kakinada solopreneur uplifts artisans

Kavea R Chavali has been dabbling across industries and has hosted 1400 shows across 15 countries and close to 800 brands. In India she has toured the length and breadth of the country, hosting live events.

Chavali has dabbled into acting as well with three years in theatre and a one-episode role in Pushpavalli season 1. She was also seen on AIB- A Woman's Besties part 1 & 2 on youtube. She has bagged multiple awards and accolades, some of the significant ones are RashtriyaSanman Award 2012-2013 for the best anchor in India, Voice of Asia 2019, Best Emcee of the year (Corporate events) & Best Emcee, (Female) in 2020 by Exchange4media Group.

Belonging to a small and beautiful town of Kakinada in coastal Andhra Pradesh, she planned to expand her horizons by packing bags and achieving her dream of becoming an Anchor. Few years into the world of Anchoring and several reputed awards later, the solopreneur within her decided to add another leaf of impact with her Brand 'Kalancea' to impact the artisans of India.

Kavea talks to "The Hans India" about her journey and her brand Kalaneca.

Please tell us about your journey

Always a traveller at heart, I come from a fauji family with my father being a Naval officer, acquainting me with the possibilities and adventures of life. I am a quintessential happy person at heart who seeks success in happiness. I studied Engineering and graduated from NIT Warangal post which I dabbled my way in the corporate and the media world.

Please share about Kalaneca

KALANECA was an idea born from the simple possibility of impacting a small village of Andhra and exposing their craftsmanship to the world. Our brand name comes from 2 important words. Kala stands for the art/skill while Neca comes from the Arabic/urdu word Nikah which means marriage.Our sarees have always showcased a marriage of different art forms intertwined in the warp and weft of the loom.We believe in amalgamating the Art, the Artist and the Artisan and thereby empowering that expression through our sarees. We are working with more than 68 weavers across 172 looms across 8 villages now with 35% of our revenues coming from abroad.

Kalaneca was born out of an artistic expression that we co-founders shared. With mom being our original saree influencer, it was easy for us to embrace the six yards of happiness. We are often told that a lot of brands have driven a father's legacy, while we decided to take forward our mother's legacy of bringing beauty and fame to the local artisans who might be sitting in the corners of rural bharath but designing a contemporary look for the urban India and the world.

What were the initial challenges you faced while starting it?

Our initial challenge which also continues to be a slight challenge even now was to educate customers and weavers about authentic handloom. Being exposed to polyester and power loom fabrics, it wasn't easy to make a customer understand that authentic handloom involves the weaver putting every thread on the loom and weaving with his bare hands which can also impact the colour variation and threads finish. We are specialists in the customised saree segment where the team brainstorms with the weaver and the wearer to create bespoke one of its kind saree which does take time, our initial challenge was to do with lack of technology to make the process seamless and faster but today we can happily say that the bespoke creations are some of the most inspirational creations for our brides and for our high end customers.

How did the pandemic impact you?

The pandemic did affect our weavers's work and we as a brand and as a team did take a monetary hit while the uncertainty allowed us to pause, regroup and repurpose our way of working.It wasn't easy but we took a break and while the world took its time to open up post the new normal, we reinvested our time and efforts towards our narratives. The narrative wear your power was born during a time when everything felt powerless. We realised that this was the best decision as it aligned our collective goals in creating a much better roadmap than expected.Revenues dipped for sure but they eventually picked up from November.

You were also appreciated by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, please tell us about it

This moment will always be special. I have had the opportunity to be praised by some of the best personalities in the industry and it's been humbling to work with them.This was during 2013-2014, when he was invited to be the Chief Guest for the centenary celebrations of a school. After hosting the 1st part of the program, I took to mic to share my interpretation of the leader that he is and I invited him to the podium to share his words. It's still fresh on my mind when I recollect how he stepped towards the podium , looked at the kids and then looked at me and said- "Kavea, I see what you do is not easy,but you have such a lovely voice and you have done such a commendable job. Thankyou"

How is your brand socially responsible?

Our brand ethos has always stemmed from the fact that everything that is handmade is celebrated which is why right from our sarees to our handwritten notes on seedpapers to our saree bags for packaging, everything hand stitched and woven with responsibility. The looms are inside the small houses of the weavers and we do not indulge in any kind of machinery work which allows us to participate in minimal usage of electricity and water.Our mantra for being socially responsible comes from being proud of creating a brand that celebrates slow yet premium fashion and not dilute the happiness with mass production.