Did any of your relative aunty weirdly point you out for visibility of your bra strap? Or did anyone try to make you aware by giving you awkward signals to tell you that your bra strap was visible?
Many of us can relate to these situations where someone tries to tell you about your bra strap, reasoning their “good intentions”, and inadvertently bringing everybody’s attention to that one little strap that most women wear on a daily basis.
Kerala's Sneha Prabeen like every other girl was no stranger to this issue and also frustrated by typical transparent bra straps being uncomfortable. To find the solution of this problem, Sneha invented the beaded bra straps as part of her beaded accessories startup, Yuvanta Beadworks. She found an elegant way so that girls could show off their bra straps instaed of hiding them.
After completing her studies, Sneha finally launched the brand with Rs. 10,000 which she earlier started making handcraft beaded jewellery as a hobby at home. She had started exhibiting her beaded jewellery and accessories in flea markets and exhibitions across south India.
How It all started?
Sneha tried for months and finally created her first prototype of the bra strap. She sent it to a few well-wishers and received good reviews, but she had to try it in the market as well. The famous Sunday Soul Sante, an arts-and-crafts centred flea market that takes place five times a year in Bengaluru, provided the perfect opportunity. In December 2014, at the Sante’s Christmas edition, Sneha introduced the beaded bra strap and received an overwhelming response. She claims that she was almost sold out that day.
The startup also includes a wide variety like beaded necklaces, earrings, charm bracelets, anklets, headgears and bookmarks. However, the beaded bra strap remains its most loved and appreciated product. In 2018, she also collaborated with an international lingerie brand and produced 11,000 bra straps within a month-and-a-half. Sneha claims that at flea markets and exhibitions, she sells a minimum of 200 bra straps a day and averages close to 60 orders through the startup’s website and e-commerce platform Amazon.
How did she stand out among competitors?
However, Sneha says that though it wasn’t easy to take it to this level. Creating a new product came with challenges of creating awareness about it. She couldn’t use all of her resources to market online. People wanted to see, feel and understand the product physically before making a purchase.
As a young entrepreneur, she had to deal with people taking advantage of her. One of her first vendors falsely took her money. An agency that she recruited to complete her patent paperwork also did the same. The pandemic has also presented her with more challenges. Her offline sales have taken a hit. Her plan to open a physical store or kiosk in Bengaluru is also on pause.
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Ground to cover yet!
She is working to make the startup website more interactive, introduced a live chat feature as customers have a lot of questions, and is tying up with other e-commerce platforms to ensure online visibility. On Independence Day, she started a social media campaign ‘Show Your straps’ to address the taboo around bra straps being visible. Several women from different places like the US, Poland, the UAE, and India joined the campaign to talk about their experiences of “creepy aunties and weird signals”.
She hopes to continue to get more people to talk about this issue and initiate a change in perspectives. As for the startup, Sneha hopes to expand her offline presence when the pandemic recedes, as well as focus on increasing her online presence.