The Quirky Naari began as one woman’s response to pressure, stereotypes, and the idea that ambition must wait. Founded by Malvica Saxena in Mathura, the brand has grown from hand-painted footwear into a personality-driven lifestyle label that celebrates modern Indian women through fashion, storytelling, and self-expression. For the founder, the journey was never just about shoes. It was about building something that reflected individuality, confidence, and the freedom to choose a different path.
A Brand Born from Resistance
The idea for The Quirky Naari emerged during a phase when societal expectations around marriage and womanhood felt especially loud. Instead of following a conventional route, the founder chose to build a business that represented the kind of woman she wanted to become: bold, creative, and unapologetically different. That personal shift became the emotional core of the brand. What began with hand-painted footwear slowly evolved into a wider fashion philosophy centered on women who want their choices, moods, and identities reflected in what they wear.
Turning a Gap into a Brand
While exploring fashion and footwear, the founder noticed a clear market gap. Most products felt repetitive and lacked the personality that many women were looking for. There were few Indian brands creating expressive, artistic, and emotionally resonant footwear specifically for women. The Quirky Naari was built to fill that space. Instead of selling only fashion, it set out to help people wear their personality — whether that meant designs for dog moms, travelers, music lovers, boss ladies, coffee lovers, or women who connect with self-love and ambition.
Storytelling as Strategy
From the beginning, storytelling has been central to the brand’s identity. The name itself, “The Quirky Naari,” reflects the balance between individuality and Indian identity — quirky for boldness and creativity, and naari for rootedness and cultural connection. That philosophy extends into the brand’s content and marketing. Social media, founder-led storytelling, UGC, lifestyle campaigns, and creator collaborations all work together to build a community around individuality and self-expression rather than just product promotion.
Building from Scratch
Launching from a small city like Mathura came with real operational and emotional hurdles. Finding vendors, managing inventory, maintaining quality, and scaling production all required persistence and resourcefulness. Financially, the business demanded continuous investment in product development, logistics, and customer acquisition. But the emotional challenges were equally intense. Being a woman entrepreneur often meant facing questions about why she was building a business instead of following a more conventional path. Those doubts, however, only strengthened the purpose behind the brand.
Authenticity Over Perfection
One of the most striking parts of the founder’s journey is how organically the brand grew. During the Shark Tank India audition process, she reached the final stage without even having a website, having built the brand primarily through Instagram and word of mouth. The idea of creating a bold, women-centric Indian label from Mathura connected emotionally with people, including investors and judges, because it felt real, rooted, and memorable.
Listening to the Customer
Customer feedback has played a major role in shaping the brand’s direction. Requests from buyers helped the team expand into different moods, personalities, and aesthetics, from quirky gifting ideas to more minimal office-wear-friendly designs. The customer is not just the end user; she is part of the creative process itself.
Growth with Identity Intact
The founder sees the brand growing beyond footwear into apparel, accessories, and other lifestyle categories while keeping the same artistic, expressive DNA. There is also a strong global ambition. The team believes Indian storytelling, art, and fashion aesthetics have significant international appeal, and the brand wants to build a larger presence through community, creator-led marketing, marketplaces, exports, and retail.
A Message for Women Founders
The founder’s message to aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: you do not need perfect timing, a polished setup, or external validation to begin.
What matters most is authenticity, emotional connection, and the courage to start small. For women especially, the brand stands for a powerful idea: ambition does not make you less grounded or less rooted in your values.
The Quirky Naari is proving that when personal truth meets strong storytelling, a small beginning can grow into a brand with cultural weight.
Interview By : Sejal Thakur
