ABOUT US
Studio East6 - where eastern couture meets western allure.
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As seen in Vogue India, Studio East6 is a shopping destination for "An NRI bride’s guide to buying traditional wedding wear around the world", Studio East6 has attired many prominent South Asian actors, producers, & influencers, such as Mindy Kaling & Netflix's Love Is Blind Season 2 Deepti Vempati!
Founded in Chicago in 2014, Studio East6 (SE6) is an Indian multi-designer studio, one of the first of its kind to emerge onto the US market. Female founded - Studio East6 is the brainchild of Rupa Vora. SE6 is a studio that carefully curates contemporary, luxury styles that infuse Western trends with East Indian silhouettes & designs.
Studio East6 is an authorized retailer to many of India's top fashion designers such as Falguni Shane Peacock, Tarun Tahiliani, Anita Dongre, Seema Gujral, Papa Don’t Preach, Payal Singhal, etc) and has established direct partnerships with each of them. SE6 was founded on the idea of making some of India's sought out designers & designs more accessible to the North American market.
Catering to a discerning shopper seeking a unique product, Studio East6 offers a well-edited selection in which all pieces are handpicked. Studio East6 pieces are not manufactured in bulk, compared to many other local boutiques. Each piece is hand-crafted from artisans in India. SE6 believes in sustainability.
Where: 1142 W. Madison St #407 Chicago, IL 60607 and online, shipping worldwide
How to shop: Online, In-Store, or Social
Whom: The SE6 customer is all about fresh, unique, luxury product
Giving Back: SE6 donates a portion of each sale to the Alzheimer's Association.
Studio East6 in Partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association
Since conception, SE6 donates a portion of every sale to the Alzheimer’s Association. The concept to create the studio was inspired by Rupa’s amazing mother, who was diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s in 2010. Rupa’s fondest memories with her mother is sharing the love for all things fashion with her. SE6 is in legacy of Rupa’s mother & her forever impeccable style.
Sustainability & International Fair Labor Practices
Studio East6 pieces are not manufactured in bulk, compared to many other Indian fashion boutiques. Each piece from SE6 is hand-crafted from artisans in India, while adhering to fair labor practices, working conditions, and wages.
SE6 believes in sustainability by carrying a limited selection of inventory in-stock (about ~100 – 150 styles in-studio at any given time). SE6 works mainly by a made-to-order basis, working to reduce the retail carbon footprint.
SE6 also purposefully reuses all packaging material, as best as possible - from all shipping boxes to plastic sleeves. We make it a direct point to reduce waste by not filling our orders with any other extra packaging material, other than what is needed to deliver orders safely & properly.
Why Studio East6?
SE6 makes it easy to shop for all your Indian attire needs at one location, without having to travel to across the globe to India. WE like to think of ourselves as a one-stop shop. You can shop across all our curated designers and private label for many different occasions. We work with our curated designers directly and offer the ability to customize any of their styles.
SE6 believes in customer service & spends countless hours working with designers & production teams, meticulously sweating all details to delivery high quality product - just read our reviews here & here!
With a physical studio located right in the heart of Chicago (the West Loop!), clients can shop our curated selection in-studio or off our website. Our customers are sophisticated individuals with an extraordinary awareness for quality and culture.
Our goal is to have each of one of our customers feel confident & have heads turning.
If you have any questions or need some outfit inspiration, contact us here!
Our Founder & Creative Director:
With a love for everything fashion and Indian culture, Rupa found herself and like-minded friends in search of clothing that incorporated both East Indian and Western trends, while staying true to quality.
In 2014, Rupa took a risk and left her position as a pricing strategy manager at a top Fortune 100 retailer to pursue her own unique, luxury studio, while working with India’s top runway designers. Rupa built Studio East6 from the ground up, all on her own by re-investing every portion she had back into the business.
What makes Rupa unique is her strong business acumen, with her incredible eye for style, fashion & detail. Her expert opinion is widely respected amongst her design partners and customers. Most importantly, her clients are always her #1 and wants each of them to feel incredible in whatever they wear.
As our Creative Director, Rupa designs Studio East6’s private label pieces & works hand-in-hand with all our curated design partners. Rupa leads the creative direction of the studio, such as design, assortment, and partnerships. Additionally, she works closely with most our SE6 bridal clients to ensure orders are 100% from start to finish. Rupa does prefer to stay behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.
In addition to Founder & Creative Director, Rupa wears a few additional hats: wife, mom, and University of Illinois alum. She's a Chicago-native and loves spending time with her family & friends. When she’s not at the studio, you can find Rupa exploring Chicago's restaurants, museums, & keeping her 2 girls out of 'good' trouble!
Her guilty pleasures include watching her beloved, yet disastrous Chicago Bears & any Real Housewives series (really?), as well as spending time with family & friends. Sleeping could be a guilty pleasure of hers, but more-so a far off dream as of now... :)
ps. What is ‘East6’?
East6 is an idea in which "Eastern couture finds Western allure." Within the first purchasing trip to India, it was hard not to notice the locals referring to America as the ‘West’ and India as the ‘East’. The ‘East’ was a perfect reference to help conceptualize the brand. The idea behind '6' was also quite simple. The saree, is the most classic, yet beautiful staple in Indian fashion, typically made from 6 yards of fabric. Hence, the concept of 'East6'.