We recently caught up with fashion consultant, Darasing Khurana, co-founder of Explosive Fashion, a luxury style portal for India.
Tell us about Explosive Fashion.
Explosive Fashion is a luxury style portal dedicated to providing a balance of judicious news, reviews and trends to a dedicated readership. This readership includes designers, models, advertising agencies, socialites and trend makers. As the marketplace becomes complex, the requirement for competitive intelligence and information is critical. The common thread of our portal is style in the realm of fashion, jewellery and accessories, beauty, art, hospitality and travel. Since interactivity is key, we have bloggers. In fact, do log on to the website everyday as we update it with four-five stories each day. We also have e-newsletters that go out to a database of over six lakh subscribers. What makes Explosive Fashion credible is the frequency of updates, integrity, independence and spirited coverage.
What made you start a luxury style portal?
I was fond of writing during college. When I started working as a fashion consultant, I interacted with designers and models on a regular basis. There were these young designers who thought out-of-the-box and I was amazed by their creativity and felt bad that they weren’t recognised. Also, models are recognised by face, but people rarely know about their background. Hence I thought it would be great to come up with a portal that recognises such people along with other established ones.
Fashion journalism has limited prominence in India. Are there other players in the market doing similar things? How is your initiative different?
Yes, there are a few players in the market and everyone has a different motive behind launching a website. For some, the purpose is monetary and the content reflects that. For others, it’s pure journalism. My idea is to promote Indian fashion or international players in India to a large audience and make them see the mechanism and hard work that goes into the business of fashion and beauty after the glamour is stripped.
How do you market Explosive Fashion to newer audience?
I hold an MBA degree and have developed a large exclusive database of over six lakh. I try to stay in touch with my core audience on a personal level, and I have agencies promoting my website.
What is the demography of the readers like? Where are they mostly from?
My server keeps a track of the demographics. They are mostly from metro cities and satellite towns. We also have a strong network in Dubai, London and New York.
How does the revenue model work?
We have several national and international brands advertising on our website and newsletter.
Do you have other plans to monetise apart from ad revenue?
Yes, there is a possibility of launching European high-street fashion e-commerce soon.
