For so long, brides-to-be in Nagaland had to content themselves with flipping magazine pages and taking designs of their dream wedding dress to the local tailor and waiting with their fingers crossed. For the people with money, of course it’s a different trend with trips to Delhi or Bangkok in search for the perfect wedding dress. Wedding season in Nagaland begins from late October to mid February and the stress is on at this peak season. But now, with local entrepreneurs investing in the wedding market, things have comparatively eased and once more the celebrations are on full swing.
Meet Zena Marie Kire, one among the new young Naga entrepreneurs who has opened “Zena Bridal Salon” that caters to readymade wedding gowns, shoes, accessories and all things bridal.
This young entrepreneur tells us that launching her own business in Nagaland was supposed to be the last step in her career. She tells us, “I had planned to gain more experience and exposure working outside, but when I had come home to Nagaland I started thinking why not start right now when I’m young and have no obligations as such. I was certain I could focus all my time and energy into a new business.”
And if you think setting up a bridal boutique is easy work, listen to her story. Zena said that she had already made up her mind to create her own business while she was still in College and every project assigned, she would work basing it on her future business model. I spent a lot of time doing research and planned non-stop. In fact, during her first year of college, this enterprising young woman started supplying wedding dresses to three stores in India- Delhi, Siliguri and Nagaland. She shared, “In the beginning I was the middleman. It gave me a little bit of pocket money which in turn gave me some freedom to pursue my creativity. I still supply to Siliguri but discontinued the other two stores.”
Business was not always her first choice though. Since school, she was already studying and preparing to be a lawyer. Following this dream, she got through CLAT and enrolled at the National Law School Kolkata but after two years decided that this was not what she wanted to do. After a while, she developed an interest to work as a fashion buyer for companies. So, in 2014, she packed her bags and left to apply for BA Honours in Fashion and Retail at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Malaysia. Here, she graduated receiving the Chancellors Award for Academic Excellence. Right after this, she interned with Zalora, an online fashion store as a fashion buyer.
Barely a year working as an entrepreneur in Nagaland, Zena shared that she had started with just 20 wedding dresses and a few accessories. Now, she brings in wedding dresses from all over the world like Dubai, Korea, Russia, and China. Pointing to a beautiful dress in the store, she says, “I could easily hike the price of this dress and sell it, but that’s not why I opened Zena Bridal Store. My emphasis is on good service and quality at the lowest possible price”.
Elaborating her concept, she said, “I visualize Zena Bridal Store to be an amazing experience for every bride-to-be and not just an over the counter transaction. I have to first build a connection with the client because every bride has a picture of how they want to look. It’s not always possible-there’s money and time factor involved. The minute a bride-to-be walks into my store, I want them to leave the stress behind and leave the job of getting their dream dress on me. Once the right dress is found, the rest of the wedding preparation follows.”
Adding to this, “The whole process of buying a wedding gown is a combined effort. Every wedding gown needs time even if its readymade I’m selling. Some want less, some want a little more. Every girl has been dreaming about it since they were little, and as we grow up, our tastes change so it becomes stressful. One time, I’ve combined the design of 3 different dresses to create a wedding dress for a bride,” she laughs.
