The stylish graphic designs created, produced and marketed by the brand called Ek Saye Ath (One Hundred Eight, or 108) speak for itself, with its layers of meanings intended to promote Nepali cultures and traditions.[break]
The brand with its exclusive and creative t-shirt designs has officially launched its limited edition collection.
Shrijit Rajbhandari, 25, creative head of the brand, has been working in the graphic designing business for a long time.
The Fab Four-- Kushal Vaidya, Uttam Gurung, Shrijit Rajbhandari, Salil Kumar Thakuri
“In Nepali market, there are just average t-shirts with repetitive designs. So we decided to take a risk to come up with something new,” he says.
The theme of the t-shirts draws inspiration from Nepali cultures, literature, and old proverbs as well.
“For instance, we have a t-shirt imprinted with the text “Macha Macha Bhyaguta” which is an old children’s game which many of us can relate to as well,” says Rajbhandari.
Besides Shrijit, the team behind this brand are Kushal Vaidya as CEO; Uttam Gurung as Operations Director; and its Administrative Director is Salil Kumar Thakuri. All of them are 25 years old.
Talking about the reason behind the brand name, Kushal says that Ek Saye Ath has multiple meanings. “108 is a number that syncs with various cultures and traditions, and the number is considered sacred in religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.”
He explains that the distance between the Sun and the Earth is 108 times the diameters of the Earth, or the diameter of the Sun is 108 times the diameter of the Earth, and the distance between the Earth and the Moon is 108 times the diameter of the latter.
“So essentially when you divide the individual numbers, one means one thing, 0 means nothing, and 8 or when reversed infinite means everything. Thus it represents the ultimate reality of the Universe. It just means that the world is how you define it,” he says.
The team also intends to spur constructive thoughts among the youth through some of its designs. For instance, one of the t-shirts has a print with the image of the Buddha with the text “You’re losing it.”
The team explains that the younger generation comparatively isn’t so attached with their culture and religion as they are being segregated; so the designs evoke messages: We need to embrace our culture. “All the designs have the same theme which is related to our roots and culture,” he says.
Vaidya, after graduating in the US, had been working for three years in New York. “I came back just four months back and wanted to do a substantial project.”
He feels that many people prefer adorning western brands and neglect the local products. With his team already into creative field like music, they opted to express more of their original ideas through this brand name. “The others from my team had been working on this idea but had not initiated it. We all were in various fields but this idea just clicked and the project came about.”
While providing people here some local tastes in fashion, their main target is to also reach the customers abroad by exporting the products. “Our main target is to send the products to different countries like the US, Australia, the UK, Japan, Korea, India because our network of Nepali association is strong there,” he explains.
The t-shirts are 100 percent cotton and the designs have been made focusing both on male and female customers. The market cost of the t-shirt is Rs 899 while it is US$18 abroad.
“Everything from designing, printing and producing is done in Nepal except for the cloth which we’ve been importing from Taiwan and India. But we wish to produce the clothes here itself in the future,” he says.
Rajbhandari says that they have focused on minute details on the graphic prints while visually representing the idea. Through the t-shirts, the team wants to promote Nepali script as well and allow customers to relate themselves by providing the identity of a Nepali through the t-shirts.
He thinks that many things in the country are static, as the practices which were there some twenty years back are still prevalent.
“So coming up with a new idea is like a milestone. There are lots of challenges in the country as we have technical difficulties, lack of skilled labor, which is why you need to stay motivated and not give up. You don’t get anything easily, so it’s up to you to find opportunities,” he says.
But the positive aspect, he believes, is that the country has a small market which is how the competition is less and there’s more room for growth here.
“There are thousands of t-shirt companies abroad but here we have the opportunity to just stand out if we’re good.”
In Nepal, the team’s plan to reach the customers is basically through their online website which is www.EkSayeAth.com and through a few distributors at the local stores. The website will be running in a week and the products will be made available online.
Check it out, and then see for yourselves!
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