Virgio, which recorded 315 per cent growth between FY24 and FY25, and closed FY24 at Rs 31 crore in revenue, is eyeing to become a Rs 100 crore brand by this fiscal year’s end, Amar Nagaram, co-founder and CEO, Virgio, told ETRetail.
Apart from this, EBITDA of the brand has improved by almost 70 per cent, though it is still negative, but the trajectory is very encouraging, claims Nagaram.
On online versus offline revenue, he said, “61 per cent of our online revenue comes from D2C, and the remaining 35 per cent comes from marketplaces, and offline is not more than 3–4 per cent, but we see offline as a space not just to register one more source of revenue or distribution, but as a brand-building tool.”
“Online, our CAC is actually 40 per cent of our AOV. Our AOV is trending at Rs 2,800. Offline, our AOVs are actually touching Rs 11,000–12,000. Since we are vertically integrated, 60 per cent of our COGS is fabric. We are taking bets on fabric,” he further added.
The brand has already opened five stores and aims to reach 14 by fiscal year-end. It is open to both malls and high streets and looking forward to opening stores in cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi.
“By the end of November, we will launch a separate store for Beyond the Curve in Mumbai,” Nagaram said.
On store size and cost, he noted, “When we started, stores were 1,400–1,500 sq. ft., now we are extending to 2,000–2,500 sq. ft. All our stores are company-owned and operated. If we had to make the entire store on our own, the capex would be ₹70–80 lakh, and right now, it’s not more than ₹20–30 lakh.”
Virgio operates across eight categories, with western wear being the fastest-moving, contributing 60 per cent of its revenue.
Its biggest demand centers are Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur, and Chandigarh, together accounting for 60–65 per cent of revenue.
Talking about building the asset-light model, Nagaram said the brand is vertically integrated and follows an asset-light model in manufacturing as well as in opening offline stores.
“Virgio operates as a fully vertically integrated brand. From fabric sourcing to printing, dyeing, sample development, pattern making, trimming, and final manufacturing, we control every step of the value chain. Rather than owning multiple factories, we leverage our proprietary ‘Lease Line Concept, where we have a dedicated capacity within partner factories fully integrated into our system via technology. This enables us to monitor and manage every stage in real time, ensuring operational efficiency, quality control, and scalability without heavy capital investment.”
“This industry, surprisingly, never had a problem finding customers. It had a problem finding the right product for the customer. It was always a supply problem, not a demand problem. Just because supply did not talk to demand, brands were left with unsold inventory. That has been our hypothesis from the beginning,” he further added.
On a monthly basis, the brand launches anywhere between 300–400 styles and plans to take it up to 1,000 styles in a month or two from now.
In September, the brand launched ZERO, a thrifting platform where pre-loved styles are available, and plans to expand it further.
“This cultural shift is a great thing sustainably. If people embrace pre-loved fashion, you’re talking about true circularity, which is much bigger than sustainability,” he concluded.
