RIYA by PREETHI RAJ – A Fashion Success Story

By BWA Envoy
March 08, 2022
2 Minutes Read

Fashion is about dreaming and inspiring others to dream. Bangalore is India's trendiest city, so it is always up to date on the latest fashion trends. Being one of the successful fashion entrepreneurs in a short time is a dream come true for Preethi Raj, who has proven to be one of the city's top female fashion entrepreneurs who creates wedding outfits with customized and contemporary designs. Riya by Preethi Raj (@RiyabyPreethiRaj) was named after her beautiful daughter Riya.

Preethi was born and raised in Chennai before relocating to Bangalore in 2019. She is not only a designer of wedding couture for men and women but also an artist and a passionate cook of various cuisines. Preethi took over the business at the age of 22 after her mother died unexpectedly, to keep her mother’s dream alive, which eventually became Preethi's dream as well. Preethi never did any fashion design courses. She gained experience by seeing her mother’s work, and ideas, being organized, and systematic and managing a team of 20 employees in the business. Preethi follows her mother’s inspired words “Always follow the concept of giving more than what the customers want”.

The main USP of the business is providing customized and contemporary designs without even having a catalogue. Preethi talks to each client to understand what they want and creates beautiful designs. Along with other wedding personalized accessories, freebies, and attending each client personally gives the customer a sense of satisfaction and happiness for their big day. Preethi’s unique ideas on 3D designs and fabric painting on clothing for wedding makeovers is also one of the USP of her business. Apart from wedding outfits, she caters to casual, traditional, and artsy, styles for children as well. She has a team of 20 employees whom she treats as a family and provides accommodation and food for them. She is also an example of employee empowerment by providing financial help for their children’s education. Preethi’s major challenge in the business was the shift from Chennai to Bangalore after her marriage. In Chennai, her design studio was confined to her home and now she retails from a Designer Boutique in Bangalore. The other challenge she faced was that her clientele differed from Chennai to Bangalore. Eventually, her business grew mainly through word of mouth and her customized designs. Soon Riya by Preethi Raj became the go-to designer boutique in Bangalore. Initially, Preethi did not have a social media presence however, the Covid-19 pandemic changed the game.

During the pandemic, the major drawback was meeting customers. Her online presence completely changed the game. She started to conduct virtual client meetings and share demo videos with the clients along with a form to record body measurements. The customers used online delivery platforms like Dunzo and Swiggy to send their fabrics for stitching. The major challenge she faced was satisfying her customers without having physical contact! Preethi met this challenge with aplomb and received good testimonials from the clients which raised her confidence as a fashion designer entrepreneur. Today she has got around 50k followers on Instagram and attends to customers from the USA, Mauritius, Australia, and the UK. Preethi always believes “No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up and never give up”. Her life is a testament to that mantra. She credits her success to the support of her husband and mother-in-law, who herself is an entrepreneur of a food chain business.