium eliminating any potential health hazard. Further, every product is designed and manufactured in house, and the weight is kept light while keeping the piece’s robustness intact.
Radhesh says, “Every single product is handcrafted and not machine made at Shyle, our designs are absolutely unique to our brand. We hope that when people see our designs anywhere across the globe, they will know it’s a Shyle product.” To supplement this belief, he gives the example of the Retro Ketli Chai Ring, which is an intricately carved ring with a lid and handle to signify tea being poured in a cup. This landmark launch for Shyle led to their overall top-line shooting up by 250 percent within two months. Other unique designs include the Mizoya Telephone Earcuff, Qurbat Uncaged Bird Earcuff, and Anvaya HorseRath Statement Jhumkas, among others.
“We try to create designs that connect with our audience emotionally. Plus, I have always done the shoots for Shyle myself. As the owner and designer is also the face of Shyle, we feel the audience connects to the brand even more,” explains Astha. Their photography certainly gives them an edge over others, as they ideate and set up mood boards to highlight the best characteristics of their products through digital media. The popularity of their designs is evident from the fact that a number of celebrities have styled and worn them. These include the likes of Gauhar Khan in the TV series Kaali Peeli Tales, Shraddha Kapoor for an apparel shoot, Madhuri Dixit in an upcoming movie, and Shweta Tripathi Sharma in an upcoming South Indian film.
Radhesh points out that though Covid was a testing time due to operational delays and production halts, it also gave them time to improve their website, ideate on new designs and teach themselves digital marketing. Hence, after lockdown, they witnessed a growth of over 200 percent. He explains, “There was an overall increase in demand for silver jewellery and people preferred online over offline. Further, our clientele was earlier concentrated in metro cities but has since grown to include customers from Tier II and Tier III cities as well.”
Astha says there was a paradigm shift in buying trends post-Covid. Silver jewellery witnessed an unprecedented growth and mass acceptability among the working class and women from higher age groups, due to its affordability and premium quality. Also, though buying was earlier limited to festive times, it has now spread throughout the year.
“Surprisingly, now that wedding and other parties are seeing a restricted attendance, people have started hobby shopping which was earlier skewed to need-based shopping only, for precious metal jewellery,” says Radhesh. Shyle ships internationally and has a large overseas market with USA enjoying the largest percentage share, followed by Australia, Singapore, UK, Canada, and UAE.
The founders sign off by sharing their thoughts on the future of jewellery retail. They say, “With an increase in the number of working women across the board, we feel that jewellery retail will be dominated by e-commerce rather than in-store shopping. The advancement in technology will also enable brands to offer a store-like experience while shopping online, bridging the gap further. Also, the concept of customised jewellery is sure to grow phenomenally in times to come.”
The interviewer pens lifestyle articles for various publications and her blog www.nooranandchawla.com. She can be reached on nooranand@gmail.com.