Nicobar Designs to sharpen focus on gifting and women’s evening wear

Luxury lifestyle brand Nicobar Designs is looking to sharpen its focus on segments like gifting and women’s evening wear as it marks a decade of its launch.

Founded by Simran Lal and Raul Rai, the first Nicobar store came up at Kala Ghoda in Mumbai in March 2016. In its 10 years, the brand has expanded to 31 ‘islands’. 

Meanwhile, e-commerce operations contribute almost 40 per cent to the brand’s overall revenues. 

“We wanted to create a brand from India for the world, while ensuring longevity that does not lead to wastage,” said Lal, who believes that her husband Rai’s entrepreneurial spirit perfectly matched her cautious optimism when they started out.

“There are many Indias that exist within India, but there’s one that is embracing global luxury symbols and another, which as it evolves is comfortable owning its ‘Indian-ness’. We’re deeply rooted in India, yet global,” said Rai.

The brand clocked a revenue of ₹200 crore in 2024-25 (FY25), witnessing a 30 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth and double-digit earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margins.

“But profitability and scale are just outcomes. We want to maintain our growth levels while focusing on our values and culture,” added Rai.

While charting a roadmap as it enters a new decade, Lal points to big plans.

“We want to increase our focus on gifting, with smaller format gifting-only stores at strategic locations,” she said. An example of this is a store in Agra, opposite the Taj Mahal. 

“We also want to expand our range of women’s evening wear, which strikes the perfect balance between structure and softness, while still being India proud and elegant without being excessive,” she added.

There is still more to look forward to.

This includes a new menswear and home décor line, in collaboration with fashion designer Rajesh Pratap Singh, where clean lines and refined silhouettes meet Indian wear. There are also the Think denim Jodhpur pants, graded pin-tucks, and bandhgalas.

“We dropped our first wedding wear collection, NicoBaraat, this season and there were many takeaways we want to iron out when we do another such drop,” said Lal.

Apart from metro cities, the brand has expanded footrprint to cities like Chandigarh and Lucknow, while Indore is coming up.

“We did not think we’d go to some of these cities, but there are people beyond the metros who resonate with the brand and its vocabulary,” Rai added.