An interview with Saurabh Agrawal, Co-Founder and CEO, Harfun, New-age attire model
On this participating interview, we communicate with Saurabh Agrawal, Co-Founder and CEO of Harfun, a new-age attire model that’s redefining trend with its revolutionary designs and sustainable practices.
Saurabh shares his journey within the trend trade, the inspiration behind Harfun, and the way the model goals to attach with a contemporary viewers whereas selling individuality and self-expression.
Are you able to share the inspiration behind founding Harfun and what motivated you to focus on males’s workwear?
Saurabh Agrawal: Our inspiration arose from the altering wants of recent professionals, significantly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
As conventional formal put on grew to become much less related and the traces between work and leisure blurred, my staff got here throughout a looming query – why couldn’t workwear adapt to this new actuality?
This led us to check a menswear model that seamlessly blended consolation, performance, and professionalism—culminating within the creation of Harfun in 2022.
We recognized a major hole available in the market: Conventional company apparel typically didn’t tackle the sensible challenges of lengthy hours and versatile clothes wants.
Therefore, we set out on a mission to redefine workwear by merging minimalistic design with superior material applied sciences grown in-house that supply properties like wrinkle resistance, moisture-wicking, and four-way stretch.
This led to the formation of our pivot class, Workwear 2.0, a assortment of science-backed, tech-driven clothes that helps one transition seamlessly from workplace to informal settings.
Our mission is to exchange stiff, uncomfortable formals with clothes that cater to at present’s dynamic workforce. Harfun is not only a model; it’s a motion to rework stiff formals into purposeful and aspirational items for each fashionable wardrobe.
How does Harfun differentiate itself from different workwear manufacturers by way of design and performance?
Saurabh Agrawal: We make the most of revolutionary and proprietary superior applied sciences like 6X SmartTech°™, ZeroSweat° Tech™, Helix° Fiber™, and IQ°Tech™ in our clothes that attributes options such as wrinkle resistance, four-way stretch, SPF 50+ UV safety, moisture-wicking capabilities, anti-microbial, and anti-odor properties.
These supplies are additionally extremely light-weight, making them 40-50% lighter than conventional workwear. Together with this, we engineer high-performance materials like Helix° Fiber™, specialised yarn, warp knit, knit, and elastane in our clothes, which ensures sturdiness and breathability.
Our clothes, when sported, really feel like luxurious items, whereas their science-backed properties assist them stay recent and make them adaptable for varied settings—from the workplace to journey or informal outings.
Moreover, we imagine in constantly adapting to the evolving wants of our clientele. We have expanded our product vary to incorporate roughly 90 SKUs, together with shirts, trousers, jackets, and hoodies—all designed for versatility and ease of use.
By specializing in innovation and addressing the discomforts related to conventional formalwear, now we have been capable of create a group of two,50,000 individuals with a 70% repeat charge of our prospects.
Are you able to focus on the analysis and improvement course of that goes into creating your workwear collections?
Saurabh Agrawal: Our method begins on the molecular stage, the place we engineer materials utilizing superior applied sciences akin to utilizing excessive IQ dyes that lock in with the material at a molecular stage, guaranteeing vibrant colours and long-lasting efficiency.
We collaborate with analysis institutes in Japan and Thailand alongside our in-house R&D staff to develop excessive efficiency material supplies. Every product is designed to mix fashion with performance.
For instance, our Workday Shirt is a brilliant shirt that comes with options like wrinkle resistance, moisture-wicking, SPF 50+ solar safety, and anti-odor properties.
Such improvements make our clothes really feel as snug as activewear whereas sustaining a skilled aesthetic.
What developments do you see rising within the workwear market, and the way is Harfun positioning itself to adapt to those modifications?
Saurabh Agrawal: The demand for clothes built-in with know-how is revolutionizing the style and health industries. At Harfun, we intention to steer this transformation by mixing innovation with activewear to create clothes that improve performance and well-being.
Our staff is creating a groundbreaking shirt geared up with an in-built patch for real-time glucose monitoring, leveraging developments in non-invasive applied sciences like sweat-based sensors. This product is predicted to succeed in commercialization throughout the subsequent yr or two.
Moreover, predictive analytics embedded in good materials, augmented actuality for digital exercises, and AI-driven customization are set to redefine health gear and buying experiences. Digital try-ons will additional elevate comfort by enabling customers to visualise match and performance earlier than buying.
Additional, collaborations between tech firms, designers, and health specialists are accelerating developments in wearable know-how, paving the way in which for a brand new period of linked health and personalised activewear.
What recommendation would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs trying to enter the style or workwear trade?
Saurabh Agrawal: Harfun, in India at the least, was the primary model to recognise WorkWear as a class. We got here in because the class creators, specializing in the shoppers’ desires and wishes. Listed below are some issues that I’ve discovered: Initially—know your shopper.
Spend time speaking to them, observing them, understanding their wants and frustrations. Essentially the most highly effective concepts don’t come from boardrooms—they arrive from actual life.
At Harfun, our journey began by noticing a easy hole: fashionable professionals had been caught with outdated formalwear that didn’t match their dynamic existence. That remark led us to a a lot greater alternative.
Additionally, it’s essential to method this trade with the fitting mindset. In case your main purpose is simply to generate profits, you’re lacking the purpose.
The WorkWear house is deeply private— what individuals put on impacts how they really feel, carry out, and current themselves.
So, concentrate on fixing actual issues. Whether or not it’s discomfort, lack of performance, or outdated aesthetics, your mission must be so as to add real worth to your buyer’s life.
In case you lead with goal and are relentless about innovation and utility, success turns into a byproduct—not the top purpose.
As our dialog wraps up, Saurabh Agrawal’s ardour for creativity and sustainability shines by.
With Harfun, he isn’t solely shaping a singular attire model but additionally inspiring a motion in direction of aware trend. His imaginative and prescient guarantees to resonate with shoppers in search of fashion that displays their values and individuality.
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