Indian Gen Z shoppers love fast fashion and Pinterest-inspired looks. Yet denim choices seemed stuck on basic skinny fits. When Shahbaaz Khan and Madina Khan founded OFF Duty in 2019, they decided to bring something edgier to the market.
Denim inspired by global trends and 90s fashion, designed for how Gen Z shoppers dress today.
Shahbaaz and Madina started out back in 2013 in dropshipping, working across denims, tops, dresses, shoes, watches, and more. That experience eventually led them to OFF Duty. What it hadn’t prepared them for was the decision that came next.
What Happens When Growth Forces a Pivot?
OFF Duty was bootstrapped and growing fast, leading to a difficult choice: take on debt to scale or stay safe and not scale.
Shahbaaz says the decision could have ended them. A wrong call might have meant OFF Duty never made it this far. Their story is proof that success isn’t always about having the perfect plan. Sometimes it’s about making tough calls when circumstances force a pivot.
The bet paid off. But how does a bootstrapped brand keep up with this kind of scale?
Powering OFF Duty’s Payments with PayU
As OFF Duty scaled, every checkout mattered. A failed payment meant losing the customer. They needed a payments partner whose infrastructure could keep up with their scale. GoKwik created the checkout journey, while PayU provided a seamless payment process with:
Payment Gateway – Accept 150+ payment modes with industry-leading success rates, 99.99% up-time & seamless integration across web and app platforms
PayU UPI Stack – Offer seamless UPI experiences for higher speed and conversions.
When you solve payment friction, customers trust more, and buy often leading to higher conversions.
“Because PayU has an uptime of 99.9%, we’ve never had problems where customers reached out to us saying that they’re not able to make a payment, which has happened in the past with other gateways.”
— Shahbaaz Khan, Co-founder & CEO, OFF Duty
Building Through Uncertainty
OFF Duty’s journey is a reminder that growth is not just about moving faster. It is about noticing a gap, building something people want, and making the hard calls when the stakes are high. The pivot may be the decision that tests a brand most but the lesson starts well before the outcome.
As Shahbaaz puts it: “Don’t build a brand to raise funds. Create a product that attracts funds automatically.”
PayU powers brands like OFF Duty, taking care of their payment needs, so they can focus on growth.
