By Radhika Agrawal
In a world of fast fashion and ever-changing trends, few brands are focussed on creating something memorable. That’s what makes Three Sixty stand out. The lifestyle leather brand was launched in 2009 under the leadership of CEO and Founder Vikash Gupta. He was determined to shine a light on India and showcase the beauty in its culture and heritage. In less than two decades, Three Sixty has begun to put India on the global map with its recent collaboration with The House of Glenfiddich, which includes a special bar, travel, and home collection of leather accessories and furniture. We sat down with Gupta to talk about his journey as a first generation entrepreneur, his secrets to success, and more.
Three Sixty was not your first tryst with leather… Can you tell us more about how and where your interest in the industry began?
Vikash Gupta: My interest in leather started way back when I was doing a part time job as a student in the US to pay for my college. I was 18 or 19 years old and I used to work in a leather store over the weekend. When I came back in 1993 to India, I jumped at any opportunity which came my way. And what came my way was the opportunity to do a metal business, which I knew nothing about. But I was desperate to come back to India, so I grabbed it. I was dealing with brass builder’s hardware at the time, but my heart was always into leather so the idea was to eventually switch the material to leather.
As a first generation entrepreneur, what inspired you to start your own business? What were some of the challenges you faced?
Vikash Gupta: I was very passionate about India as a country. So, the idea was to come back home and create an opportunity—even if I had managed to create one job here, I would’ve been happy. And yes, there are many challenges when you’re a first generation entrepreneur. You have to be passionate—and I don’t just mean love and affection—you have to be willing to give up a lot of things. The initial challenges of setting up the business were always there. Apart from that, every entrepreneur goes through hurdles like finance, getting the right skills, bureaucracy etc. Having said that, I also met a lot of beautiful people in this journey who helped me overcome these challenges.
What are some of the milestones or achievements you look back at fondly since launching Three Sixty?
Vikash Gupta: When we were exporting, we were awarded by the ministry. They have acknowledged our contribution in leather exports and handicraft exports twice. But more than anything else, my milestone has been creating an Indian lifestyle brand and trying to create an Indian story, which as I said, I’m very passionate about. So, one of our recent achievements is that we are the only brand in the history of William Grant & Sons which has been picked up to collaborate on a design collection. They are the ones who invented single malts in the world, right? And they are a 110 year old legendary brand. So, for them to come and pick up an Indian homegrown brand, which talks about craftsmanship, Indian designers, and Indian entrepreneurship—that’s quite an achievement for us.
There’s another incident. Back in 83 when India won the world cup, I was a 15-year old kid. The team inspired kids like me to dream big and I still remember crying and being very excited on that day. And recently, I was privileged that I got the chance to honour the entire team of 83 with beautiful handcrafted leather with the 83 logo embossed.
What would you say is your brand’s USP? What sets it apart from the rest?
Vikash Gupta: I had always thought that Indian businesses were very poor when it comes to innovation designs. At Three Sixty, our expertise is leather. We have been doing it for twenty years. Leather requires craftsmanship, it is not easy to do.That’s our skill and my idea was to showcase it. And we have some great designers. We don’t go to Italy to get magazines to copy from. As a leather lifestyle brand, we put together original collections.
What is your success motto?
Vikash Gupta: As an entrepreneur, I was always prepared that the journey is going to be tough. I’m an old school guy. I believe that success doesn’t come overnight. It takes a generation to build something. So, I never waited for that fine day. I’ve balanced my life to make sure I’m giving enough time to my fitness, wellbeing, family and friends, while also working. My success motto is to have a work-life balance. I’m super active in my community and I also believe that it’s important to give back to the community as an entrepreneur.
