Akash Mehta, CEO of Fable & Mane discusses creating the brand with his sister, partnering with Sephora and launching at the onset of the pandemic
Last year Dubai was taken by a wave of good hair days with the launch of Fable & Mane, a family business co-founded by a sister and brother, Nikita and Akash Mehta.
Fable & Mane stems from their childhood memories and experiences when their grandmother visited them from India for holidays. Every Sunday they would sit together as a family and tell fables and stories while their grandmother would give them traditional Indian head massages, using incredible and natural ingredients which she created with oils.
Nikita and Akash wanted to share their family tradition with the rest of the world. Fable & Mane is an homage to their grandmother and a way to keep her close to them and help the rest of the world discover Indian hair rituals and best-kept secrets.
While working on the brand concept, Nikita and Akash had as an objective to find the balance between being an Ayurvedic and Indian-inspired brand while still being inviting and accessible to a global audience. Hair oiling is multicultural and practised in Mexico, Greece, and Brazil.
Fable & Mane products use traditional ingredients, like ashwagandha, that promotes hair growth, helps repair hair, and improve the scalp’s health. Their hero product, the Holi Roots Oil, is light and designed to suit all hair types, genders, ethnicities, ages, and should be used for scalp massage as a prewash to provide shiny and strong hair.
“We started working on the brand in 2018. We didn’t want to launch just one product. We contacted Sephora via LinkedIn, and they were interested in our concept, and we flew to San Francisco to meet and present. Two years later we launched on the first day of the pandemic,” said Akash.
This period was certainly a rollercoaster but with Akash’s previous experience in Digital Marketing at Dior and Estee Lauder, they were able to work on their online presence and build a strong relationship with their community, given that they spent a lot of time at home during this time.
Akash is currently developing the brand internationally as well as improving its sustainability. With this in mind, Fable & Mane have created a charity fund supporting Wild Cats in India, to help ensure their survival but also to educate people on these amazing animals, as the current population of 4,000 marks a drastic decrease from their original 100,000. “We use Fable & Mane as a platform to educate on different causes and to inspire others to make a difference.”
This article appeared in Issue 002 – the Men’s Edition
