Luxury Clothing Startup Purple Style Labs Raises $10 Mn Funding To Expand Global Footprint

Luxury fashion house Purple Style Labs, the parent of Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop, has raised $10 Mn in a Series B round led by angel investor Akash Bhansali. 

The round also saw participation from other angel investors such as actor Madhuri Dixit Nene, Alpha Wave Global’s Navroz Udwadia, Sid Yog of Xander Group, Premji Invest’s Rahul Garg, Param Capital’s Mukul Agrawal, SMIFS’ Rahul Kayan, Girish Kulkarni of Suyash Advisors, GOAT Brand Labs cofounder Rishi Vasudev, among others. 

The startup will use the funding to expand its footprint across the globe. It plans to open retail stores in New York and Dubai in the next 12-18 months. 

The startup will also focus on strengthening its presence in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, and will foray into new domestic markets by opening new stores in Chennai and Surat. 

Purple Style Labs, founded by Abhishek Agarwal in 2015, retails high-end designer brands under Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop brand. It also incubates young designer brands and helps them with sales, marketing, and technical support. 

The startup had last raised close to $5 Mn from investors such as Flipkart’s Binny Bansal, PayU India’s Jitendra Gupta, among others. 

Purple Style Labs acquired the omnichannel fashion ecommerce brand Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop (PPUS)  in 2018. PPUS currently retails more than 800 luxury brands from designers such as Rohit Bal, Tarun Tahiliani, Anita Dongre, among others. 

The startup claims to generate more than 75% of its online sales from international markets. It also said that it grew 50X between 2018 and 2022, despite Covid-19 pandemic weakening demand across the globe. 

Purple Style Labs aims to compete with global giants such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel and others in the luxury clothing brand market. 

Purple Style Labs estimates its gross sales to be upwards of INR 750 Cr in financial year 2022-23 (FY23). The startup has been on an expansion spree in the last few years. In December 2020, it acquired fashion label Wendell Rodricks. 

According to Statista, India’s luxury fashion segment is expected to hit $1.51 Bn in revenue by the end of 2022. This number is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 1.47% between 2022 and 2027.

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