Some businesses begin with market research.
Others begin with lived experience.
By Priya Lalwani
For Manveen Ssharma, CEO of Pinq Polka, the inspiration came from something far more personal: the simple frustration of not finding women’s intimate wear in India that matched the quality, comfort, and thoughtful design she experienced while travelling overseas.
“I found myself buying innerwear abroad because I couldn’t find equivalent quality back home,” she recalls.
What began as a casual conversation with her brother, Mandeep, gradually evolved into a business idea. She brought firsthand consumer insight. He brought strategic thinking. Together, they spent months speaking to women across different backgrounds—not selling an idea, but validating whether the problem genuinely existed.
The answer was clear.
It did.
Designing for Real Life
For decades, the innerwear industry has largely asked women to adjust to products.
Pinq Polka wants products to adjust to women.
That philosophy shapes every design decision the company makes.
Instead of beginning with trends or aesthetics, the design process starts with one question:
Will this remain comfortable after an entire day of wear?
If the answer isn’t an unquestionable yes, the product goes back to development.
This philosophy has also shaped one of the brand’s biggest beliefs—that comfort should never require compromise.
“There’s a long-standing misconception that shapewear has to feel restrictive in order to work,” says Manveen.
Pinq Polka is challenging exactly that.
Its products are designed to provide support without sacrificing movement, breathability, or ease—turning shapewear from an occasional necessity into an everyday wardrobe essential.
That thinking also inspired the brand’s UBU (Unapologetically Be You) initiative, encouraging women to embrace confidence through comfort rather than concealment.
Listening Before Innovating
Many companies claim to be customer-centric.
Pinq Polka has built product innovation around customer conversations.
One of the company’s biggest breakthroughs came from something seemingly small.
Women loved the freedom offered by wireless bras, yet several mentioned that traditional elastic underbands still became uncomfortable after long hours.
Instead of treating those comments as isolated feedback, the team redesigned the entire construction.
The result was a wider, seamless underband that distributes pressure more evenly across the body.
“It reminded us that innovation often comes from solving the smallest discomforts,” Manveen explains.
For Pinq Polka, the most meaningful product improvements rarely originate inside boardrooms.
They come directly from women wearing the products every day.
Comfort as Competitive Advantage
India’s lingerie market has become increasingly crowded.
New brands launch almost every month, competing on fashion, pricing, celebrity campaigns, or social media visibility.
Pinq Polka has chosen a different route.
Its competitive advantage isn’t louder marketing.
It’s quieter engineering.
Every collection focuses first on breathable fabrics, climate-responsive materials, and everyday functionality before aesthetics enter the conversation.
Campaigns such as Too Hot To Hide reinforce that philosophy, positioning shapewear not as something to conceal beneath clothing but as an everyday essential that complements personal style rather than hiding it.
Growing Slowly, Growing Right
For many startups, rapid expansion becomes the measure of success.
Pinq Polka deliberately resists that pressure.
Every new product undergoes multiple rounds of real-world testing before entering production.
Sizing expansions happen only after analysing genuine consumer data.
New categories are introduced gradually rather than simultaneously.
For Manveen, sustainable growth isn’t slower growth.
It’s smarter growth.
“We’d rather delay a launch than compromise what customers trust us for.”
That same patience has become central to the company’s culture.
An early product launch delay—initially viewed as a setback—ultimately reshaped how the organisation thinks about execution.
Today, timelines exist to protect quality rather than accelerate growth.
Understanding the Modern Consumer
Pinq Polka doesn’t define its customer by age or income.
Instead, it describes her through mindset.
She values functionality over excess.
Authenticity over marketing.
Everyday comfort over temporary trends.
She expects products that move naturally with her life instead of requiring constant adjustment.
As consumer preferences evolve, Manveen believes Indian women are increasingly demanding lightweight, climate-adaptive fabrics, greater transparency around production, and more intelligent sizing experiences online.
Technology, she believes, will simplify shopping.
Product quality will determine loyalty.
The Metrics That Matter
While revenue remains important, Pinq Polka measures success differently.
The company’s favourite metric is remarkably simple.
Repeat customers.
“When a woman comes back months later to replace her entire wardrobe with our products, that’s the strongest validation we can receive.”
Similarly, declining fit-related returns tell the team something equally important.
They’re solving real problems.
Not merely selling products.
Leading Through Listening
As Pinq Polka has grown, Manveen’s role has evolved dramatically.
In the early days, she was involved in everything—from selecting fabrics to packing shipments and responding to customer queries herself.
Today, her focus has shifted toward long-term strategy, team building, and preserving the brand’s original purpose.
The leadership qualities she values most aren’t authority or speed.
They’re empathy.
Curiosity.
Active listening.
And the ability to make decisions informed by genuine customer behaviour rather than assumptions.
Every team member, regardless of function, is encouraged to stay connected to customer stories.
Because understanding why a particular seam matters to someone’s daily comfort often inspires better innovation than any trend forecast.
Comfort as Confidence
Looking back, Manveen believes one lesson has shaped Pinq Polka more than any business strategy ever could.
Patience.
A delayed launch taught her that speed rarely builds trust.
Consistency does.
That philosophy now guides every decision the company makes.
In an industry often driven by seasonal launches and changing trends, Pinq Polka continues to move deliberately.
Because, in the end, intimate wear isn’t just about what women wear.
It’s about how they feel while wearing it.
And perhaps that’s the quiet revolution Pinq Polka is creating—not by asking women to change for fashion, but by asking fashion to finally change for women.
