Simrita S Dillon
Founder, SANDA Brands
To understand how we work at SANDA, one needs to know our founder. Simrita studied in Milan, launched Zegna in Mumbai, built a brand herself and now leads SANDA.
She built this agency to be the bridge she wished she had when she started.
A legacy of cross-border execution, traced from its origins. . .
MILAN - THE FASHION CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
Our Founder, Simrita S Dillon went to study & live in the Fashion Capital of the world where she dreamt of working in Fashion. She learnt Italian to break into the Fashion world.
A chance breakfast meeting with Paolo Zegna, co-CEO of Gruppo Ermenegildo Zegna led to a full-time job offer at the venerable Fashion House. Paolo Zegna was fascinated by the potential of the India market, before India became what it is today.
She trained at the Zegna headquarters, and then returned home to Mumbai, India to launch Zegna in Mumbai, India.
Dressed President Bill Clinton in the Zegna suit and Hotmail co-founder, Sabeer Bhatia in the Guru Suit by Zegna. The Guru Suit Collection is now available worldwide at Zegna Stores.
ZEGNA - MUMBAI, INDIA
MEETING MARVIN TRAUB
She then met & worked with retail legend Marvin Traub, former CEO & President of Bloomingdales known for his impact on the
American retail industry worldwide and pioneering merchandising and marketing as we know it today. Marvin Traub made an indelible mark where perhaps the idea of Sanda was seeded.
CREATING A FASHION BRAND - GOLMAAL
On one of her trips to Fashion week in Italy, Simrita came upon the idea of creating clothing for the modern contemporary consumer using Indian textiles - silks, linens, jacquards but with sharp tailoring and clean lines that she had learnt at Zegna.
Golmaal was born and along with her brother, they expanded the eponymous label into monobrand retail and own manufacturing. Celebrities like Freida Pinto and singer Shweta Pandit wore Golmaal designs.
SPOTS A PAIN-POINT - BEGINNINGS OF SANDA
Sanda brands was born from her own need to expand her clothing line into Anthropologie. Every evening, Simrita calls and leave voice messages for the fashion buyers at Anthropologie but to no avail.
NOMINATED BY FORTUNE MOST POWERFUL WOMEN & THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
The watershed moment in Simrita’s journey was a call from the US Embassy in India with the nomination to the Fortune/ Most Powerful Women/ State Department Program where she was paired with Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx and a self-made Billionaire.
MIAMI, FLORIDA & TODAY
Soon after, Simrita launched Sanda Agency and also aligned with the Women's Education Project and moved to Miami, Florida. Sanda Agency works with the world’s best brands and scales them globally.
As India's market becomes the fourth largest economy in the world, her knowledge of the terrain and years of experience in the country is most sought after.
Sanda Brands is making a difference one brand, one founder at a time and will do so, for a long long time
