BCKYRD Studio

BCKYRD began just after I had closed TENOR, my previous project around AI infrastructure for Indian institutes. I was on my way to Bhuj for my first ten-day Vipassana retreat—mostly because I wanted to try it once—and kept thinking about The Honour Club, my earlier merchandise business. The demand had been real, but producing high-quality merchandise for students at prices they could afford left almost no margin. So I started asking a different question: who else needs merchandise, and why does merchandise work when most new fashion brands struggle to get attention?

The answer started to feel obvious. Fashion brands spend heavily trying to build distribution and trust, while creators already have both. People may ignore a conventional brand advertisement, but they will watch a creator they follow explain a product, recommend a laptop or wear something they genuinely like. Creators already had the audience; what they lacked was the infrastructure to build and run a good product business without becoming fashion operators themselves.

Then Vipassana began. I gave up my phone, communication and, for ten days, speaking itself—so the idea had nowhere to go except deeper into my head. As soon as I returned, I called my co-founder from The Honour Club and told him we should build it. Over the next few months, I researched the industry, spoke to creators and operators, incorporated the private limited company and began working on our first creator drop. Around the same time, I was accepted into The Founding Co. residency. That is how BCKYRD Studio actually started: not from a polished market thesis, but from an old business problem, a long train of thought and ten silent days with no way to distract myself from it.