Suta to open first international store in Mauritius, targets Rs 85 to 90 crore revenue in FY26

New Delhi: From paparazzi snapshots to celebrities stepping out in them on an ordinary day, Suta sarees have quietly become ubiquitous. The visibility feels almost effortless, and that is precisely what makes the brand’s story compelling. 

Built with an initial investment of just Rs 6 lakh, without any external investors, Suta has grown entirely on its own terms. Still under the Rs 100 crore mark, the brand has nonetheless become a name saree lovers instantly recognise and trust, competing head-on with long-established premium players.

What sets Suta apart is not just where it shows up, but how. Its sarees appear across Bollywood films, OTT series and celebrity wardrobes, not as part of loud endorsements or paid placements, but through organic adoption. The brand’s visibility has grown naturally rather than through paid placements.

The Mumbai-based saree brand, co-founded by sisters Sujata and Taniya Biswas, has built a Rs 75 crore business by balancing conscious marketing investments with organic storytelling, selective influencer collaborations and a steady, deliberate offline expansion strategy. Speaking to BestMediaInfo, the co-founder explained how Suta approaches advertising and marketing in a crowded D2C market.

While organic word of mouth remains central to the brand’s DNA, paid marketing has become inevitable given the intense competition in fashion retail.

“We spend around 20 to 25% on marketing. We love organic content and word of mouth, but at the same time, the market is so competitive and chaotic, with so many brands mushrooming and big brands already present. I think 20 to 25% is inevitable, and over time, it will only increase, unless we do something drastically beautiful. With retail increasing, I think the online marketing cost will reduce over time.”

Beyond Instagram, Suta has also begun exploring other digital platforms where consumers spend significant time, treating them as organic discovery channels rather than pure marketing vehicles.
“Pinterest, LinkedIn and other such platforms are places where we are generally very active and where we get a lot of traction. We don’t have too much focus on them yet, but all these free channels where customers spend a lot of time are where we must be present. OTT platforms also contribute organically for us.”

Why Suta is not in a hurry to raise capital

At a time when fashion brands are burning cash on marketing and raising funds, Suta has consciously stayed away from it. “We had considered raising external funding, actually. But one reason why we didn't go ahead is that we felt that the cost of money is high. If at all, there will be a right investor, and if our values and their values align, we would love to go ahead, but right now we are not actively looking,” they said.

“We don't have a pitch deck yet,” Taniya Biswas chuckled.

Retail expansion on cards

Offline retail has emerged as a critical growth lever for Suta. The brand currently operates 18 stores and plans to expand its footprint aggressively in the coming months.

“We are at Rs 75 crore. This year, we are planning to clock around Rs 85 to 90 crore, depending on how it goes. Our most important focus is retail expansion. We are now at 18 stores, and hopefully by the end of March, we'll have 21 or 22 stores. The target is 85.”

The Suta sisters also revealed that the brand’s next store is set to open in Gurugram this January.

Pop-ups play a strategic role in this expansion. Rather than opening stores blindly, Suta uses pop-ups to test demand, understand customer behaviour and build early traction in new markets.

“Pop-ups are profitable. We look at individual PNL for every pop-up. The idea is to reach customers, build a base and also test a city before opening a store. Before Gurgaon, we did pop-ups there, and now Gurgaon is going to be our 19th store.”

Suta is also preparing for its next phase of growth, with international retail and category expansion firmly on the roadmap.

“Our first International store is coming up next year in Mauritius. Apart from retail expansion, we are looking at growing sub-brands. We will focus heavily on menswear and dresses. These categories have huge potential, and we will actively grow them.”

Power of ‘real faces’

The brand has also consciously stayed away from appointing a permanent celebrity ambassador, preferring a more inclusive representation.

“I feel every Suta queen who wears a saree is a louder ambassador than somebody we have to pay. I don't want people to feel scared seeing a perfectly draped saree and think they can't achieve that. Rather than having one face of an actress, it's much better to have multiple faces of different common people. We don't want to alienate anyone. Every day, we bring people from different walks of life to associate with this.”

However, Suta has benefited from organic celebrity adoption. When well-known actors wear the brand out of choice, it often translates into high-impact visibility.

“We worked with Taapsee Pannu very organically. She was travelling to the Paris Olympics and was wearing Suta. It became a campaign and went really well. Earlier, also, in Haseen Dillruba, she was wearing a Suta. We didn't do anything. We weren’t even aware that so many Bollywood stars were wearing Suta. When actors genuinely buy Suta and wear it, that organic route has worked very well for us,” the Suta sisters revealed.

Influencer marketing at Suta has evolved over time, too. What began organically has now been formalised into a structured but tightly controlled approach. Unlike many fashion brands that rely heavily on influencer-driven performance, Suta keeps this spend intentionally limited.

“Earlier, it used to happen automatically; now we have a team. We work with influencers who already talk about saris or wear them. Influencer spending is a single-digit percentage. We also do a lot of employee-generated content (EGC). It looks very real. Customers reach out to employees directly, and people love seeing the real people behind the brand.”

Operations and scale challenges

Despite the retail push, digital continues to contribute the largest share of revenue. Suta’s current channel mix reflects its origins as a D2C-first brand. “We take about 35% of our revenue from stores, 45% from our own website and app, and 15% from marketplaces. Since we started as an e-commerce brand, that is still the majority chunk, but with more stores, that will change.”

As volumes increase, operational challenges have also become more complex. One such issue has been fake returns, a growing concern across the e-commerce industry.

“People buy our sarees and return something else. We are now introducing tag loops, which we never had. With this, we expect at least a 50% drop in fake returns. We live and breathe the product. We can tell by weight, feel and fabric immediately.”