the day i found the ‘VICUÑA’
When I had the opportunity to travel to Europe for my bachelor’s, everything changed. I had studied mechanical engineering, but every free moment I had, I was in clothing stores. Not browsing. Studying. The first thing I did in every store I entered was reach for the label inside the garment and read the composition. Not the price. Not the brand. The material. What I earned during those years, I spent on weekend trips to Italy, just to be near the fashion capital. To breathe it. To learn it.
She said ‘VICUÑA‘
I asked her to cut me a small piece to take home. Just 1×1 inch. That day I cleaned her entire store floor to earn it. That piece of fabric never left me.
The VICUÑA is a shy, gentle, endangered creature that roams the Andean highlands at 6,000 meters above sea level. When I learned about it, I felt something personal. Because I too am an introvert. Quiet. Reserved. And like the VICUÑA, I carry something within me that most people never see.
After my education I stayed in Europe, built a decent life, gained deep exposure to the world’s finest textiles and how they are processed. But something inside me was never satisfied. I looked at the industry around me and I saw a truth that troubled me: most houses are not built on extraordinary materials or true craftsmanship. They are built on perception. Heavy price tags on ordinary materials dressed in prestigious names.
That was the problem I decided to solve.
I quit what I was doing. I channeled every thought I had into one direction. For four years it was just me and a laptop. No capital. No connections. No guarantee of anything. Only will. And a certainty that even if I failed, I would restart until I made it. Because this is one life. And we had better spend it doing what we truly believe in.
Those four years taught me the histories of the great fashion houses, how they operate, what they truly stand for, and where most of them fall short. And they gave me absolute clarity on what GAVAN would be. Not a brand built on perception. A house built on invention. On proprietary textiles developed from the world’s rarest noble fibers. On 100% handmade garments crafted by Indian master artisans carrying 5,000 years of tradition. On honesty, integrity, and full transparency at every stage of what we create. GAVAN exists to set a new benchmark. Not to compete with what exists. To render it insufficient.