Ritika and Niki Shamdasani, sisters and founders of Sani, a South Asian-inspired apparel brand, got on TikTok in early 2020 and by March their sixth video went viral, garnering roughly 3 million views. It was the first video they created with TikTok in mind — showing the creation process from start to finish of a garment, ideation to finished product — rather than reposting content from other platforms.
While the timing wasn’t great as this was the start of the pandemic and, at the time, Sani was focused on formal wear for weddings it allowed the co-founders to maintain brand awareness — and see what TikTok could do for the company.