Women in sports are still hugely underrepresented in India. Also, there is a massive gap in performance wear for Indian women, especially from Indian brands. Further deep diving into the landscape of Indian female athletes exposed several other needs.
Integrating such acquired knowledge about the reality in this space gave birth to ENGN. It was launched, comprehending the need to play a dual role.
“ENGN supports and backs Indian female athletes, trains and mentors them, and provides top quality, affordable performance wear to every girl,” informs Megha H Desai, CMO & COO, ENGN, while talking to Life Beyond Numbers.
Megha, the co-founder of ENGN, is also an internationally certified Yoga instructor and dancer. She oversees the brand’s business plan, implementation, and growth. She has over two decades of expertise in business strategy, including launching start-ups, P&L management, new market growth, intellectual property creation, brand content, and sponsorships.
ENGN is a part of Varanium Lifestyle, which has already been in the fashion and lifestyle business for some time. From the product perspective, their one constant mission was to not only create high-quality products but also offer them at an affordable price point.
The pandemic appeared as an eye-opener for many to realize the importance of health and an active lifestyle. However, there were not much high-quality yet affordable products available in the market.
“At ENGN, it was a challenge to identify materials, designs, manufacturers, and more at an affordable price for our consumers.“
What does the name ENGN stand for?
Any fitness or performance-related activity tunes, tones, and preps the body, which is essentially the engine for everything else. The rest is taken care of if the engine is in great form.
“Concerning female athletes, we were clear to be the engine that supports, encourages and inspires all the talented girls to not give up their dream of making India proud. These thoughts, combined with the fact that we like single-word brands as a group, we came up with ENGN,” explains Megha.
Indian scenario for women athletes
She is vocal about the sports scenario in India. According to her, it’s no secret that professional sports in India, apart from cricket, are not given their due. Indian sportswomen are even less acknowledged and are massively under-represented.
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She adds that, despite having defied tradition and training in a professional sport, the few women who have made it as athletes are barely known.
“Many of these sportswomen come from small towns and villages, from families that are not well-to-do. They have to make ends meet for their training and nutrition and fend for themselves. The much-deserved support is non-existing. This includes medalists representing the country and winning in their respective sports. So, while times have been changing with the likes of Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and many other great talents, we still need to strongly support our women athletes.”
ENGN started in August 2021 with the sole aim of empowering Indian sportswomen to make a global impact. The larger goal was to help create more female athletes by inspiring girls with role models. Meanwhile, it is committed to encouraging all women to make fitness a part of their lives.
“We strive to help shift the nation’s focus to sports beyond cricket, like taekwondo, skating, long-jump, swimming.”
A holistic support system
ENGN financially invests in female athletes. It pays them a monthly salary ensuring the athletes need not worry about receiving high-quality training and nutrition.
“We take care of their essentials from apparel to providing trainers, nutritionists and even mental-health coaches as per their requirements. We also ensure more female athletes get a platform to perform and showcase their talent.”
Product range
Currently, the collection encapsulates everything from a sports bra to t-shirts, tank tops, shorts, and tights. The aim is to develop many more products for before and after workout experiences. It should be based on feedback from athletes on how the clothes can improve from a technological and fabric perspective.
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Building the in-house team
For ENGN, it was essential to have a team that understood the fashion and lifestyle space but was also passionate about performance wear and sports. For the latter, it roped in Deepika Das – the head of Sports, as she is someone who can identify and work closely with female athletes. She comes with over ten years of experience in the sporting field and is an ex-sportsperson herself.
It was smooth regarding the product and marketing teams because the brand is part of a company that is already working in fashion and lifestyle. ENGN has reallocated resources and hired new talent who understands its targeted space. Its team members are across markets, including Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, and Delhi.
Strategy to build a D2C business
Like any D2C brand, its first place of impact is online, and that’s where its focus is from a commerce perspective, as it is still a young brand.
“However, we are already looking to open our first store in Mumbai because it’s crucial for any clothing or apparel brand to have an omnichannel presence, especially in a market like India. We are looking to have more stores in the coming months.“
Recently, ENGN got Esha Deol to meet its athletes. The response was overwhelming. The humble celebrity was very gracious and chatted with them all. It is exactly the kind of partnership one would expect with a brand ambassador.
“When we were looking for someone to be the face of ENGN in the early months, the quest was for a person who has a sporting background herself; someone who’s known for her passion and discipline. Esha Deol was the perfect choice. Right from when we started work with Esha, her involvement, feedback, ideas and more have been incredible. With her, the association has exceeded what we expected.”
Moments of pride
ENGN has had an incredible journey so far, with a few notable milestones. It has signed some highly talented female athletes from India. These include Maana Patel, Olympian Swimmer, Shivani Soam, National Level Long jumper, Anisha Aswal, India’s No.1 Taekwondo Athlete, and many more.
“Currently, we represent 6 athletes and are proud of how these girls have trained, persisted and overcome challenges. Signing Esha Deol as our product ambassador for the product range has been a milestone.”
It has also been earning rave reviews for its tank tops that are made keeping Indian bodies in mind.
Bringing a transformation
It believes that there are two ways to achieve this. One is supporting and representing India’s female athletes and helping them shine globally in their respective sports. And secondly, by inspiring young girls who see ENGN athletes as role models and showing their parents that their daughters can make India proud and earn well for their families.
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As a platform and D2C brand, it wants more female athletes and fitness enthusiasts to try its products and spread the word. It is open to feedback as a proud Indian brand and aspires to keep improving, building high-quality and affordable products to help women of India adopt a fitter lifestyle.
Meghna has a message to convey to the upcoming and aspiring women athletes in India.
“We want to encourage you to be inspired by the many young women who have succeeded before you and continue to persevere at a chosen sport. There are people like us who believe in your talent and support you with whatever you need. Don’t give up on your dreams. Work hard and ask for aegis, and the world will cheer for you.”
At present, for funding, ENGN is boot-strapped. However, finance never hindered it from extending support to deserving talents.
Athletes can write to the platform at its email address – info@engn.in, or reach out via the official website or on Instagram. The sports team will then reach out to them to take the conversation further.