Blending Tradition & Innovation in Footwear: Avi Kumar, Founder & CEO of House of Avi

Discover the inspiring journey of Avi Kumar, Founder & CEO of House of Avi, in this episode of The Brand Called You. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Avi Kumar shares how his global footwear brand blends traditional Indian craftsmanship with modern design, inclusivity, and style. Learn how House of Avi addresses unique gaps in the footwear market by offering sizes from 4 to 20, along with the story behind its renowned Avaras sandals. From operational challenges to opportunities in underserved markets, including the transgender community, and the importance of customer education in sizing, Avi Kumar offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs and lovers of craftsmanship alike.

• 0:08Speaker 00

  Welcome to another episode of the brand called you a podcast and podcast show that brings you leadership lessons, knowledge, experience and wisdom from thousands of successful individuals from around the world. I'm your host, Ashutosh Garg. And today I'm delighted to welcome an accomplished and successful entrepreneur from Brisbane, Australia, Mr. Avi Kumar. Avi, welcome to the show.

• 0:30Speaker 01

  Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here today.

• 0:32Speaker 00

  Thank you. Avi is the founder and chief executive officer of the House of Avi, which is a dynamic global footwear brand that blends traditional Indian craftsmanship with contemporary design inclusivity and style. So Avi, my first question for you, what gap in the global footwear market did the House of Avi set out to solve? And how do you define the core identity of the House of Avi in one sentence?

• 1:01Speaker 01

  I think I'll use an example. If all of us look around us, there's always a dolly auntie or a pinky booa somewhere in the family who was always struggling to get good footwear because they've got a slightly larger, wider foot that they require comfortable footwear for, right? If you want to use etcetera, it's you don't have that kind of option in India.

• 1:21Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:22Speaker 01

  And I couldn't find footwear for myself. I have a size 13. Unfortunately, it's quite a large size. So that's the gap that we're we're literally operating in. We were making super extra large footwear for men and women who have larger, wider feet. Okay. And our core identity is that we're the only global manufacturer, small enough, who actually has a size that goes from size four to size 20.

• 1:54Speaker 00

  Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Amazing. What does cultural fusion mean in practical terms within your product design and brand storytelling?

• 2:07Speaker 01

  I think cultural fusion is, uh, you know, I was born in India. But, you know, I came to study here and I stayed and I saw the Australian dream. Um, and I'm living the Australian dream actually as a migrant, right? You know? I have multiple businesses that I've started here. I'm, I'm a professional in my whole, uh, career. Uh, you know, as an industrial relations consultant, but footwear has always been something that I wanted to get into. As a, uh, as a business, ever since I couldn't find sandals for myself. So I think the cultural fusion is that I'm using designs that I see in the Western world and Australia is considered a westernized country. Okay, I'm using designs that I inspire me from this, from Australia.

• 2:52Speaker 01

  But I'm using footwear techniques that are in India, manufacturing techniques that are made in India. Whether it be hands stitching for duties or semi uh electrical machines used for uh, are more diverse manufacturing products that we're doing uh in the footwear uh brand um catalog that we have now. So I think that is the fusion that I'm concentrating on.

• 3:16Speaker 00

  Hmm hmm. You know, in the last one and a half, no, no, the last four, five years, there are a lot of young Indian brands that have come into the footwear market in India. And my question is, in a crowded global footwear market and a growing Indian uh set of footwear manufacturers.

• 3:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:36Speaker 00

  What makes House of Avi unmistakably distinct?

• 3:41Speaker 01

  I think it's our ability to identify one simple fact of life. Ninety percent of all the brands that you believe have come into India are actually white label brands. They purchase from manufacturers, put their brand on it.

• 3:57Speaker 00

  I see.

• 3:57Speaker 01

  Okay, five percent of the market is like me, I'm actually a manufacturer, I have my own factory. So I have a quality control, I know what design I want. I know I can deliver exactly what I have envisaged. And my technicians and artisans will make exactly that, the design that I want. I don't have to settle for like, you know, oh, we can't make more than this size. Or we can't bend the strap here, or we can't use this leather, that leather, nothing. I don't have those barriers because I manufacture myself.

• 4:28Speaker 00

  Hmm, amazing.

• 4:30Speaker 00

  How do you preserve traditional Indian craftsmanship while adapting to modern global tastes? And I've noticed one of the top global brands has just taken the, you know, the chapal, the leather chapal.

• 4:45Speaker 01

  The Kola Puru chapal?

• 4:46Speaker 00

  Kola Puru chapal, yes.

• 4:47Speaker 01

  So the Prada fiasco?

• 4:49Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 4:51Speaker 01

  Okay, I'm glad you brought that up because if you notice, duties, they've been around for decades and decades and generations. Various iterations of them, okay, and depending on where they're manufactured in India, there's a particular name for them as well, both for male and female. The styles, right? I think how we're making, how we're preserving the Indian craftsmanship is that when you manufacture, when we make our duties, it's all muscle movements. Yeah, size six and seven, maybe eight can be made by one person, but that person will not be able to make nine, ten, eleven.

• 5:30Speaker 00

  I see.

• 5:32Speaker 01

  That person won't be able to give me my eleven, twelve, thirteen, there is no way that Khan Saab who does our sixteen to twenty

• 5:43Speaker 01

  will be able to make six, seven, eight, it's just not possible because it's muscle, you know, when you're cutting on an everyday basis, okay, and it's free hand cut, duties is all free hand cutting. Unless you get to a more serious styles of avakas and, you know, loafers etcetera, where it's machine cut, okay? When you do duties, that's pure time-tested handcraft.

• 6:06Speaker 00

  Hmm, very interesting.

• 6:09Speaker 00

  Very interesting. What role do artisans play beyond production? Are they part of the design evolution as well?

• 6:17Speaker 01

  Totally, I fully support the feedback, the experience, the knowledge that our teams bring to us because when I'm sitting with people like Khan Saab or Shamshed. Okay, I'm sorry, I'm using these names and he'll be like.

• 6:32Speaker 00

  Please, primal means.

• 6:34Speaker 01

  These guys have been with us since day dot and they bring to us stories from their experience where they learnt. Okay, and said, you know, don't use water buffalo leather, use goat leather. Okay, uh, you know, it's more durable, it's softer, people like it better, there's better feedback coming around it. Okay, uh, sustainability in that area is much better for our, uh, uh, global footwear. Don't use Eva soles, use, uh, you know, uh, um, T P R rubber soles because their longevity just goes on and on and on like the energizer bunny. So, you know, we, we literally value that experience and their input.

• 7:14Speaker 01

  And what we've come out with over the last few months and in fact over the last couple of years. I would say is, is footwear that people are enjoying, people are buying, people are buying all across the world. Okay, and, you know, it's, it's because of their input that we are able to make sure that our quality control remains strong.

• 7:35Speaker 00

  Amazing. What inspired your iconic Avirka's sandals? I hope I've got the pronunciation right and how do they reflect your brand philosophy?

• 7:47Speaker 01

  So I think, um, the Avakas are a Spanish influenced sandal, okay, they, they originate from there. Uh, in India, we like to call it Avirka's behind Avi.

• 8:00Speaker 01

  But I think it's, it's a unisex sandal and it's so comfortable. And that's the first sandal I actually made for myself because I used to wear a lot of them when I was in Australia.

• 8:12Speaker 01

  When I was in the outback Australia, like, you know, it was, it was hot. Uh, and in the summertime, I never could find comfortable sandals. And I always preferred a leather sandal over a, over any other material. Okay, uh, so when I made that and I said, okay, this is a possibility. Okay, and I put the team together, you know, we got, uh, auditions from across Uttar Pradesh. To sit at the factory and say, okay, show us what you can do. And I think that has turned into our, one of our most sought after products is the Avaka sandals. Because internationally, it is the highest quantity selling sandal in the world.

• 8:53Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 8:54Speaker 01

  Very popular in the western world. Somehow it's not as popular in India as yet, but I am the only manufacturer in India making it.

• 9:03Speaker 00

  Hmm, amazing. I must look for what it looks like, you know. Uh my next question.

• 9:09Speaker 01

  If you if you look at my background.

• 9:11Speaker 00

  Yeah. Oh, these are all the abracads sandals, eh?

• 9:14Speaker 01

  Abracads.

• 9:16Speaker 00

  And these are unisex, you said?

• 9:18Speaker 01

  Unisex, but see, these are these are in plain colors.

• 9:20Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 9:21Speaker 01

  We've got them in almost thirty different printed designs as well.

• 9:24Speaker 00

  Hmm amazing, amazing, okay. I've learned something new uh today. Um I'll be moving on, how do you approach the intersection of comfort, fashion and durability in your designs? And I know a few minutes back, you told me about broad toes and Indians generally have broad toes, but is that something common around the world?

• 9:46Speaker 01

  Uh yes, and more so in the western world, the physique is larger.

• 9:50Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 9:51Speaker 01

  Okay, compared to um west uh the western physiques, okay, the Indian physique is a little bit more petite.

• 9:58Speaker 00

  Correct.

• 9:59Speaker 01

  It's a lot stronger because we we have uh to cater to such a variety of seasons, etcetera, okay? But uh generally, the western physique is larger, but and these, the comfort, fashion, durability, I think they are three non-negotiable pillars.

• 10:15Speaker 00

  Correct.

• 10:15Speaker 01

  For anyone who's making footwear, you, these three things are constantly at front of mind that any footwear that I'm making needs to be, needs to meet these pillars, needs to meet these benchmarks.

• 10:25Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 10:25Speaker 01

  Okay, whether it's ergonomic design, okay, whether it's eye-catching colors, eye-catching designs, okay? The key thing in the market today is how long is my pair of shoes, whether it's sneakers, whether it's sandals, whether it's Oxford from Butters, whether it's naughty boys for your kid that you're getting from Butters, or whether my footwear needs to last me as long as.

• 10:50Speaker 00

  Correct, correct, well said, well said. How do you communicate the value of handcrafted footwear to a global consumer used to mass production?

• 11:03Speaker 01

  I think we have been successful in shifting our brand identity from fast fashion

• 11:11Speaker 01

  to something what I called all the time fashion or forever fashion.

• 11:14Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 11:14Speaker 01

  Okay, because I I want people to understand that when you wear a a waka sandal, for example, that has a T P R sole on it. That sole will last you ten years easily. It won't go anywhere.

• 11:25Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 11:27Speaker 01

  That's the homework we've done to get the chemical composition right for the thermoplastic rubber we're using.

• 11:31Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 11:32Speaker 01

  Okay, so I believe that's where we communicate that value to our staff, to our customers. Okay, because uh our returns are less than, you know, two percent of anything that goes, and it's mainly for size. We don't, we, to to date, we have not had a returns sent to us because of a default in our uh sole or durability of our materials.

• 11:55Speaker 00

  Amazing, amazing. Moving on, how do you build an emotional connection between customers and handcrafted product?

• 12:07Speaker 01

  I think it's more about involving the customer in the production journey.

• 12:13Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 12:14Speaker 01

  Okay, so we work with customers who will uh, you know, who have sometimes had a specific demand.

• 12:21Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 12:21Speaker 01

  Okay, you know, they they might have a a a larger right foot or a smaller left foot and we we we've got to, you know, then be funky enough to say, okay, you buy two sizes, one smaller, one larger, and then you have, you know, a a smaller left and a larger right. Okay, but you buy something that you can wear on opposite feet as well and it won't go anywhere.

• 12:42Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 12:43Speaker 01

  So I I think it's part, when we tell them that, okay, we will, because we don't build for a custom size. We build from four to twenty.

• 12:53Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 12:54Speaker 01

  Okay, and the variety of that additional sizes works for them.

• 12:59Speaker 00

  Very interesting, very interesting. What has been your most uh effective storytelling channel so far? Social media influencers or direct to cus- customer experiences?

• 13:13Speaker 01

  I think. Let I I will be frank, okay. I believe influencers are a total waste of my time.

• 13:20Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 13:21Speaker 01

  Okay, because there are any influencer is only influential for the thirty seconds that they would be on a particular post on their profile that some of their followers would see and then there's they they are already following other people, etc., etc. So they are a waste of my time altogether because you know they especially if they do something bad and my brand is associated with them, I don't want that. I've seen it happen. What we chase is somebody like a Tanya Herbert, who is the Guinness Book of World Record holder for the largest feet in the world, so on earth, as a woman, she has the largest feet.

• 13:55Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 13:56Speaker 01

  She only wears House of Abbey footwear because we're the only manufacturer who can who goes up to, and she wears a size eighteen's.

• 14:04Speaker 01

  To give you an example, to give you, to give you an example, okay. If I have to sell to people who have feet as large as hers, she actually is an authentic beacon for people with large feet.

• 14:17Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 14:18Speaker 01

  That's her size. I don't know it will come through or not, but that's her size.

• 14:23Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 14:24Speaker 01

  You see, it hurts my entire face.

• 14:25Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 14:26Speaker 01

  Right?

• 14:28Speaker 00

  Amazing.

• 14:29Speaker 01

  So I prefer those kind of people.

• 14:31Speaker 00

  Hmm, very interesting. Designing and Australian manufacturing in India is a very powerful model.

• 14:39Speaker 01

  It is.

• 14:40Speaker 00

  How do you manage this cross-border synergy?

• 14:46Speaker 01

  By drinking a lot of Red Bull, I think, because I have to speak quick for the time zones.

• 14:50Speaker 00

  Yes, yes, yes.

• 14:52Speaker 01

  So I think, um. Yeah, I have always believed that the make in India model would always be a success.

• 15:00Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 15:00Speaker 01

  And I wanted to be a part of it when I started my footwear journey. I was like, I'm not going to make in Vietnam or Cambodia when I already have a muscular back end in India.

• 15:10Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 15:11Speaker 01

  Okay, and if I can produce for the for the world from India itself, why not?

• 15:17Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 15:18Speaker 01

  I was born there. I'm a, my father was in the Indian Air Force, so anytime, it's like that old, it's a movie dialogue, you know?

• 15:26Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 15:27Speaker 01

  In the religion column, we put Indian.

• 15:29Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 15:30Speaker 01

  So in my production column, I put Indian.

• 15:32Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 15:33Speaker 01

  I had that.

• 15:34Speaker 00

  Very interesting. Well said. You mentioned several times about how you manufacture from size four to size twenty.

• 15:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:42Speaker 00

  What led you to prioritize extended sizing? And what are some of the operational and design challenges that come with producing such a wide range?

• 15:52Speaker 01

  So when I opened my store in a regional city in, in twenty nineteen in Australia, I was, because I was posted there at that time with my work as well. I had everyday Australians come through the door looking at, you know, they were looking at duties for the first time in their lives. And they were like, okay, comfortable wear, let's wear and go. And they were, I kept getting people who, you know, kept coming word of mouth, started spreading. Um, and they said, can you make larger? I used to make till size twelve at that time in twenty nineteen. In twenty twenty, we went to size fourteen. In twenty twenty one, we went to size sixteen. Okay. And then I said, okay, there's a market here. I want to make more different styles, et cetera.

• 16:31Speaker 01

  And then some of the sports people who were trying out for the Australian Olympic swimming team.

• 16:38Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 16:39Speaker 01

  They were, a couple of them were passing by a double on their way to the, to their trials. And they stopped and their feet are like flippers, you know, those swimming flippers.

• 16:49Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 16:50Speaker 01

  So I took dimensions and foot wise, all mathematics at the end is geometry.

• 16:54Speaker 00

  Mm hmm.

• 16:55Speaker 01

  To get the angle right, to get the cut right, to get the stitch right. Um, that was just the explosion of availability and possibility.

• 17:05Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 17:06Speaker 01

  And then Tanya reached out to us. We had reached, I reached out to her in twenty nineteen and said, let me make shoes for you, you're my inspiration.

• 17:13Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 17:14Speaker 01

  Okay. She never got back to us.

• 17:16Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 17:16Speaker 01

  That was a, she reached out to us in herself, you know, in twenty one and then we haven't looked back since.

• 17:23Speaker 00

  Fantastic. What have been your biggest challenges as you have scaled globally?

• 17:32Speaker 01

  Asurji, I find that, you know.

• 17:37Speaker 01

  People have a very short memory. And there are so many brands available promising the earth in terms of comfort.

• 17:45Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 17:45Speaker 01

  And a lot of the customers don't realize that size charts from every manufacturer.

• 17:51Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 17:52Speaker 01

  Are different.

• 17:53Speaker 00

  Correct.

• 17:54Speaker 01

  Yeah. An example from India is Bata produced in India. Okay, a size eight in Naughty Boys or Oxford will be different to the Bata that is being produced in another country.

• 18:06Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 18:06Speaker 01

  Same size, one centimeter here, half a centimeter there.

• 18:10Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 18:10Speaker 01

  But it's a, it's a, it's a change, right? And then you have US size, UK size, Australian, Australia follows both them. And now of course you, you're getting the Bharat sizing. Okay, so there is no. Uh, there, there's no one size fits all story here. That is my biggest challenge, educating the customer that please go to my size chart, look, I am true to my sizes.

• 18:37Speaker 00

  Very true.

• 18:38Speaker 01

  That is my biggest challenge.

• 18:39Speaker 00

  Absolutely. What role does e-commerce play versus physical retail in your own growth strategy?

• 18:47Speaker 01

  We are purely now an online e-commerce brand.

• 18:50Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 18:51Speaker 01

  I opened a shop in Australia to do my homework for five years. I did it very successfully and then when I moved back to Brisbane again for work. Okay, um, you know, I'm not interested in opening an online store because purely I find. It's, it's not that I can't take on staff etcetera, but I don't feel the need for it when I'm available online, I'm stocking in India, I'm producing there.

• 19:13Speaker 00

  Right.

• 19:13Speaker 01

  My backend is such a well-oiled machine. Okay, that anywhere on the planet, if there's a courier service going there.

• 19:23Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 19:24Speaker 01

  My footwear will go there if ordered.

• 19:26Speaker 00

  Hmm. Interesting. And we have time for two more questions for you. Which markets have responded most strongly to your brand and why?

• 19:38Speaker 01

  Uh, US market, definitely. Uh, because uh, the population over there, uh, Tanya is there, so she's been happy. Uh, you know, letting people know about the ability for the forgotten people to get their sizes now. You know, but bigger, uh, bigger people with bigger feet generally used to have to settle with either men's footwear. Or very bland, uh, you know, Velcro type footwear. But now they've got a choice. Okay, so there's been an explosion from the US, same for the UK, um, Australia. Okay, but the secondary market that I found has been in the transsexual market. Funny enough, in Europe.

• 20:19Speaker 01

  Because uh, people who were born men are now women and you know, uh, they have big feet. Physiologically, so they want, you know, ladies footwear that we're making.

• 20:30Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 20:31Speaker 01

  We found a massive market there.

• 20:33Speaker 00

  Hmm, amazing. My last question for you, as you look ahead, what is your long-term vision? Do you see House of Avi as a footwear brand or a broader lifestyle label?

• 20:48Speaker 01

  I'd love to be a lifestyle label at the end of the day.

• 20:50Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 20:51Speaker 01

  Uh, because there's a lot more than I know that we can produce in India, but. Uh, you know, I always believe in let's do one thing at a time, so we do it right, do it well. Okay, so that we don't have to redo it all the time. We can reinvent ourselves from a brand perspective or a, you know, model perspective or design perspective. But from a comfort, durability and uh, customer experience perspective, we just need to, you know, maintain that standard. So I believe definitely we're a broader lifestyle label in the future. Okay, and my long-term vision is for my children, one of my kids will take over the HOA brand.

• 21:31Speaker 01

  And uh, they might have more inclinations to add more because we, we, we want to do um. Wool and silk scarves, it's a massive demand out there and India is a massive producer of both.

• 21:43Speaker 00

  Correct, correct.

• 21:44Speaker 01

  We have the ability to do that.

• 21:45Speaker 00

  Absolutely, absolutely. And on that note, sorry.

• 21:50Speaker 01

  Scarves and footwear go hand in hand.

• 21:51Speaker 00

  I know, absolutely right. But on that note, Avi, I just want to say, what a fascinating conversation this one has been, you know, footwear is. Something that every single human being needs and not in one or two but in multiple pieces of pairs of footwear that are needed. Thank you for speaking to me about your journey, about the all the great work House of Ivy is doing and all the amazing stuff you are managing to achieve with so many different people around the world. Thank you again for speaking to me and good luck to you.

• 22:25Speaker 01

  Thank you so much Ashwathji. Have a lovely evening there.

• 22:27Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 22:29Speaker 00

  Thank you for listening to the brand called you videocast and podcast, a platform that brings you knowledge, experience and wisdom of hundreds of successful individuals from around the world. Do visit our website www.tbcy.in to watch and listen to the stories of many more individuals. You can also follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Just search for the brand called you.