Purvi Modi Monga on her maternity leave, noticed an interesting trend in her various conversations with family and friends. Most of the discussions revolved around only one topic
Purvi Modi Monga on her maternity leave, noticed an interesting trend in her various conversations with family and friends. Most of the discussions revolved around only one topic and that was – socks. Not only amoung womens but the men also said that if there was only one thing they bought on international trips, it was socks. The reason behind this was because the products have better quality and had many different designs.
It led her to realise that socks were an trending fashion accessory for men, and there was a demand for something different and fun. It pushed her to begin Mint and Oak in 2019. Basically it is a Mumbai-based online brand that produces quirky and great quality of socks for men.
“The way an individual dresses helps express who they are and bring out their personality. We want men to have the ability to decide how they are feeling: bold, subtle, happy, chirpy? All you need to do is open your sock drawer and express yourself,” Purvi explains in an interview.
Her first step was to find a manufacturing partner, with whom the team could work with. Purvi told that she met with several different people from the industry, studied about fabrics, questioned the basics, and went onto know about the production, before coming to realise that manufacturing socks is a difficult snd complex process.
Thus, she took eight months to launch her brand and then she began Mint and Oak with her savings of Rs 5 lakh. Though, after the launch till now the startup has grown to be self-sustainable.
“While style and design are intrinsic to Mint and Oak, wearability and comfort is our top priority. Our socks provide comfort and freshness with their superior quality and anti-bacterial properties – now that’s what we call the final stitch,” says Purvi.
She is an MBA graduate from Welingkar Institute of Management. She also headed marketing team of PVR Cinemas, and was in the launch team of Star World Premier where she was responsible for show launches like Quantico, Game of Thrones, MasterChef Australia, and Koffee with Karan.
Her team has always focused on creating fun and unique designs, at the same time keeping comfort and quality in mind. For hygiene purpose, they use N9 technology to reduce odour-causing bacteria and makes the socks anti-bacterial. This keeps your feet and socks fresh for longer,” she says.
“If you turn your sock inside out, you will often notice threads coming out near the toe area. This causes irritation while wearing shoes. We do a hand linking at the toe area, making it a seamless closure. Our socks have a reinforced heel and toe to provide strength in areas which have maximum wear and tear,” says Purvi.
According to the Retailer of India, the socks market is estimated valued is between Rs 900 crore and Rs 1,000 crore. Whereas, a single pair of socks is cost at Rs 399, and even you can make your own bundle of three for Rs 999. The team reports to have sold over 10,000 pairs of socks since February last year.
Speaking about their future plans, Purvi says, “Our focus is to penetrate deeper into the Indian market and also focus on diversifying into international markets. We are launching women’s socks too as there is a surge in demand from women.”
