At Indian family events, it is often observed that children cry due to discomfort from traditional ethnic clothing. The market for children's ethnic wear has long been divided between expensive brands and the mass low-price segment, leaving little space in the middle.
Desi Tales, a company based in Bangalore, aims to fill this niche by offering cotton ethnic and nightwear for children at prices situated between these two segments.
The founders, Rachana and Mihir Shah, personally encountered this problem: their nephews became fussy in ethnic outfits during family celebrations, which prompted the couple to create a brand focused on festive clothing that children would actually want to wear.
Before starting the business, Rachana taught at an engineering college and later worked in healthy snack businesses; Mihir worked for years in strategy and branding at Amway and Swiggy before fully joining her venture.
The couple launched Desi Tales in 2022 as a weekend project in Bangalore, sourcing goods and selling them through temporary pop-up stores in residential complexes. Four years of gathering customer feedback, along with the birth of their own child, helped refine the brand's value proposition. The official website was launched in 2025.
Mihir notes: 'Today customers tell us that their children don't want to wear anything but Desi Tales.' Every Desi Tales item is made from 100% pure cotton, and design elements are intended to prevent itching and irritation. The founders emphasize that the clothing is designed to withstand daily use by children, not just be used for festivities; seams and stitching are made with durability in mind. The cost of the outfits ranges from 599 to 1799 rupees.
The prints combine what the founders call 'ethnicity plus originality.' Kurta pajamas feature elephants, camels, horses, and dinosaurs, inspired by trends in adult and women's wear.
Mihir explains why children might find clothing similar to their parents' more comfortable: 'My mother wears the same thing; I wear the same thing too.'
Part of the collection is made by artisan women in Gujarat and Rajasthan using Sanganeri block printing, a craft that originated near Jaipur. The rest of the products are manufactured through four contract manufacturing partners who provide white label services.
Desi Tales independently selects fabrics and develops its own prints before turning them into finished garments. The brand currently offers about 500 SKUs in its assortment.
The brand is sold through an exclusive store on New BEL Road in Bangalore, as well as during weekly events in Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Ahmedabad, and second-tier cities across Karnataka. It also has a permanent presence at Karnataka Chitra Kala Parishath. Online sales are conducted through its own website and Instagram.
Over four years, Desi Tales has served nearly 40,000 customers across ethnic wear, nightwear, coordinated sets, and family sets. Traditional wear accounts for 35% of the brand's revenue, followed by nightwear (30%) and father-son sets (25%).
According to IMARC Group data, the children's apparel market in India grew from $22.57 billion in 2025 to a projected $23 billion in 2026 and is forecast to reach $27.17 billion by 2034, demonstrating a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 2.08% from 2026 to 2034.
Within this market, Desi Tales competes with FirstCry, Fab India, Biba, The Mom Store, and Manyavar.
Desi Tales is primarily a D2C brand supported by over eight B2B relationships. Some of these are retail stores that purchase and resell the products under the Desi Tales brand.
The company also partnered with Go Native, a restaurant chain in Bangalore, where it sold products based on revenue sharing.
The business is entirely self-funded and has not attracted external financing. Mihir reports that revenue has grown by approximately 30% year-over-year while maintaining a healthy EBITDA margin. He points out that the brand's obsolete inventory level is around 5%, significantly lower than the industry average of 20–25%.
In the near term, the founders plan to bring Desi Tales onto online marketplaces, continue investing in their website, and start spending on marketing campaigns. Currently, the team consists of two founders and two full-time employees. The company intends to expand its staff and open two more retail stores.
In the long term, Desi Tales plans to focus on one main category instead of spreading itself across all four. Mihir concludes: 'We want to focus on one specific category so people remember us for it, and then they can be interested in the other categories we have.'