Changing Indian Fashion’s Digital Presence

Charu Gaur, Founder — Runway Square

With over a decade of experience with top advertising agencies in India and Dubai in her kitty, Charu chose to chase her dream of working in fashion and explore her creative skills in blogging for enhancing fashion & lifestyle brands. She was a Creative Director at JWT Delhi, when she decided to quit her job and started a fashion blog. Soon that lead to brilliant things, which included her stints at Grazia India as their Digital Editor and later as the editor of India’s first ever digital video fashion magazine – LakmÃ© School Of Style at #fame.

While at #fame, Charu was also the part of the team that saw the launch of India’s first and homegrown LIVE video app. Currently, the Founder of Runway Square – a digital consultancy that helps lifestyle brands create a solid digital content and strengthen their presence online, Charu takes pride in being bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. She proudly shares that Runway Square’s fashion and travel webzine is gearing up for a launch soon. Read more on about the young fashion entrepreneur below.

Who is your greatest inspiration & why
Pretty much every woman who has strived to break boundaries and has worked towards achieving her goals. But if I really have to pick one person it would have to be Suzy Menkes, International Editor Vogue Online. She’s a fantastic fashion writer and an honest one too. In fashion, that’s rare. Besides her, Sheryl Sandberg is another great inspiration for me. She’s a fantastic leader!

What was the idea behind setting Runway Square? How is it a niche today?
We are one of the few consultancies specialising in fashion and lifestyle. With previous experience in advertising, digital publication and video content creation, I have got the right skills set to help brands who wish to leverage their digital presence.

Do you feel privileged as a Women Entrepreneur?
Lucky for me, I was raised as an equal child along with my brother. I never grew up thinking, I am different because I am a girl and that sense of confidence has stayed with me. I feel privileged to have had that kind of upbringing. Having said that, I still had to fight several sexist remarks and undertones during my career. I have a huge amount of respect for women who fight all kinds of battles to start their own ventures. But, we also need to stand up for each other more than we do.

If you were to change or relive any one moment from your life, what would that be?
I would have saved more before starting out. Wish someone had told me that I was going to run out of savings in less than half the time I planned for.

Tell us about your most memorable moment/milestone
I feel it’s yet to come. But for me fashion and lifestyle content doesn’t always have to be about 10 ways to wear the little black dress. That’s why I did two films at School Of Style that had something important to say. Kanyadaan – a film on domestic violence featuring Indian actress Aditi Rao Hydari and Celebrate Your Colour addresses India’s obsession with fairness. The kind of messages I received from people all over India in support, from people who felt those films touched them made the effort worthwhile.

What’s your philosophy when it comes to doing business?
If you’re good at what you do, don’t do it for less than the price you deserve.

What would you like to achieve in the next 5 years?
Become the final word for travellers who love to shop wherever they go and help Indian lifestyle brands create fabulous digital presence.