The Pant Project founder and Creative Director Udit Toshniwal speaks to BW Retail World about building India’s leading bottomwear brand & why Tier 2 markets now contribute over half of sales
What started as a digitally native custom trouser brand has evolved into one of India’s fastest-growing menswear labels. In this exclusive conversation with BW Retail World, Udit Toshniwal, Co-founder and CEO of The Pant Project, discusses the brand’s evolution from made-to-measure trousers to ready-to-wear apparel, why Tier 2 India has become its biggest growth engine, the role of data in product development, and the roadmap to building a Rs 1,000-crore business.
The Pant Project was among the early brands to introduce customised, made-to-measure trousers in India’s online D2C market. What gap did you identify, and how did your personal experiences shape the launch of the brand?
We launched The Pant Project as a bottomwear specialist for two simple reasons—comfort and convenience. For us, comfort comes down to three things: fit, fabric and functionality.
To become specialists in fit, we began by serving more than two lakh customers through our custom-made offering. That data became our biggest strength. However, we always knew that custom-made was the gateway to ready-to-wear.
Today, our business has evolved from being predominantly custom-made to predominantly ready-to-wear. Along the way, we’ve improved repeat purchase rates, built strong customer loyalty and maintained very low return rates. That validates our belief that we offer one of the best fits in bottomwear.
Every start-up faces challenges in its formative years. What was the biggest hurdle in building trust around a digitally led apparel brand, and what milestones validated your business model?
Apparel is fundamentally a touch-and-feel category, so building a digital-first brand was always the harder route. Traditional apparel brands built trust through large retail networks, whereas we had to first convince customers online.
We deliberately chose to solve the difficult problem first—earning digital trust before expanding offline. Today, that strategy has paid off. As we’ve opened stores across the country, we’ve found that customers already know and trust the brand, resulting in stronger footfalls in cities where we had an established digital presence.
Building digital credibility first gave us the confidence that our retail stores could also succeed.
The Pant Project has evolved from a niche trouser brand into a broader menswear player. How has your product portfolio expanded, and what drives your category expansion?
Every new product we launch is driven by customer insights rather than fashion trends. We’re not a trend-led business—we’re a ‘heroes’ business, focused on building category-defining products.
Around 99 per cent of our business is still menswear. Men generally prefer timeless colours such as black, navy, khaki, olive and grey, making demand relatively predictable.
We started with formal trousers, expanded into power-stretch trousers and have now launched denim, which already contributes about 25 per cent of our business. We believe denim represents a significant opportunity because Indian consumers value durability and long-term wear. Our goal is to become the dependable brand customers repeatedly return to.
What consumer trends are you witnessing across Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets?
One of the biggest surprises for many people is that 51 per cent of our sales come from Tier 2 markets. We refer to this as ‘Bharat’, and we believe it’s where India’s biggest growth opportunity lies.
When we launched the brand, we naturally expected demand from metros, particularly as international brands entered India. But being a digital-first business allowed us to reach consumers far beyond metropolitan cities.
Markets such as Indore, Kochi and Chandigarh have shown exceptional loyalty. These cities have become key pillars of our growth story and continue to outperform our expectations.
The Pant Project is now expanding offline. What has the response been so far?
We’ve opened 15 stores across India, spanning both Tier 1 cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, as well as Tier 2 markets including Chandigarh, Kochi and Indore.
What’s particularly encouraging is that our Tier 2 stores are performing just as well as those in Tier 1 cities. That reinforces our confidence in expanding our retail footprint.
How do aspirational consumers differ between Tier 1 and Tier 2 India?
Consumers in metropolitan cities have a much wider choice of brands, which naturally reduces brand loyalty.
In Tier 2 cities, however, customers have fewer options. If they find a brand they trust, they remain loyal for much longer. For any brand, availability is critical—not only for growth but also for serving customers better and building long-term profitability.
The company has delivered strong growth in recent years. Could you share some key milestones and your vision for the next three to five years?
We’ve doubled our revenue every year over the past five years, and our ambition is to build a Rs 1,000-crore business within the next five years.
Currently, around 65 per cent of our revenue comes through our own website, while about 20 per cent comes from offline retail. We believe offline retail will become an increasingly important growth engine.
We currently operate 15 stores, and we see the potential to expand to around 100–120 stores over the coming years.
Your website also features a women’s section. Are there plans to expand that category?
At the moment, women’s wear isn’t a strategic priority.
We believe menswear—particularly bottomwear—remains significantly underserved. Women also tend to experiment with different brands more frequently, whereas men are generally much more loyal once they find a product that fits well.
Right now, our focus is on strengthening customer acquisition and loyalty in menswear. We may explore women’s wear more aggressively in the future, but it isn’t part of our immediate plans.
Your colour palette largely revolves around classic shades. Do you see greater experimentation in future collections?
Men generally prioritise versatility over novelty. That’s why our focus remains on fit, fabric and functionality.
Today, we’re expanding the variety of fits within our existing fabrics because customers often want different silhouettes for different occasions.
That said, as our casualwear business grows, we’ll certainly introduce more seasonal colours and broader colour choices alongside our core range.
