Tazung: Breathing new life into a nearly forgotten brand

Tazung Hang Rai’s family launched ‘Tazung’, as an online clothing store, in 2019. In the initial days, the store mainly sold lifestyle and winter wear. But the sales figures were not encouraging. In fact, the business struggled to attract customers.

In its first year of operation, Tazung products didn’t find much success. The brand essentially failed to make its mark.  The family had to decide the future of the business. They had to either reinvent Tazung or fold the operation. Enter 19-year-old Tazung Hang Rai, the brand’s namesake, and his friend 17-year-old Shrayaskar Jung Bahadur Singh. 

The two friends took over the business in 2020 and ran with it. The duo immediately figured out what was keeping the customers from buying Tazung products: the clothes were too common and uninspiring. 

The young and fashion-forward boys turned the failing business over its head and brought the brand to prominence. Today, Tazung caters to young urban customers with its range of quality and trendy street- and sports-wear. “Tazung sells one-of-a-kind street and sports apparels. Comfort, quality, and style are our brand’s main focus,” says Rai. 

“While building a platform for modern fashion, we also want to create a community that promotes the growing street culture.” Tazung’s products are cool, ultra-casual, and decidedly modern. 

Singh had an experience in the clothing business where they customized jeans jackets by hand painting them with his brothers. He had a vision for what Tazung’s products were going to be like. 

“If you look at the young urban Nepali crowd, everybody wants to be trendy. We simply wanted to be the brand that understood that trend and provided the products,” he says.

Rai takes inspiration from his fashion designer mother. During the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, he even enrolled himself in a fashion-designing course to “get a better idea of designing and marketing”. 

The two young business partners researched what the modern Nepali youths were wearing, and the kind of culture they were into in order to design Tazung products.  “We incorporate ideas from rap videos while producing videos for our brand, solely focused on the street- fashion,” says Singh. 

Both Singh and Rai understand the power of digital marketing. They are not to vaunt their products on social media platforms. They seem to know how a brand is built, and they are determined to create one.  

From putting down the ideas for their latest product design to fabric selection, sampling and model fitting to production, the two partners are involved in every aspect of the enterprise. They experiment with different designs and fabrics to keep the youth spirit alive.  

For product marketing, they rely on unique and creative photo and video shoots, and upload them on their website and social media. “We want to add more value to our products by giving the customers something that would be trendy for a long time. At the same time, we also keep an eye on the trends and adapt accordingly,” says Rai.   

The brand that was once unable to find its customer base has had a rebirth. Until the present, Tazung has made about 100,000 sales. It releases a new collection every season, and they bring out the products within the collection every two weeks.  

The brand is currently only available in Kathmandu, but Rai and Singh say they are aiming to take their products to other cities like Pokhara and Chitwan. They also plan to expand their production targeting the Nepalis living abroad. 

Tazung is also in the process of opening its first store in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. “We want to promote Nepali street culture, arts, and fashion,” says Rai. “For that, we are planning to collaborate with young Nepali artists.”