These Wedding Gowns from Kat’s Collection Nagaland Are To Die For! Meet The Founders – Siblings Visituonuo and Kenny Rio

“On her wedding day, a woman should be certain she has found a dress that makes her feel confident, and above all else, beautiful.” ~ Carolina Herrera

With wedding season right around the corner, we’re happy to introduce Kats Collection – a bridal shop in Nagaland owned by sibling duo – Visituonuo and Kenny Rio. With stores in Kohima and Dimpur, their shop offers both ready-to-wear and custom-made bridal gowns. So let’s have a chat to know more about them and their wedding collections.

Today we are happy to have with us the sibling duo from Nagaland – Visituonuo and Kenny Rio who are the founders and owners of ‘Kat’s Collection.‘ Successfully catering to the ever-growing wedding market since 2011, they talk to us about their entrepreneurial journey, what got them started and what keeps them going.

Sibling duo, Kenny Rio and Visituonuo Rio, owners and founders of Kohima based bridal shop ‘Kat’s Collection’ with Ruopfuzhano Whiso (Fbb Colors Femina Miss India-Nagaland 2018) wearing a wedding gown from their collection | Photo by Hopong Chang

Hey guys! Tell us a little about yourselves.

We are brother and sister duo Visituonuo Rio (age 28) and Kenny Rio (age 30) from Dimapur, Nagaland. Together, we run our store called Kats Collection which we named after Visi’s pet, Katrin.

We started off in 2011 as an online store selling clothes and shoes. Soon we added bridal dresses to our collection and our business took off. We found that our venture was doing really well, so we realised we needed to open a store. So after we were done with our studies, we opened the Kats Collection Wedding Store and it’s been our full-time job ever since.

Kenny flanked by the beautiful models wearing bridal gowns from Kats Collection, Nagaland | Photo by Hopong Chang.

How did you come up with the idea of starting a bridal shop and what was the inspiration behind it?

Visi: While I was studying in Allahabad in 2011, there were only a few active online stores. Shopping for clothes in Dimapur was difficult too. So, I began searching online for clothing vendors and found contact numbers for some factories abroad. I called them, placed my order and that’s how I started getting the items imported. Back then, I was staying in a hostel with more than 3000 girls.

Given this opportunity, I started taking orders and with the help of my friends, the number of my customers were constantly rising. Eventually, it was doing so well, I opened an online store and started selling directly to my customers. People came to know about us with time and through our social media pages. In 2016, we finally opened the bridal store in Kohima.

Models wearing wedding gowns from Kats Collection | Photo by Aviu Kevin Yhomes

What was one of the biggest decisions you had to make to start and nurture this venture?

Visi: Our parents are both government employees. So it was their wish for us to settle with a government job too. But things turned out different because we wanted to do what we love. And we are happy to have made this decision and be running this business together.

A happy bride wearing a gown from Kats Collection on her special day | Photo by Hopong Chang

Have you always wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Visi: When we were younger, I don’t think we could have even imagined becoming entrepreneurs. But God, by His loving grace, has laid out a special plan for us. I have always had the interest to sell things but never did I think I would be selling wedding dresses. Now, I’m completely happy with how things are turning out for us!

Ruopfuzhano Whiso looking beautiful in a Kats Collection wedding gown | Photo by Pixelbee Wokha.

What is the one biggest challenge you’ve faced in your journey and what have been some of your learnings so far?

Following your passion to pursue a full-time career is a very challenging task. Every day, we face different hurdles. To overcome them, you need to stay positive and fight for yourself to make them come true. At the same time, believe in God and most importantly, believe in yourself.

Tell us a little about the products you sell and where we can buy them?

We primarily sell wedding dresses. The prices of our gowns range from Rs 4,000 and go up to Rs 1.5 Lakhs, depending on the design. We provide products with a variety of details to our customers to cater to their wedding budgets.

Whether they’re looking for a lower budget dress to high-end designer wedding gowns, we are happy to help. We usually handpick the wedding-gowns that we stock which makes it easier for our customers to choose from. Also, curating items under our collection from India and abroad makes it easier to shop for their big day (with a million things to look after!) as they no longer have to visit shops after shops. In addition, we assure the best quality for a suitable price.