Mint Studio - Paving a path for locally produced items

Mint Studio - Paving a path for locally produced items

Many Nepali companies have started selling locally made products exclusively as ‘style statement’ items in order to gain the urban market that wants to buy national products – products that deliver quality with trend and affordability.

Mint Studio, a clothing company that was set up in 2017, sells locally made casual wears to your doorstep. You can choose a plethora of choices, ranging from ethnic wear to loungewear to accessories or winter clothes. They have recently added a ‘Home and Living’ section on their website that lets you browse through cushion covers, wall clocks and funky furniture.

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The story of Mint Studio started when Richa Rajbhandari joined White Lotus Crafts Pvt.Ltd, a company her sister, Ritu Rajbhandari, had started before going to Australia to further her studies. White Lotus Crafts Pvt.Ltd had just collaborated with one of the projects of Helvetas – an INGO that had started a project to empower need-based women economically by providing them with employment opportunities abroad. The duo worked together to provide a few month-long tailoring workshops to women who would then be sent to Jordan for employment opportunities. Although the company’s intentions were at the right place, it didn’t take them long to realize that the skilled manpower of the country – that could have been utilized locally – was simply being exported at a cheaper rate. Furthermore, the working women also reported not being fully satisfied with their job abroad –many were simply opting to go abroad due to lack of knowledge and local opportunities. Lotus felt that it was necessary to create more local platforms where their skills could be efficiently utilized.  And this was when the idea of Mint Studio hit the team.

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Mint Studio pursued an ‘all in or nothing’ strategy right from the beginning with the core team. The core team consisted of four co-founders – Ritu Rajbhandari, Ankita Joshi, Avant Shrestha, and Bishal Rana Magar - who lead the company through the very start. From its inception, the company has experienced gradual growth as a lifestyle clothing brand. Richa explains, “Mint Studio is still in the experimenting phase and has a long way to go. We have been here for almost two years but it will take us another five years to expand as we have planned.” She believes that they are in the process of building a brand and does not want to compromise it with early fame. 

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Mint Studio aims to create products that exude a medley of design, functionality, accessibility, and trend. In the near future, the company is looking forward to expanding as a retail store where customers can walk in and try the retail clothing, or even customize the attire as per their choice. They are coming up with a new line of designs this winter of 2019. With a vision to accommodate both affordability and quality, Mint Studio showcases lifestyle products that are design-centric and creatively driven. Mint Studio can be navigated through the following links:

https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/384156725345688/the-mint-studio-nepal,

http://themint-studio.com/

https://www.facebook.com/mintstudiosd/

By : Shreeya Maskey

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