Benthungo Kithan, proprietor of EKADA, The Fashion Store which has recently opened at Dimapur and Kohima. EKADA is a new chain of multi designer stores focusing on luxury and fashionable clothing. (Morung Photo)
Dimapur | October 12 : For somebody who claims to be feeling terribly lost, he certainly has found the right direction. At S. Koutsu Complex in Dimapur, above the very popular Popular Bakery, a new chain of multi designer stores named ‘Ekada’ has been launched recently. The man behind this exclusive store is Benthungo Kithan.
Having traversed across the borders of India and a stint at Turkey, this young affable man has been in the fashion industry for long. And with the duration of his career, he longed to create a platform to showcase the creations of Northeastern fashion designers, who are critically acclaimed in the metro cities of India but otherwise forgotten in their own hometown. And he is not stopping at that! “Ben” as he introduced himself, says that he envisions his store as a way to help young talented Northeast designers in securing internship with famed designers with the country’s most celebrated fashion designers and also at Italy and UK. Through all of these unique ideas, Ben aims to create a unique opportunity for the people to experience fashion in its purest form for the first time in the Northeast.
Launches EKADA- a chain of multi designer stores in Nagaland
One look at the garments displayed at the Ekada store at Dimapur and the customer would realize that all designers retailing under Ekada has had showcased in one of India’s most prestigious fashion week “Lakme India Fashion week” (LIFW) or Wills India Fashion Week (WIFW). Ben also makes sure that every product in Ekada is first in its class and every product is produced and designed, keeping in mind the international standards of fashion. This store is certainly not the average boutique! For it focuses entirely on luxury and offers a wide range of couture, diffusion, and pret collections along with an emphasis on “occasion-wear” also provides for Bespoke services. It is created with a thought of being the destination for the most luxuriant, opulent and fashionable clothing.
But it has not always been this luxurious even for Ben. He shares that initially when he knew he wanted to pursue fashion as a possible career option, he did not know which colleges were the best to opt for fashion, or if choosing fashion would really be a strong career choice. He also says that those days there were no mentors to guide them. “I’m sure a lot of students here are also facing similar problems and difficulties,” he says. Hence, his strive to create Ekada store as an information platform, and to act as career counseling. Ben avers that he wants to spread awareness about successful designers from Northeast and promote their collection in their own homeland.
Ben also shares that before he embarked on setting Ekada, he had surveyed potential customer in and around Nagaland. The results were not so encouraging. He says that only 20% of Nagas belong to the elite group that his store would cater to, and from that majority only 5 % were possible customers as the rest mostly buy on their travels outside Nagaland and abroad. Despite such unappealing figures, Ben still went on with his idea to create The Ekada store, which he also admits is a very risky idea.
Ben correlates fashion to aesthetic sense, and even to perfection. He cheekily comments that there are a lot of fashionistas in Nagaland, but none with any originality in their dress sense. He opined that people are too much into trends and random copying of each others clothes. He also does not associate street wear as fashion, which he says is infiltrated with Chinese and Korean apparels. “For me fashion would be when one puts a lot of effort and thought about what they wear, while adding their individual sense to it,” he comments.
Many of us have this lackadaisical attitude that it cannot be as easy as to be in an industry like fashion. To this Ben says, “It’s not easy for anybody to launch their dream. It certainly took a lot of determination, research and planning to set up this store”. At the first introduction, Ben had corrected that he definitely did not consider himself a business-man. And he proves this when he asks for support. Not for his store, but for all the designers from the Northeast.
For now EKADA stores can be found at Dimapur and Kohima. Ben has plans on creating more branches. He also has plans on stocking creations from renowned designers like Atsu Sekhose and Imcha Imchen. He also plans to showcase his collection soon.
Having traversed across the borders of India and a stint at Turkey, this young affable man has been in the fashion industry for long. And with the duration of his career, he longed to create a platform to showcase the creations of Northeastern fashion designers, who are critically acclaimed in the metro cities of India but otherwise forgotten in their own hometown. And he is not stopping at that! “Ben” as he introduced himself, says that he envisions his store as a way to help young talented Northeast designers in securing internship with famed designers with the country’s most celebrated fashion designers and also at Italy and UK. Through all of these unique ideas, Ben aims to create a unique opportunity for the people to experience fashion in its purest form for the first time in the Northeast.
Launches EKADA- a chain of multi designer stores in Nagaland
One look at the garments displayed at the Ekada store at Dimapur and the customer would realize that all designers retailing under Ekada has had showcased in one of India’s most prestigious fashion week “Lakme India Fashion week” (LIFW) or Wills India Fashion Week (WIFW). Ben also makes sure that every product in Ekada is first in its class and every product is produced and designed, keeping in mind the international standards of fashion. This store is certainly not the average boutique! For it focuses entirely on luxury and offers a wide range of couture, diffusion, and pret collections along with an emphasis on “occasion-wear” also provides for Bespoke services. It is created with a thought of being the destination for the most luxuriant, opulent and fashionable clothing.
But it has not always been this luxurious even for Ben. He shares that initially when he knew he wanted to pursue fashion as a possible career option, he did not know which colleges were the best to opt for fashion, or if choosing fashion would really be a strong career choice. He also says that those days there were no mentors to guide them. “I’m sure a lot of students here are also facing similar problems and difficulties,” he says. Hence, his strive to create Ekada store as an information platform, and to act as career counseling. Ben avers that he wants to spread awareness about successful designers from Northeast and promote their collection in their own homeland.
Ben also shares that before he embarked on setting Ekada, he had surveyed potential customer in and around Nagaland. The results were not so encouraging. He says that only 20% of Nagas belong to the elite group that his store would cater to, and from that majority only 5 % were possible customers as the rest mostly buy on their travels outside Nagaland and abroad. Despite such unappealing figures, Ben still went on with his idea to create The Ekada store, which he also admits is a very risky idea.
Ben correlates fashion to aesthetic sense, and even to perfection. He cheekily comments that there are a lot of fashionistas in Nagaland, but none with any originality in their dress sense. He opined that people are too much into trends and random copying of each others clothes. He also does not associate street wear as fashion, which he says is infiltrated with Chinese and Korean apparels. “For me fashion would be when one puts a lot of effort and thought about what they wear, while adding their individual sense to it,” he comments.
Many of us have this lackadaisical attitude that it cannot be as easy as to be in an industry like fashion. To this Ben says, “It’s not easy for anybody to launch their dream. It certainly took a lot of determination, research and planning to set up this store”. At the first introduction, Ben had corrected that he definitely did not consider himself a business-man. And he proves this when he asks for support. Not for his store, but for all the designers from the Northeast.
For now EKADA stores can be found at Dimapur and Kohima. Ben has plans on creating more branches. He also has plans on stocking creations from renowned designers like Atsu Sekhose and Imcha Imchen. He also plans to showcase his collection soon.
