Shivang Chandna of Past Modern Discusses Merging India's Rich Heritage with Modern Fashion for a Sustainable Future
Year End Stories
StartupTalky presents Recap'24, a series of exclusive interviews where we connect with founders and industry leaders to reflect on their journey in 2024 and discuss their vision for the future.
India’s fashion market is changing, with customers seeking a combination of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design. Past Modern, founded by Shivang Chandna, is redefining fashion by merging India's rich heritage with contemporary, ready-to-wear collections that emphasise sustainability.
In this edition of Recap'24, we feature Past Modern and its Founder, Shivang Chandna. He discusses how the brand blends traditional Indian crafts with modern design, its focus on transparency, and its mission to instill pride in Indian culture. With an eye on sustainability and craftsmanship, Past Modern is creating fashion that connects India’s past with its future.
StartupTalky: Give us a brief about Past Modern. What makes it unique in blending tradition with modern fashion?
Mr. Chandna: Past Modern’s intent is to absorb the rich past of our country and present it on a modern palette for the present-day customer. Stories of our country have immense value and they need to be re-packaged to inspire a wider audience. Our ability to tie the influences of the past with the demands of a modern lifestyle together, instill a sense of pride in our community, and design hot-sell products that are highly desirable makes us unique.
Brands must become an extension of their community’s identity and Past Modern is designed for people who are working every day to craft their future and seek to carry the beauty of their past with them, with pride. It is for the modern Indian who is ripe to take on the world.
StartupTalky: What was your motivation behind starting Past Modern? How has the vision evolved since then?
Mr. Chandna: I went to the United States for my college education and it was where I began embracing my Indian identity more so than ever. I believe you have to be removed from your environment at times to explore the depth of yourself and my time there was both an external and internal journey of discovery. I dived into Indian literature, studied the movies of Satyajit Ray and Shyam Benegal, consumed the art of Amrita Sher-Gil, Raza, and Souza, and learned about our country’s vivid past. I was instilled with a new sense of pride in my culture and felt the urge to share these stories with my peers back home.
Fashion has always been a part of my visual expression and while I was embracing my Indian self, I was also seeking new ways to express it through my clothing. I did not want to wear a dhoti to class because I felt it had no fixed form, no pockets, and did not align with my daily needs so the first garment I designed was a trouser that mimicked a dhoti’s silhouette but had the comfort of a sweatpant. That was the beginning of merging the past and the modern.
It was a powerful expression and wearing it to college every day brought attention to it. People began questioning what it was and expressing their desire to own one which made me realise the true power of fashion. If done correctly, fashion can intrigue viewers, and force them to pause, question, and learn; and that is how I knew what my calling was - to express my learnings through clothing. That is the intention of Past Modern - to educate consumers of our country’s glorious past, to instill a new sense of pride, and to weave the beauty of our culture with a modern expression.
To answer your question about evolving, I believe one should be stubborn on vision but flexible in approach so while the vision remains fixated on using clothing as a medium to encourage conversations about Indian creations and instill a sense of pride amongst a new generation of consumers, the approach is flexible.
Though a creative endeavour, fashion is a business and a rather tricky one because our job is to create new styles to allow consumers an extension of their personality on the assumption that they will desire the said product. Fashion is also not a one-person business and requires multiple people throughout the process who depend on us for their livelihood so the balance has to be maintained consistently. We really walk a tightrope every day.
StartupTalky: What new products, collections, or features did you introduce in 2024, and what inspired these designs?
Mr. Chandna: We paid homage to one of India’s most acclaimed modern artists - S.H. Raza through our craft. We developed ready-to-wear and artisanal offerings that built on the ethos of his artistic expression and combined our exquisite craftsmanship. A lot of our attention, as a design studio, is not just focussed on adding new crafts but also on enhancing our current medium. We went through multiple iterations of sequin embroidery to refine the gradient ombre effect achieved by placing each micro sequin with utmost care. The intent was to translate Raza’s color palette on fabric in a manner that provides a certain rhythm to it and it took a lot of hardship to accomplish.
We also built relationships with weavers and expert artisans across the country to build supply channels for hand-woven fabrics and other textile crafts which we seek to integrate into our product offerings next year. This was a rather slow but gratifying process as most of these weavers operate from remote areas and to build those partnerships we had to travel to them and convince them of our intent. It also allowed our design team to learn more about these processes - their intricacies, limitations, and ecological impact. A lot of time was spent consuming new information and working on ways to apply our design philosophy to them. We are very excited to present our offerings next year.
StartupTalky: What is the USP of Past Modern, and how does it stand out in today’s fashion industry?
Mr. Chandna: Past Modern stands out by placing itself right in the middle of the past and the modern. We are focussed on expressing a vision that stems from the past and finds a place in the future. We are constantly researching and exploring ways to modernise past practices of textile developments in India alongside effective communication channels to share stories of our country and its creatives.
Our USP is our ability to tie these influences together, instill a sense of pride amongst our community, and design hot-sell products that are highly desirable. We are a community-focused brand and that has allowed us to stand out because our ethos resonates with a certain audience and they want to connect their identities to the brand and what it represents.
StartupTalky: How has the fashion industry in India and globally evolved in recent years, and how has Past Modern adapted to these changes?
Mr. Chandna: Globally, fashion conglomerates have struggled to maintain consumer interest. New age, independent consumer brands have been able to communicate much more effectively. Consumers around the world appear to share a common sentiment. They are much more informed now and reject being convinced to pay a hefty premium for buying from a ‘heritage house’. They seek transparency and appreciate sincerity. They want to look behind the curtains and ask the right questions - who is designing products, what is the intention, what is the environmental impact, and how is the work environment?
To build a community that swears by the brand and its offerings, it has become quintessential for brands to welcome consumers with wide arms, and share their failures, aspirations, and practices.
At Past Modern, we did not have to adapt to these changes because we are in absolute agreement with these notions and are building our brand communication on the same principles. We showcase our new developments, the team, the studio, and every step of the process. Transparency is key to us and though we may not be perfect, we strive to improve every day and our community will join us on this journey.
Pooja Uniyal
StartupTalky: How important is Instagram for Past Modern’s marketing strategy, and how do you engage with your audience on the platform?
Mr. Chandna: Extremely important. As an online brand, we deeply rely on Instagram for our brand communication. It’s a great tool for us to connect with our consumers, showcase our developments, share our inspiration and ethos, and build a community around the brand. We share a lot of content expressing the stories of Indian creatives from the past to build more awareness. Our founder also hosts a podcast series wherein he engages with creatives from multiple fields and discusses myriad topics.
StartupTalky: Customer loyalty is key for any brand. How do you keep your customers engaged and ensure repeat purchases? Could you share any successful retention strategies or loyalty programs?
Mr. Chandna: There is a disbelief that repeat purchases are a result of discounting practices whereas the truth is that repeats occur based on product quality and service delivered. If a customer loves your product and appreciates the support provided from the point of purchase to delivery and after, they will come back to you. If it exceeds their expectations, they will become an ambassador and encourage others around them to buy from you. So the best approach to achieving a repeat customer is to refine the experience and quality consistently. Minor improvements may have a massive impact and minor negligence will have terrible repercussions.
StartupTalky: What tools or technologies do you use to manage your business and keep operations running smoothly?
Mr. Chandna: There are multiple tools we have integrated on our brand website that enhance the customer experience, for example - size finder based on previous purchases, delivery timelines derived from customer pin codes, and video clips of clients wearing our products to help customers better gauge the garment’s appearance. There are also backend tools that allow us to track raw material used, inventory consumed, and tracking software to pinpoint the exact status of an order.
StartupTalky: What challenges did you face in 2024, and how did you overcome them while staying true to your brand values?
Mr. Chandna: 2024 was our growth year. We grew our consumer base and order volume month on month. Hiring quickly and well became extremely crucial to meet operational demands and sustain growth without compromising on our brand commitments. I was the sole individual responsible for design until May but my growing responsibilities encouraged me to build a design team that can translate my vision to reality. This was our year of laying the foundation right for our business and that is extremely challenging because the future of our organization will be built on this and hence it must be laid out well.
We also took up the challenge of offering more ready-to-wear products and introduced a menswear line. As an artisanal brand, time and price are not major constraints but these become extremely crucial when designing for ready-to-wear. Fabric and samples also require more rigorous testing to gauge the impact of everyday wear.
It was a challenge to work with new fabrics, explore printing and embroidery techniques that can enhance garments, and not compromise on comfort but we came out victorious. Most of these styles became our most loved products, consumers were delighted to have the option to wear our brand more frequently, and we added a substantial male audience. This year made us appreciate the importance of chasing new challenges because on the other side of every hurdle lies a wonderful opportunity.
StartupTalky: What growth opportunities do you see for Past Modern in the Indian and global markets? Have you noticed any interesting differences in customer behaviour across Indian states?
Mr. Chandna: There is a greater interest and appreciation for Indian culture around the world. We are finally breaking free of the prejudices and preconceived notions imposed on us and forming a fresh identity. People around the globe are learning that there is more to India outside snake charmer, bullock carts, and spiritual gurus and they are eager to update their perspective. Indian brands across industries, fashion, cosmetics, furniture, and consumables, built on strong Indian ethos but packaged with a modern flair are witnessing tremendous demand.
At home too, consumers are replacing Western brands with Indian counterparts and this is not solely driven by the Swadeshi movement but also because Indian brands are offering better products, tailored better to consumer needs coupled with effective and transparent marketing. Consumers are more self-aware than ever and it is amazing to witness them challenging the status quo. It would be biased to say that Indian brands and businesses are primed to lead the charge in disrupting global market dynamics but I am wholeheartedly rooting for us.
StartupTalky: Looking ahead, what are your goals for expanding Past Modern’s product range, customer base, and presence in the fashion industry?
Mr. Chandna: Past Modern is a mission, before a brand, driven with the intention to revive our rich cultural past through a modern expression. Though clothing is a great medium to express these influences, it would be beautiful to apply the same ethos to other products like perfume, footwear, jewellery, handbags, home textiles, and furniture to name a few. The expression stems from a myriad of influences and hence, it would be terrible to confine it to clothing.
Our foremost desire is to instill a sense of pride for our culture in our consumers without forcing them to compromise on their preferences. If we can achieve that, they will yearn for more products from us that achieve the same objective. We do not necessarily aspire to mark a presence in the fashion industry. Past Modern’s presence should be in the minds of all individuals who love their identity and seek a means to express the maximum version of it. The future is exciting.
StartupTalky: As a founder, what advice would you give to young designers or D2C founders looking to build a unique brand like Past Modern?
Mr. Chandna: Most answers we seek to find lie within ourselves if we have the intrigue and courage to ask the right questions. Do not pay heed to any advice. Take time to discover yourself, find what motivates you, and dedicate your energy to expressing it. To make a mark, you must have a unique offering and you cannot create anything more distinct than yourself.
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