From Classroom to Camera: How Sangeetha Rajesh Built a Saree Empire on Facebook Live

In an era where digital-native brands dominate headlines, Sangeetha Rajesh’s journey stands apart for its unlikely beginnings and radical simplicity. An ISB alumna and former remedial teacher, Sangeetha transformed her love for Indian textiles into one of the country’s most compelling direct-to-consumer success stories—using nothing more than a smartphone, Facebook Live, and relentless perseverance.

Over the past decade, she has built a thriving saree enterprise by pioneering live-video commerce in a category long dominated by physical retail. By streaming directly from markets, mills, and weaving clusters across India, Sangeetha connected traditional manufacturers and artisans straight to customers’ smartphones—sidestepping middlemen and rewriting the rules of saree retail.

A Million Sarees, Sold Live

Without initially owning a large storefront, Sangeetha sold over 10 lakh (1,000,000) sarees through 200+ Facebook Live shows. Her format is deceptively simple yet extraordinarily effective. During marathon live sessions—often lasting six to eight hours—she showcases hundreds of sarees one by one, describing their fabric, technique, provenance, and cultural story with the warmth of a seasoned educator.

Viewers watch, comment, and claim their chosen pieces in real time in a “fastest-finger-first” format. In a single live event, Sangeetha can sell as many as 5,000 sarees, sometimes clocking ₹50 lakh in sales in one go. The experience mirrors a personal home-shopping show, but with the intimacy and immediacy of social media.

By eliminating retail overheads and sourcing directly from weavers, she offers customers wholesale pricing on sarees ranging from ₹600 daily wear to ₹45,000 bridal silks—proving that live commerce can serve both mass and premium audiences.

From Classroom to Camera: How Sangeetha Rajesh Built a Saree Empire on Facebook Live

Broadcasting from the Source

What truly differentiates Sangeetha’s model is location. She frequently goes live from the premises of saree manufacturers and artisan clusters—whether it’s the silk mills of Surat, the looms of Kanchipuram, or Kalamkari studios in Andhra Pradesh. Customers don’t just shop; they travel virtually through India’s textile heartlands, witnessing craftsmanship at its origin.

By fusing storytelling with selling, Sangeetha has turned saree shopping into a cultural experience—what loyal followers affectionately call “saree-telling.”

Community Before Commerce

Consistency has been her greatest asset. In ten years without taking a single day off, Sangeetha has built a Facebook community of over 850,000 followers, each live show attracting thousands of eager viewers. Not a single live session has gone unsold; sarees often disappear within seconds of being showcased.

Industry leaders have taken note. In a LinkedIn post, Prashanth Rao Aroor, CEO of Intellistay Hotels, remarked:

“I’m just blown by this one-woman show that must be a $3–$5 million business annually, with her acute skill of sourcing from the weaver and cutting out the cost of a retail operation by going direct.”

Learning the Hard Way

Sangeetha’s ascent was far from effortless. With no formal fashion background—she was previously a pre-primary curriculum designer and remedial educator—she entered the saree business driven by passion rather than training. Early experiments led to losses, especially as she focused on niche art forms like Kalamkari when they were still considered esoteric.

But setbacks became classrooms. She enrolled in courses at NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), traveled to craft hubs such as Machilipatnam and Srikalahasti, and deepened her understanding of textile traditions. By 2015, she was already conducting online exhibitions—well before live commerce became a buzzword.

“I am my own investor and set my own targets,” she says, reflecting the independence that fueled her reinvention from boutique owner to live-commerce pioneer.

Building an Ecosystem

Today, Sangeetha’s Saree Emporium employs over 100 people, spanning logistics, customer support, social media, and live-production teams who travel with her across India. Beyond direct employment, her model provides sustained demand for countless weavers, artisans, and manufacturers—creating a more efficient and equitable value chain.

Her enterprise delivers both scale and social impact, aligning commerce with cultural preservation.

From Digital to Physical—On Her Own Terms

In a full-circle milestone, Sangeetha recently opened a 5,000 sq. ft. saree emporium in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills, stocking over 15,000 sarees. The store serves as a physical extension of a brand built digitally—not a replacement for it. Her core focus remains live selling, now expanded into roadshows and hybrid exhibition-cum-live events across cities from Delhi to Bengaluru.

An alumna of the Indian School of Business, Sangeetha credits ISB’s entrepreneurial ecosystem for sharpening her strategic thinking and resilience—helping her blend grassroots craftsmanship with modern marketing.

Ahead of the Curve

As live commerce accelerates across India’s retail landscape, Sangeetha Rajesh stands as a pioneer who anticipated the shift years in advance. Her journey demonstrates how technology can democratize entrepreneurship—how a single individual, armed with authenticity and insight, can modernize a centuries-old industry.

At the close of each live show, as screens fill with comments and claimed sarees, Sangeetha reminds her audience that they’re not just buying fabric—they’re celebrating a legacy. And in doing so, she continues to prove that the saree, timeless and elegant, can thrive brilliantly in the digital age.