InsideSport Exclusive: Six5Six founder Ambar Aneja reveals “SIX5SIX will soon be seen in IPL.” The Delhi-based company along with the All India Football Federation (AIFF), on Sunday (January 10, 2021), unveiled the new Official Kit for the Indian Senior Men’s and Women’s as well as Junior Men’s and Women’s Football Teams.
The brand-new kit, dubbed the “Panthera Tigris”, will continue to feature the tiger stripes, cementing the identity of the national team’s ‘Blue Tigers’. The tiger stripes have been kept in their original form and are placed on the chest to symbolise pride, courage and strength.
In an exclusive interview for InsideSport, SIX5SIX owner Amber Aneja shared his thoughts on the new kit deal with AIFF. He also spoke of SIX5SIX’S further ambitions and that foray into the IPL is
Q. How was the idea of Six5Six- a sports specific apparel brand incepted?
A. I (Ambar Aneja) and Avni (Co-founder) used to play cricket and basketball respectively. When we were playing in school and college level, the quality of kits that we had access to were not upto the mark. That’s where the initial idea for Six5Six was born.
Our family has also been in the apparel manufacturing business for the last 20-25 years. So we had the infrastructure, but with Six5Six it was a natural extension to go back and use the resources in making something relevant.
Q. Given the idea from where the company started; does Six5Six have plans of investing in grassroots?
Our primary goal is to be a kit provider for anyone and everyone. Whatever, school, college, irrespective of the level, we want every athlete to be given access to high quality clothing that they can wear. The design will be representative of whatever school, college or organisation they are a part of.
Q. India is a country driven by cricket. Is there any upcoming deals in the pipeline-Do we see Six5Six jersey on any IPL franchise soon?
We could have probably seen that happen in IPL 2020 itself if not for Covid-19. But hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we expect to announce.
Q. There are quite a few Indian sports apparel companies like Shiv Naresh, Nivia, HRX- how will Six5Six be different from the competitors?
Our approach is very very different. For us, it’s more about the feeling and what we are trying to represent in our athletes- whether they are a professional level or amateur level.
It’s a design-first idealogy rather than a number-driven ideology. So the whole experience, whenever a team comes onboard with us, be it amateur or pro, all our partnerships are based on the same principle that we take our time out to actually find the right representation for the team which is done by the design again.
Q. Indian footballer wearing the Six5Six jersey- it gives a massive brand visibility; what are the other pros from this deal?
Apart from brand goals, it’s more been about the ability to give back- to our own country and also to have the Indian team wearing our kit is an invaluable thing to us. It has been one of the most exciting and terrifying times of our life and it’s something we have thoroughly enjoyed.
The other aspect of the deal is, overnight a lot of people would know us that wouldn’t have happened via the conventional route.
Q. What is Six5Six goals and objectives in the long run?
The long term goal is to make Six5Six team wear provider of the country. Anyone who wants to have a kit for their teams- local, colony, organisation, college, pro teams- the first thing that we want them to come to their mind is ‘Six5Six’ is the right way to go.