UAE startup owner wants to make a fashion business out of 'deadstock'

Dubai: It takes a whole lot of effort to get a brand new business up and running. For Gauri Sarma, that meant having access to a lot of ‘deadstock’.

Gauri is the owner of ‘beAthletica’ - an athleisure brand that has its origins right here in the UAE. And which uses discarded fabrics as the raw material for its one clothing line.

“The idea for BeAthletica was conceptualized through finding sources for deadstock fabric yardage at garment factories in the UAE, India and China,” said Gauri, whose first collection was introduced to the local market in December last. “Our goal is to always have the majority of our upcoming collections made from sourced deadstock fabrics.”

Sure, there are cost benefits from using fabrics that have been discarded rather than go in for new. It helps keep BeAthteltica’s retail prices at under Dh300 for a piece. The athleisure category has had some significant growth through recent years, as shoppers on-boarded the idea that it wasn’t enough to be seen as fit, they had to dress for the part too. Shopping for the biggest names in the athleisure space does cost quite a bit, and this is where a brand like BeAthletica hopes to fit in.  

“The idea for BeAthletica was conceptualized through finding sources for deadstock fabric yardage at garment factories in the UAE, India and China,” said Gauri, whose first collection was introduced to the local market in December last. “Our goal is to always have the majority of our upcoming collections made from sourced deadstock fabrics.”

Sure, there are cost benefits from using fabrics that have been discarded rather than go in for new. It helps keep BeAthteltica’s retail prices at under Dh300 for a piece.

The athleisure category has had some significant growth through recent years, as shoppers on-boarded the idea that it wasn’t enough to be seen as fit, they had to dress for the part too. The biggest fashion labels in the athleisure space does cost quite a bit, and this is where a brand like BeAthletica hopes to fit in.  

“The costly part of our business operation is shipping the deadstock into the UAE and manufacturing it locally,” said Gauri, who graduated with a BSc in fashion management from the London College of Fashion and later had a stint with the luxury-focused online fashion marketplace Ounass.

“We’re able to offer a very competitive price range across our styles mainly due to the fabric cost being nominal.

“An interesting fact is we are usually left with challenging colours when it comes to deadstock fabric, like bright pinks, bright blues and greens. These colors are normally risky to purchase in bulk.

But these same colours are some of our bestsellers this season, prompting us to take more risks in our colour palettes.”  

Any startup in the fashion industry confronts a hit-or-miss situation. Get in wrong on any seasonal collections, and the business is left with unsold stock and extremely disgruntled wholesale and retail partners. Not to mention possible shoppers too.

BeAthletica’s business model of using deadstock has kept initial capex in a tight range. But there is always the pressure of getting the fashion trends each and every time. That extends to even the athleisure wear category too.

BeAthletica also operates on a direct selling model through its online portal, currently shipping orders out to customers in the UAE and GCC.

“We’ve partnered with a UAE-based logistics company that handles our order fulfilment, with 95% of our UAE orders arriving next-day as a standard service,” said Gauri. “Our current capacity of production is 5,000 pieces per season, and our SS25 (Spring/Summer 2025) collection has a projected total of 4,000 pieces.

"Our next collection, which is SS25, will have fabrics like 100% cotton loopback terry for sweats, non-brushed bamboo jersey for tops, 100% cotton single-jersey, lightly-peached polyester-spandex blend for activewear, and the introduction of a viscose-rayon blend for our latest designs.”

“All the initial funds were through personal funding, with Q2 being funded through family and friends,” said Gauri. “As we currently sit on 5 months since the launch, we expect to breakeven at our current pace by the end of Q3 of 2025.

“Our realistic and expected target for profitability is projected for Q2-2026. We anticipate investing more into our range and product development for FW25 (Fall/Winter 2025) thus seeing profitability next year.”

Gauri clearly is in business for the long run...