Outsource the maintenance of your expensive outfits

Photographed, bar-coded, insured and monitored with 24/7 CCTV surveillance, this new service will take good care of your special pieces

Leher Ali remembers the day last year when she was searching for an expensive lehenga set that she couldn’t quite remember where she had kept. “I hardly had any time to get ready, and I was so irritated by the time I had finished rummaging through all the suitcases,” says the 18-year-old student-turned-entrepreneur. Fortunately, all that frustration gave way to a big idea. “I realised there must be so many people in Mumbai facing the same problem—having to pull their whole wardrobes apart to find that one special piece in the heap, and then ironing or dry-cleaning it just in time for an event. What if I could maintain their best clothes in a place where they could reach it any time they wished?”

In just six months, Ali’s big idea has flourished into a business—Almari, a wardrobe care and maintenance service that operates out of a 600 square feet space in Malad and has the capacity to store 2,000 garments. Through WhatsApp messages and word-of-mouth, Ali has managed to win over 70 clients. The garments are picked up by Ali’s staff and brought to the Almari care house, an air-conditioned and air-purified space where they are placed in dust-proof covers and hung on racks. Every piece is put through a process of dust removal and steam ironing every 15 days, and each item is photographed, bar-coded, insured and monitored with 24/7 CCTV surveillance. A special code, generated for each garment set, is shared with the customer along with the image.

Besides premium garments, Almari is also equipped to take care of shoes and bags. “Nowadays, clients tell me to directly pick up their purchase from the store, and have it stacked away at Almari,” says Ali. In fact, she is now thinking of launching a service that will allow customers to have their clothes delivered for an occasion in another city: “It can save people the hassle of travelling with surplus baggage.” Indeed, your clothes never had it so good.

Price: Rs 1,799 for one garment set for one year and Rs 9,999 for 10 sets for one year

Contact: + 91 8850237216; + 91 7715088881