Nerige Story Founders Talk About Vintage Sarees, Nostalgia and Entrepreneurship

Ever dug through your grandmother’s sarees and felt instantly connected to a story? That’s the magic Pooja Nadig and Shashank Sivapurapu wanted to bring back with Nerige Story. Local Samosa spoke to the husband-wife duo to explore how their passion for textiles and entrepreneurship transformed into a brand that blends heritage with modernity. From vintage sarees that evoke memories of grandparents to sustainable, thoughtfully crafted designs, they share with Local Samosa how they balance tradition, storytelling, and contemporary fashion to create a lifestyle brand cherished by millennials and Gen Z alike.

Corporate Jobs to Entrepreneurs, the Spark that was the Start

For the founders of Nerige Story, the shift from corporate life to entrepreneurship was less an impulsive leap and more a slow, inevitable calling. For Shashank, the desire to build something of his own had always been present. He took his first entrepreneurial plunge at 25, at a time when startups weren’t quite the badge of honour they are today. While that initial venture didn’t pan out, it gave him clarity and conviction. He returned to the corporate world deliberately, with a focused goal of gaining experience and waiting for the right moment to start again. 

Pooja’s inspiration, on the other hand, was rooted in a lifelong love for Indian textiles and design. “I have always been super passionate about Indian textiles and the rich history of our textiles,” she shares, recalling how she would design her own blouses and kurtas and dream of owning a clothing store even as a five-year-old. Though her ambition took a backseat amid the demands of corporate life, a growing sense of dissatisfaction made her reassess her path. 

When the two got married, their individual aspirations aligned organically — Shashank’s entrepreneurial drive and Pooja’s passion for textiles came together, and Nerige Story was born.

Weaving Nostalgia into Drapes

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For the founders, nostalgia isn’t an afterthought — it’s the very foundation of how each piece is curated. From the brand’s earliest days, Pooja was clear that vintage sarees had to be brought back to the forefront. “I am a bit of an old soul in that sense,” she admits, sharing how her instinctive choice for any special occasion was always her grandmother’s or mother’s sarees. The elegance of sarees from the 60s and 70s, she felt, carried a depth and character that is often missing today. That personal connection naturally shaped the brand’s direction. To recreate that heirloom charm, the founders spent considerable time researching textiles and motifs from the 50s through to the 80s, carefully studying silhouettes, weaves and detailing, and thoughtfully reinterpreting them to revive the timeless beauty and emotion associated with those classic vintage pieces.

Starting Small, Doing it All; in the Middle of a Pandemic

The early days of the venture were defined by grit, resilience and an unwavering belief in the idea. As Shashank puts it, when you’re starting out, “you will be challenged at every step,” and for them, the biggest hurdle was doing absolutely everything on their own. 

Launched at the peak of Covid, the brand had no option but to be a two-person operation. With social distancing norms in place, Pooja and Shashank handled every aspect themselves — from answering customer enquiries and developing the website to product uploads, photography, modelling, packing, shipping and inventory management — a rhythm they sustained for nearly a year. Starting a business in the midst of a global pandemic was both physically and mentally exhausting, but they chose to overcome it by simply showing up every day, staying positive and persisting. Running the brand together became a source of strength, built on deep trust and emotional support. Naturally inclined towards taking the harder road, the founders share that challenges don’t deter them — they excite them, push them to think deeper and constantly remind them why they chose to build their own homegrown brand in the first place.

Growth, Delegation and the Cost of Building Something You Love

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Reaching the milestone of roughly Rs. 1 crore in monthly revenue marked a significant turning point for the brand — not just in scale, but in mindset. Having built the brand by doing everything themselves in the early years, Shashank admits that one of the hardest shifts during this growth phase was learning to delegate. Identifying the right people and trusting a team to take ownership of key functions became essential as the business expanded. 

On a personal level, growth has come with its own trade-offs. “We barely have a personal life,” Pooja says candidly, sharing that work often spills into most conversations and even vacations. While the intensity is something they genuinely enjoy — both having long aspired to build a life around work they love — it has inevitably taken a toll on their social lives and downtime. Holidays have become rare, and even time away is often punctuated by business decisions. Acknowledging this, the founders are now making small but conscious changes, including a rule to disconnect from work after 9pm. It doesn’t always stick, Pooja laughs, but for them, it’s a necessary first step towards balance.

Keeping Tradition Relevant for a New Generation

Authenticity and modernity aren’t treated as opposing forces but as complementary ones at this venture. Pooja explains that the brand’s core audience has largely been millennials, roughly between 30 and 45 years, for whom an appreciation of tradition comes more organically. From the outset, Nerige’s approach has been to celebrate rooted Indian heritage while giving it a contemporary lens that fits the modern Indian woman’s lifestyle. 

At the same time, the founders are keenly aware that younger buyers engage with fashion differently. For Gen Z, Pooja notes, tradition is often more trend-driven, with a greater inclination to experiment and reinterpret. Responding to this shift, the brand is set to introduce a new line titled Nerige for Gen Z, designed to encourage younger audiences to embrace the saree and Indian traditions while styling them in a more aspirational, modern way — allowing heritage to feel personal, relevant and exciting rather than distant or dated.

Why Stories Matter More Than Just Selling

For the brand, storytelling isn’t a marketing layer — it’s the core of how the brand connects with its audience. As Shashank puts it, “consumers are real people with real emotions,” and from the very beginning, the founders were clear that they didn’t want to build a business that was merely transactional or driven by ‘growth at any cost’. Instead, their focus has been on creating a genuine community of Nerige Naaris, rooted in shared values and emotional resonance. 

Storytelling became the most natural way to achieve this, not in a generic sense, but through narratives that feel relatable and deeply personal. Sarees, after all, hold a unique emotional weight. They carry stories of people, rituals, moments and memories — “it isn’t just worn, it’s felt,” Shashank reflects. Every campaign at Nerige stems from this belief, with both founders closely involved in shaping the creative and narrative direction, ensuring that each saree communicates something familiar and nostalgic. That emotional connection, they believe, is what truly differentiates the brand in a digital-first world.

Mindful Choices, Not Just Buzzwords

Pooja and Shashank approach sustainability as a mindset rather than a marketing label. She shares that for the founders, sustainability and profitability must go hand in hand, which often means being more thoughtful and intentional at every step of the process. This philosophy reflects in their packaging choices, where eco-friendly bags are preferred and unnecessary boxes or layers are consciously avoided. When it comes to the product itself, reducing waste is a key consideration. Unsold sarees are frequently reimagined into thoughtfully designed readymade blouses, allowing the fabric a second life instead of being discarded. Smaller remnants are repurposed into scrunchies for the team or even curtains for their workspace. The founders often extend this practice into their personal lives too, creating garments for themselves and their families from leftover fabrics. These small, everyday actions form this homegrown brand’s quiet commitment to slow fashion — one that respects material, craft and resources, without making sustainability feel performative.

Where Partnership Meets the Business of Building

For Shashank and Pooja, the division of roles at Nerige Story has evolved organically with the brand’s growth. In the early days, both founders were involved in nearly every aspect of the business, often working side by side on the same tasks. As the company scaled, responsibilities became more defined — Shashank now leads strategy, marketing and team management, while Pooja heads product and design. Despite this division, they remain equally involved in the day-to-day operations. 

On a personal level, the overlap between work and life is almost seamless. Pooja describes running the business together as a blessing, sharing that while there’s little distinction between the personal and professional, it also means they spend an extraordinary amount of time together. Passion, of course, comes with its fair share of disagreements, but as Shashank adds with a laugh, any arguments rarely last long — there’s always a pressing business decision that demands conversation. In their case, work doesn’t just intertwine with life; it keeps the dialogue constantly alive.

When a Saree Becomes a Memory

For the founders, the deepest validation comes not from numbers, but from the emotions their pieces evoke. Pooja recalls a recent moment when a customer purchased several sarees from their vintage collection and shared a voice note along with images of herself draped in them. Listening to her story, they were moved by how the sarees reminded her of her amma amma and felt as though she had gone shopping alongside her grandmother — “these sarees were a gift from heaven to her,” Pooja shares. Shashank reflects on how moments like these reinforce their mission: “We are not in the business of selling sarees, we are in the business of delivering happiness.” Whenever the founders encounter roadblocks or feel burnout creeping in, revisiting these heartfelt customer stories offers them a fresh surge of motivation and a reminder of why their brand exists in the first place.

The Road Ahead: From Sarees to a Lifestyle Brand

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Looking to the future, this homegrown brand aims to evolve from a cherished vintage saree label into a broader lifestyle brand. Pooja shares that the brand has already ventured into new categories, including readymade blouses and artisanal men’s and women’s shirts, with plans to expand both the width and depth of their offerings while maintaining a strong focus on quality. While they currently welcome customers to their office-based Nerige Customer Experience Center, a full-fledged physical store in Bangalore is on the horizon for next year. Shashank emphasises that their vision extends beyond products: “We want to build a rooted Indian brand for the world. We want to take Indian stories and culture to the world.” Over the next five years, the duo envisions their venture as not just a fashion destination but a platform for celebrating and sharing India’s heritage globally.

Advice from the Founders: Authenticity First

For Shashank and Pooja, the cornerstone of building a heritage-fashion label lies in genuine passion. Their advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is simple but crucial: be authentic to the cause of your business. “Do not start the business because you think it's cool or because you think it's trending. Do it because you genuinely care for the cause, do it if you are genuinely interested in the cause,” they emphasise. Only when the mission is rooted in true conviction, they believe, can a brand be both meaningful and commercially viable. Otherwise, there are countless other ventures better suited purely for financial gain.

A Full Circle in Every Saree

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The venture is deeply personal, entwined with the founders' childhood memories and family traditions. Shashank fondly recalls watching his mother drape beautiful Gadwal and Ikat cotton sarees for work, often helping adjust her pleats. When he earned his first salary of Rs. 8,000, he bought her a Kanjeevaram saree — a gesture that came full circle years later when he gifted her one of Nerige’s handloom Gadwal silk sarees, marking a profoundly special moment. 

Pooja, meanwhile, remembers her grandmother’s playful advice whenever she selected a saree: “Every saree is different, and every saree has its own personality and its own mind.” That philosophy now shapes Nerige Story, with each saree given a unique Indian name, a distinct personality, and its own character. Together, they reflect on the journey of the brand as their “own baby,” recalling how an early bestseller, a saree named Gaganamayuri, changed the trajectory of the business. Though production of that piece has since stopped, they have kept one for themselves, a reminder of the brand’s beginnings and the personal stories woven into every thread.