A Papa Don't Preach Diwali Throwback

Last Diwali, something unbelievable happened to Papa Don’t Preach. On an ordinary day in October, we received a DM that turned our world around in the best way possible. We’ve read your theories (looking at you reddit). Today, for the first time ever, we want to share our side of that incredible and chaotic story.

Last year, you saw our Instagram gain thousands of followers by the day. Largely due to the various celebrities we were fortunate enough to feature on our social media platforms. We had some of the biggest names in Hollywood, Chrissy Teigen, Mindy Kaling, Richa Moorjani, and Meena Harris, among others, wearing the clothes that our team had hand-made in Mumbai.

Instagram has played a very key role in our journey. Without a dedicated PR and social team, Shubhika relied heavily on social media to put her designs into the world. As visibility increased, our team grew. With additional resources we were able to showcase our ensembles with photoshoots in the middle of the desert and experiment with illustrated collection launches. With a wider audience, we used the platform to vocalise our values with anti- fat tax movements, rainbow labels and sustainability campaigns.  

For a home-grown, built-from-the-ground-up brand like ours, social media provided an opportunity that would be too costly to let go.

When Chrissy Teigen’s stylist, Alana reached out to us, we assumed it was a sales inquiry for someone named Chrissy, unable to fathom the truth. A day later, Shruti, our Digital Head ran through the office, “CHRIIIISSYYYYY TEEIGEEEENNN WANTS TO WEAR PAPA DON’T PREACH,” her giddy voice echoed through our corridors. Given that the new collection aptly named, Nazar Na Lage was only halfway ready, we scrambled to get everything to Chrissy in time. Photographers that shot unfinished saree designs, last-minute detailing and altering of each of our options. 48 hours later, we sent the pictures to Chrissy's team. It seemed like everything was working out... except for one tiny problem.

The four sarees that Chrissy chose, had to be shipped to LA in less than two days and our courier had shipped the parcel with the wrong address on it. Our team resorted to every measure to avoid facing a reality where our hard work amounted to a box collecting dust at the back of a warehouse.

After numerous calls to the courier agent that were miles away, and anyone that was remotely connected to the delivery company; we got through to an agent who calmly listened to two Indian girls pleading with him on the phone. We convinced the company to let us pick up the box from their warehouse and hand deliver it to Chrissy.

From there, our only task was to find someone, anyone, that we knew in LA to pick up these outfits and casually deliver them to Chrissy Teigen's house. No big deal right?

After many requests to distant family members, friends and even ex-boyfriend's parents, Shruti's friend agreed to do us the biggest favour. She lived a little outside LA generously agreed to drive over two hours just to help us out.

The team, after many sleepless nights, managed to deliver the outfits right on time. Our Diwali was made so much more special because someone from the other side of the world, noticed us all the way in India and reached out. Someone else, whose never met us bent the rules to let us pick up the parcel. A kind friend lent a helping hand and her precious time.

The truth is, our brand wasn’t made famous overnight, it was 12 years of pushing the design envelope, and it was a team of women that handle the day-to-day operations. It was the determination of our social head, who made so many long distance calls until 2 am to ensure the outfits reached on time.

We’ve never shared the back story of all the chaos that preceded these events. It’s easy to see a picture on Instagram and make assumptions about how we pulled it off or what kind of sorcery was involved in materialising such a dream.We want to thank everyone that played a part in the making of Papa Don’t Preach. Most of all, we want to thank everyone who, despite oceans of distance, spotted us in a crowd and took a chance on us.