From Economics to Fashion, This is How Aditi Launched ADISEE

“Chase excellence and success will follow.”

Have you watched the classic Bollywood movie 3 Idiots? If so, then this popular dialogue by Rancho (Aamir Khan) would ring a bell in your head and guess what?

Aditi Khorana, who grew up chasing nothing but creativity has not only experienced every ounce of this dialogue but also proved it true.

The Seeding of Creativity

Thanks to her mother, Aditi’s relationship with creativity began in her art classes and from then, it only grew like a fine wine.

After the first planting and nurturing of her creative vines, its bud broke when Aditi joined Performance Arts Academy, The Danceworx as a member at the age of 17.

The creative butterfly within Aditi only flew higher from here, spreading its wings and flying through teaching and learning dance forms like jazz, ballet and contemporary.

But due to an unfortunate injury, Aditi couldn't pursue dancing. However, strong willed Aditi didn’t give up. Her artistic side still burned bright.

“I wanted to find an outlet for my creativity and hence ended up at Accademia Costume & Moda in Rome, Italy and the rest is history or should I say the beginning of history?”

A Designer In Making

At Accademia Costume & Moda, Aditi could finally embrace her long buried passion to design footwear and accessories.

During her Master’s course in Rome, she studied the design process as well as the craft of making leather accessories.

“Post my Master’s, I was lucky enough to work with an Edinburgh-based luxury handbags brand, Strathberry where I learnt about quality standards and good and functional design.”

After working at Strathberry as a Design Intern, Aditi came back to India and joined Delhi-based Oceedee, a Handcrafted Luxury Shoes company in 2019 as a Footwear Designer.

But despite working in the Indian fashion industry, the creator inside Aditi remained discontented. She longed for fulfilling something meaningful, to do something of her own.

At the same time, she also saw that despite having a heritage of rich hand craftsmanship and resources, India lacked a homegrown designer brand synonymous with luxury handbags.

Aditi’s vision to build an Indian brand envisaged with the power to withstand international designer names and her design experience began to embolden the quieter lines of starting her own business.

“With this aspiration of bringing luxurious leather accessories, designed, conceptualised and manufactured in the home-country: India, Adisee was launched in December 2020.”

ADISEE - A Maternal Legacy

ADISEE is a handbags and accessories label currently focused on Women. Each piece is lovingly handcrafted by local artisans using traditional techniques passed down through generations.

In a world where fast fashion and mass production are quickly taking over both the environment and the beauty of handmade products, ADISEE pledges to make a difference.

“At ADISEE, we not only support our craftsmen by protecting their heritage but also source our leather from an LWG-certified Gold-rated tannery, ensuring zero effluents.”

It is also its distinguished design language and products that stand the test of time in terms of their craftsmanship and quality that makes ADISEE an exclusive brand.

The most amazing part about ADISEE is that each of its products is an investment piece which can be worn even after 10 years or can be handed down to the next generation.

In fact, ADISEE brand name is an amalgamation of ‘Aditi’ and her late Mother ‘Seema’ names, acknowledging a testament of maternal legacy and the vehement feminine influence.

Creating Fashion That Lasts

As a brand that focuses on maternal legacy, ADISEE is for women who understand slow fashion and invest in wardrobe staples that are unique and can be passed on to the next generation.

Women who don’t mind repeating their outfits or accessories as long as they believe that they represent class and quality and thus like to invest in timeless pieces.

“Our target market is women who care about presentation and have a certain reverence towards fashion.”

Designing and Running a Business - A Tricky Road

Give a sketcher a pencil and they will create a whole portrait out of it. Ask the same sketcher to sell it? It becomes a different story, doesn’t it?

The surety that Aditi carried about the idea of putting her design skills and passion into her business wasn’t the same as that of running a business.

“Firstly, I’m a designer and creative by knowledge and experience. So learning how to run a business was the biggest challenge and the learning still continues.”

While setting her brand’s visual tone in terms of design and photography came naturally to Aditi, understanding the brand's marketing and sales was a challenge she was yet to conquer.

But Aditi wasn’t alone in this. Her determination to make it into the luxury fashion world on her own, was fueled by her family’s and close friends’ belief in her.

She remains truly grateful to them for being her biggest critics and support system from the day she decided to move from Economics to fashion to finally starting her own brand.

Setbacks don’t define Aditi. She continues to grow both her brand and entrepreneurial self, with a dedicated team at both office and workshop.

“We’re a very small team of 3 people in the office managing everything from design, social media to sales. Then we’ve Karigars for sampling and production of our pieces.”

Speaking of the traction, Aditi says that it’s been on an upward trajectory since she started with a growth relative to various events such as a celebrity spotting or pop-up participation.

Failure Fuels Success

To entrepreneurs out there trying to make it big, Aditi says that most importantly, one must believe in their abilities. Confidence in your own abilities is crucial for success as an entrepreneur.

“Don't let self-doubt hold you back from pursuing your dreams.”

And secondly, she encourages such entrepreneurs to embrace failure. Failure is a natural part of the entrepreneurial journey, and it's important to view it as a learning opportunity rather than a setback.

Radhika Madan and ADISEE

Honestly, I got super curious when I came across the Angreji Medium Bollywood movie star and simply gorgeous Radhika Madan posing like a diva with ADISEE handbags.

So I went ahead and asked Aditi if Radhika is her gal pal or brand ambassador to which she replied,

“Haha. Radhika Madan is actually my childhood friend. We were in the same school and have literally grown up together, being a part of every milestone in each other’s lives through the years.”

Turns out, when Aditi started out with ADISEE, Radhika believed in it so much that she went on to become an investor in the brand.

They even did a photoshoot together for one of ADISEE's collections and many people have started perceiving Radhika Madan as the brand ambassador of ADISEE.

Hello There, Entrepreneurs Who Flyy!

Aditi’s story is a true inspiration for anyone who’s trying to listen to their inner self and make a career out of it.

If you’re someone who’s also been through a similar journey and would like to be a source of encouragement for other entrepreneurs, we want to talk to you!

Contact us to share your story. Until then, keep flyying!