Inside Savana's Gen Z Playbook: Rahul Dayama on consumer-first approach, building a data-first brand and the new language of fashion

 

As India’s fashion market becomes increasingly social-first, data-led and Gen Z-driven, Savana by Urbanic is building its playbook around speed, community and technology. In an interview with Business Today, Rahul Dayama, Founding Partner, Savana by Urbanic, talks about scaling the brand, why fashion is not a winner-takes-all market, and how technology is helping the company read consumer demand before it turns into inventory. 
 

What do you think Gen Z in India wants from the fashion industry that traditional brands are not fully delivering?

RD: I think more of it is understanding the consumer because the dynamics of how Gen Z is consuming fashion content — everything is changing very fast.

I think traditional brands need a lot of tech support to actually facilitate that. Urbanic, more than a fashion company, is also an engineering and a tech company, where we work with our own proprietary AI systems to help us understand demand and supply.

Our supply chain is completely tech-driven, so that helps us give the customer what they’re looking for. We understand trends on social media, do future forecasting, and also understand what kind of trends are accepted by different body types.

So we already have a detailed level of understanding of data before putting together the curation. It is faster because it’s all tech-driven, and it helps us reduce cost by reducing dead stock, reducing production of extra items where we don’t have strong data backing it.

Our tech helps our designers not worry about inventory and just focus on design. The entire inventory management is handled by technology.

What is the difference between your two brands Urbanic and Savana?

RD: Urbanic is positioned as having more of premium collections while Savana is very dynamic, as we test more number of SKUs in Savana because it has accessories, jewellery, and bags as well. So we end up testing a lot more products under Savana when it comes to athleisure, casual wear and even office wear. Urbanic specifically focuses on a more evolved customer and higher price points because it’s been seven years since Urbanic’s launch while Savana is just a two-year-old brand.

We want to focus more on a higher age group for Urbanic, while Savana has definitely struck a chord with the young consumers and this is how they are differentiated in the positioning.
 

How has the business scaled in recent years in terms of revenue growth, customer growth, or order volumes, and which metrics do you track most closely?

RD: Savana has scaled rapidly since launching, driven by strong product-market fit. We’ve seen around ~200% year-on-year growth across key metrics, including revenue, customer acquisition, and order volumes.

A big part of this growth comes from expanding our assortment depth while simultaneously strengthening our supply chain to support faster and more reliable delivery. At the same time, we’ve been doubling down on digital-first customer acquisition, leveraging social platforms and performance marketing to drive high-intent traffic.

In terms of metrics, we closely track customer acquisition cost (CAC), repeat purchase rate, order frequency, and overall contribution margins, as these give us a clear picture of both growth quality and long-term sustainability.
 

With increasing competition, how do you see your brand evolving?

RD: We will evolve to provide better in terms of what the consumer is looking for, because technology will help us give better quality and better styles.

But fashion as a segment is not a winner-takes-it-all market. I’ve never met a single customer who has only one brand in her wardrobe. There is always continuous scope of improvement and space in the market.

India is a country where internet penetration is still growing and many new users for Instagram and Facebook are constantly being onboarded. There is a lot of depth in the market, so I’m not worried about market share. India as a market is huge for all the players to sustain alongside each other.

What we want to do is provide better, make sure our consumer is happy and that we keep getting better with our offerings.
 

Are you seeing growth beyond metro cities?

RD: We have seen exponential growth in Tier 2 cities as well, and it aligns with internet penetration. The way of consumption and lifestyle has changed.

I focus more on psychographics than demographics. People who consume Savana are outgoing, want to experiment with fashion, chill more, post more content and are more communicative consumers.

There is a lot of similarity between Tier 1 and Tier 2 consumers now. Earlier there was segregation, but now most brands are tapping Tier 2 because the younger generation and consumption are on the rise there. Yet our top three performing cities are Tier 1 cities currently. It keeps fluctuating between Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai.
 

How has your marketing strategy evolved, especially with influencer-led content?

RD: For us, there was not much change. Since day one, we’ve never launched with celebrities or big billboard campaigns. We were always a very influencer-focused, content-focused brand. We had a content pipeline from the beginning and invested heavily in influencer and social media content.

Urbanic has more than 3 million mentions, and Savana already has more than 2 million in just two years. The infrastructure we built for Urbanic helped Savana grow faster. My background is photography, so content has always been very close to me.

There has to be integration of entertainment and selling as they cannot go separately. A lot of people tried to do social commerce as a platform itself but we have essentially been doing social commerce on Instagram at a much larger level. We work with 500+ content creators and produce content regularly. We have multiple channels of communities that result in a multitude of offline activations as well. 
 

How do you see the India business today in terms of size and growth potential, and what kind of trajectory do you believe is realistic over the next two to three years?

RD: India is one of the most exciting markets for Savana right now, both in terms of current scale and future potential. We’re already seeing strong adoption across Tier 1 cities, with Tier 2 markets catching up rapidly, largely driven by increased access to digital commerce and the influence of social media.

The depth of the Indian market, especially in fashion, is massive, and consumer appetite for trend-driven, accessible global fashion continues to grow.

Looking ahead, with continued category expansion and deeper market penetration, we believe sustained triple digit growth. Our focus will remain on strengthening our supply chain, expanding our product offering, and continuing to build a strong digital-first brand presence.
 

How do you balance global fashion with local preferences?

RD: Fashion aspiration is global today because people consume global content. You will see a lot of trends based on K-pop, concert-related, influences from celebrities and content creators in Western countries. 

But we tweak based on geography and regions. For example, layering works in colder countries, but not in India due to the climate. Similarly, certain bikini styles may work in Brazil, but in India comfort levels differ. We have also experimented with UV protective clothing that is more appropriate for many regions in India.

So it’s always a mix of global aspiration and local understanding and that’s the beauty of it.

How do you approach sustainability in fast fashion?

RD: We focus on being responsible rather than claiming to be sustainable. Technology got us here, and technology will solve it. We focus on reducing dead stock and solving one problem at a time.

We don’t believe in greenwashing and keep our focus on practical, responsible business practices.
 

Can you share an example of how you manage dead stock?

RD: We produce very smartly. If we understand a product is selling mostly in size M, we won’t produce equally across all sizes like traditional models. Technology helps us understand sizing better, reduce returns, and optimise inventory.

We also use sustainable packaging wherever possible, but we don’t make claims unless we have full solutions.

How important is community in building brand loyalty? Would you consider celebrities as part of your strategy?

RD: The simplest formula is to be loyal to your own brand first. I see a lot of chatter happening, where entrepreneurs talk about consumers and brand loyalty and I could pick five founders who are not loyal to their own brand. 

If you don’t understand your own brand story and positioning, you cannot expect consumers to be loyal. It’s like human relationships — people are loyal to those who are loyal.

If celebrities deliver engagement, we will consider it. It depends on performance. We are a very data-driven company. But right now, social media works best for us.

What has been your biggest learning as a founder and what advice would you give to budding D2C founders?

RD: Consumers will not tell you what they want, you have to understand and listen to them. Build intuition, strategies, and observations. My understanding of consumers has increased a lot by working across geographies.

My advice to budding entrepreneurs — Don’t have pre-assumed ideas. Start with a consumer-first approach. Adaptation is key so you have to communicate in the language your consumer understands. You don’t need to change yourself, what you need to do is adapt.
 

What will define winners in fashion retail over the next five years?

RD: India is a huge market. Don’t go behind winning the market — focus on sustainable growth and keeping your consumer happy.

There are enough consumers for everyone. Go behind winning the consumer, not the market share.