While the world is busy catching up with 22 year old Vedant Lamba, the young entrepreneur is far ahead, setting up his sneaker empire - The Mainstreet Marketplace. India is quickly opening up to the athleisure market, with consumers dropping big money on designer footwear. With two stores (and counting) across the country, Vedant has built one of the country’s largest sneaker reselling platforms. Having started off on Youtube with a channel that discussed sneakers, Vedant was early in Identifying the gap in awareness in this space in India. We speak to Vedant about his journey in building a young business.
Vedant wears the Safari Bomber.
What were you doing before starting Mainstreet?
I was, am, and always will be trying to change the world! Before Mainstreet I tried building maybe 10 or 15 different businesses. I ran a daily vlog on YouTube for about 700 days. I was trying to do everything and in the process maybe accomplishing nothing at all. Haha. Funny how life works.
Tell us a little bit about how you started Mainstreet? Where does your interest for sneakers stem from?
I learnt about sneakers pretty recently and seeing the gap in its cultural development around us - it just seemed like a great business opportunity.
Does it get overwhelming being a young entrepreneur? What were the challenges in setting up a business so young?
It is extremely overwhelming. I made a ton of stupid mistakes and still do. I consider myself lucky to have the privilege to do so. Challenges ranged from having no money to not having the right infrastructure, team, etc. It’s been a great learning curve.
Vedant wears the Swaraj kurta set.
If you were to wear one pair of shoes all your life, which ones would they be?
Maybe the Jordan 1 Retro High Fragment.
How did you decide to start your YouTube channel and how do you go about developing content for it?
I started daily vlogging in an effort to build some accountability into my desire to start a business. Guess it worked haha! Took a while, but it worked. Mainstreet also began as a YouTube channel and continues to run as a content creator in itself. We build our content for the sneaker community and people curious about it - giving the world a window into sneaker culture in India.
How are you trying to evolve Mainstreet? Do you have plans for expansion?
We have tons of plans. Time and our executional prowess, I guess, will show how this evolves.
Vedant wears the Tota Shirt.
What do you like doing in your spare time?
I like to hit the gym and play golf, basketball, football. I love sports. I also like to watch movies.
We see that you have a very minimal style. Can you tell us why?
I’m a fairly enthusiastic vegan and try to incorporate this energy into most parts of my lifestyle. My minimal style has helped me not need to shop in almost 2 years now. It makes it extremely easy to travel, pick an outfit every morning, and then some.
How was your experience wearing Jodi as it is very contrasting to your personal style?
| I think there are occasions where I must of course dress appropriately - and Jodi clothing was wonderfully suited to such a time. The clothes were comfortable and fit me so well. It was a pleasure interacting with the team.
Muse: Vedant Lamba
Photographer: Agnidhra Ray
