Delighting Customers, One Stitch at a Time: The Diya Way ; Vaibhav Dinesh Jhalani

“No buyer will ever be unhappy with us,” assures Vaibhav Dinesh Jhalani, fondly known by all as Chottubhai. Picture yourself shopping with your friends, not just for clothes, but also for the experience; because there is nothing quite like shopping to help bond a few girls. One of the stores you walk into, happens to be one where the Diya brand holds a face. The mighty claim that the brand has made and lived up to is that whoever you were and whatever you need, you’d walk out just a little more happier than you already were. At the end of the day, with your shopping bags and giggles, you walk out gleaming. With the way Diya has managed to bloom over the years, it has very well trademarked its existence as a brand which didn’t just guarantee quality but also a joyful experience, bringing out shopping for everything it really is.
Over four generations, The Jhalanis of Mumbai nurtured and created not only Diya, but also the trust customers place over Diya. When it comes to business, a brand would only flourish with the foundation of trust it builds with its customers. With its latest designs, excellent finishing and fitment, high quality fabric, fascinating designs, decency in dress and reasonable prices; trust was certainly an area very well thought about by the business. Catering to women between the ages of 16 and 40, Diya is now a staple clothing in wardrobes all over India. With its roots spreading all over India, Diya holds a memorable face in Northern as well as Southern India. A very good majority of Diya’s southern revenue emerges from the very critical and quality conscious market of Kerala alone. From Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, the administration maintains excellent connections with more than 500 top retailers. 70% of the customers in this 500-person huge retail showroom are year-round regular customers, while the remaining 20% are holiday season customers. Major retail orders typically appear in four festival seasons each year, such as Onam, Ramadan, Christmas, and Vishu. Due to the monsoon, the months from May through August are considered lean. Festival seasons are when the brand concentrates on creating new designs.Tamil Nadu holds a good reputation in regards to Diya as well. And much like the way it conquered South India, it did as well North India becoming a pan India store in the process. Adding to it all was international markets in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Middle East and the United Kingdom. It was safe to say that their markets knew and understood the iron clad potential of Diya.

In a world where the market takes twists and turns along its way, market evaluation remains the only way to go against the current and create work people would not only enjoy but also remember. With their continued attention to market changes and understanding of the aspirations of the generation, the Jhalanis were able to walk past it confidently. The most recent trends, outstanding finishing and fitment, premium materials, captivating designs, decent clothing, and of course, price advantage are all requirements for buyers looking at fashion. At the end of the day, the label behind the dress must hold an identity and story of its own. Diya, the brand, ensures that your money goes from your wallet to an investment which would not be regretted.
With the market in Kerala as a rather promising feather in their cap, Diya decided to foster the growing market with a few efforts focused on Keralites. With a few extra bucks and a few extra men, special marketing efforts would be made for the state of Kerala aiming to bring Diya to every nook and corner of the place. The design team would work in collaboration with the marketing team to create fashion that appeals a little more to the malayali eye. Exclusive fabrics, attractive pricing and cuts; would all play a role in growing the Kerala market. But one may wonder how Diya had actually managed to make its way into almost every clothing store in Southern India. The story behind it all began with the protagonist Dinesh Radha Vaibhav Dinesh Jhalani, the Diya Brand Patriarch. About four decades into the business, Mr Dinesh Jhalani managed to build a relationship with quite a few retailers in Southern India. With a credible and reliable apparel company named RB and Company, Mr Dinesh Jhalani held a word amongst the many retailers. The word was strong enough to make the retailers want to continue their link with him, all the way up to the birth and continual of the brand Diya. Right from then, the Jhalanis would distribute their work to prominent retail stores like the Seematti of Kerala. The relationship with the retailers that Mr Dinesh Jhalani had nurtured for decades laid the groundwork for Diya Enterprises to emerge. Be it the customers or retailers, there was a sense of trust that everyone, especially Keralites, placed on the Jhalani Group.

A few years into their journey, new heads emerged for the enterprise. Vaibhav Dinesh Jhalani and Vishal Jhalani, the next generation of the business, continued to uphold the empire that their father had created. Vaibhav Dinesh Jhalani handles accounts, HR, and marketing while Vishal, the eldest son, is in charge of production. Their young mindsets made a few changes here and there to create a true corporate firm. The contemporary developments led to a new private limited company by the name of Diya Design Studio which ran with a corporate model. The business employs 130 people and has the infrastructure needed for a high-end apparel brand.
With a close eye of the company’s top management, around 350 small yet very well experienced manufacturers work exclusively for the Diya Brand under the strict quality and design specifications. With a loyal customer whose needs are met, Diya would continue to flourish even under the pressure put on by emerging competition. The talented in-house design team would play their magic on the quality fabrics that they procure to sell at prices which would defeat their competitors. With a carefully curated plan and excellent hand precision, Diya holds an edge with the market. Every single item of clothing is monitored and evaluated up to quality standards to ensure that every customer receives the very best.
All of Kerala’s notable stores, such as Seematti, Kalyan Silks, Jayalakshmi Silks, Lulu Mall, Jolly Silks, Pulimoottil Silks, Mahalekshmi Silks, Chennai Silks, Pothys, Seema’s Wedding Collections, and Swayamvara Silks, among others, engage in strong business with Diya. In reality, Diya has excellent commercial relationships with all of the major players in the State’s retail industry. The sales teams of many retailer giants routinely visit and interact with the Diya Headquarters in Mumbai besides meeting the top management at two trade fairs that manufacturers host every year in Kerala. It all goes to say that Diya Enterprises stands apart as one to trust in the eyes of many.

While the Diya Brand is primarily known for its well curated kurtis and western tops, the company carries a face in western collections under the brand Real Kids for girls and one for bottoms under the brand of Joss. These are primarily leggings, jeggings, short pants, denims and palazzos. An average of 30,000 pieces of clothing under the Diya brand are sold each day with almost no defects. At its headquarters in Mumbai’s Santacruz neighborhood, close to the international airport, there are more than 7000 samples available at all times in a massive exhibit spread across three levels. There are enough current ready-to-deliver stocks in each of these samples. Due to this strength, the Diya brand is able to meet the shipping demands of its retailer customers.
Having journeyed across generations, Diya has indeed lived up to its name and spread its work across the country. It has created not only a customer base, but also a reputation to uphold and grow. That being said, we return to our very first statement made; “No buyer will ever be unhappy with us,”. Standing in line with those simple words, Diya would continue to deliver to every single person who walks in the very best of their efforts. Carrying on the legacy of the mighty brand is ‘Diya Vishal Jhalani’, the name behind the Diya Brand. The 21-year-old who did her undergraduate degree at Mumbai’s St. Andrews College, Bandra, in Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS), is being prepared for entry into the Jhalanis’ thriving branded garment firm. And so, the Indian market awaits the grand entry of the next brilliant Vaibhav Dinesh Jhalani.