Many times, the key to a great start lies in the fact that you know what you do not want. The youngest designer of Myntra’s Fashion Incubator (MFI) program, Vidhi Khandelwal always knew that working for someone else was not her cup of tea. A nine- to-five job with a perfect salary was not what she wanted. And so she created her own brand ‘The Ink Bucket’ that offers different kinds of bags and wallets. The brand emphasizes imperfections, hand drawn illustrations, small details and nostalgia. Talking about nostalgia, Vidhi also creates postcards; yes, the much forgotten postcards that were sent to you by our loved ones during the 80s and the 90s.

Freshly Mynted asked Vidhi a few questions about her experience with the MFI program.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am a textile design student and I graduated last year. During my graduation years, I used to create a lot of designs which I saved on my laptop thinking this is what I am going to do once I graduate. And the number of those designs was just growing in number. Once I graduated, I decided I did not want to work for someone else. But you cannot really start on your own without any experience. After joining my first organization, I also kept working on my own designs side by side. Then I came across MFI which I thought was a great opportunity, especially for someone like me who did not have much work experience in the industry. And since then, there’s no looking back.

What did you learn at MFI that you did not learn while studying?

We learnt a lot here, especially the industry part of design. College teaches you the basics. And there are many practical aspects that you do not learn in a classroom.  For example, if you want to get the printing of clothes done, you don’t know how till when you actually step into the industry. Apart from this, when you start a brand, you also need to learn the business aspect of it because as a designer, you would like to sustain and scale it. Here, we started with our business plans and our brand Bibles. That gave us a very clear understanding of our own brands. We were always asking ourselves questions about the brand. All these things give you a strong base and help you in the long run.

Three tips for aspiring designers and entrepreneurs?

I would say that they should follow their heart. Having said that, there are no shortcuts or overnight successes. There is a lot of hard work involved. And yes, I’ve also realised that backup plans don’t really work. Not having a backup plan ensures that I give my 100% to the primary plan, work hard towards making it work and do not rely on a safety net.

Vidhi concludes by stressing how one should never be afraid of moving ahead. You never know, the wrong turn might just take you to the right destination. You can read more about Vidhi’s journey as an entrepreneur here.