"Initially, I began by making a few styles and very limited sizes. The priceof the clothes was very high, but I found a good demand for them," sheexplains. "The charges were in fact exorbitant and people had to pay throughtheir nose for Li'l Tomatoes' clothes, but the quality and styling were goodand so the brand's popularity grew," she says.

But all that has changed. Now, Ms Bahri has more than 300 designs in hercollection from basic polos to accessories. Her first outlet was in Delhi'sGreater Kailash N-Block market, all of 22 square feet. But last year, sheclosed that store, when newer retail outlets began to open and operate undera franchise scheme. "Today, the stores are run by franchisees and there areno company outlets," she says.

Li'l Tomatoes has also re-positioned itself as a brand for kids and not justboys. Customer feedback at the stores told Ms Bahri that there was a greatdemand for well-styled clothes for girls too. Today, she not only makesclothes for girls, but accessories too, such as bags, shoes, belts, clips,headbands and other knick-knacks. Li'l Tomatoes also has a stationery line,and soft toys. "A children's store should look cheerful and kids should beable to find all the things they need there," she says. Moreover, herhusband runs a stationery business, so kids' stationery was easy for her tointroduce.

Ms Bahri admits that she has no formal training in garment designing. "But Ihave hired some excellent designers. Also, I travel abroad often to keep intouch with international trends," says Ms Bahri. So trendy are her clothes,that last month, a Swiss industrialist, who bought clothes for his childrenat her store, called her to Switzerland to buy a stake in her company.

Toady, the company's turnover is Rs 6 crore and each design comes in sevendifferent sizes. Ms Bahri is now moving into infant clothes and accessoriestoo and hopes to have a full-fledged collection for infants by spring/summer2001. "Being the mother of two children, I know what materials and designswill suit kids. And we buy the best fabric so that children don't feeluncomfortable in our clothes," she says.

Married into a Punjabi business family, Ms Bahri found herself with nothingto do for the first few years of her marriage. She tried helping out in herhusband's stationery business, but found she "could not fit in". Now, herhusband too is part of her company. She does try and keep as much time asshe can for her kids, like returning home for lunch, but her busy scheduleleaves little time for relaxation, she says. "But since we live in a largejoint family, I am not very worried about my children," she says.

Ms Bahri is now working hard on her Summer 2001 collection and she hopes togo public soon. But not before she achieves her dream of opening 100 storesall over the country.