Ravi Modi

Retail experience came from his father's shop

As a teenager in Kolkata, Modi spent time in his father's clothing shop and noticed that it did not carry traditional Indian menswear. Forbes reported that he tested the idea himself by sourcing kurta-pajama sets while his father was away and quickly selling most of the inventory. ^[2]

The family shop gave him practical retail exposure, but the business that created his fortune was separate. In 1999 he launched Manyavar with one employee and 10,000 rupees borrowed from his mother, selling ready-to-wear traditional clothing to small retailers. ^[2][3]

Forbes says Modi later formalized Vedant Fashions in Kolkata and built Manyavar around the Indian wedding and celebration-wear market. The company's growth came from a brand and distribution model he developed rather than from inheriting ownership of his father's shop. ^[1][2]

A franchise model scaled Manyavar nationwide

Modi expanded Manyavar across India and overseas, later adding women's and premium brands. Forbes reported that the company shifted heavily toward franchising, allowing the store network to grow without requiring comparable balance-sheet debt. ^[2][3]

Vedant Fashions went public in 2022, converting Modi's controlling ownership into a publicly valued fortune. His path is strongly self-created, with only modest family advantages in retail knowledge and seed funding rather than a transferred operating company. ^[1][2][3]