Fashion Fusion: Bunaai Blends Traditional Crafts And Modern Chic For A Vibrant Style Statement

Pari Choudhary started Bunaai with her own money and invested INR 50K. Today, the brand operates two exclusive stores in Indore and Jaipur

While studying at a Delhi college, Pari Choudhary worked with many brands as a social media influencer. But she was more of a creator – a fashion enthusiast to the core – and loved experimenting with different designs, patterns and craft genres to create trendy outfits. When the 23-year-old moved back to her hometown Jaipur in 2016, she was naturally drawn towards fashion and wanted to blend the city’s vibrant craft legacy with contemporary styles to create her brand.

Choudhary put INR 50K from her pocket to launch Bunaai and started her journey with a single category – handmade dresses. Over the years, she has diversified the product range to include kurta and suit sets, lehengas and co-ords and added categories such as jewellery, footwear, home décor and handmade accessories. The brand has also scaled its team from three to 300+, including the state’s artisans who work for it. Bunaai clocked INR 34 Cr as revenue in FY22 and opened two brick-and-mortar outlets in Indore and Jaipur. It has developed 800 SKUs to date and served about 90K customers in 2022.

Bunaai features a variety of ethnic styles, including bandhej, chikankari and more. However, all its pieces have a distinctive touch of Rajasthan craftsmanship, be it through hand-painting, hand-dying or hand-block printing traditional designs. Choudhary says that the brand does not sell single items like a kurta or a stole. Instead, it offers entire sets at a ‘sweet price point’. Prices of traditional and Indo-western sets start at around INR 2K and can go up to INR 12-14K.

The brand started CY23 by listing itself on marketplaces such as Nykaa and Myntra. However, Choudhary will continue to focus on the startup’s website as its primary sales channel to help create a strong brand statement. Bunaai will also open more physical outlets and expand to Tier 1 cities like Bengaluru and Delhi to grow its offline business.