Proud to wear DOLPO

The series Nepal Made profiles world-class Nepali products and the people behind them.

Deepak Acharya was born in a farming family in Kaski, and at age 14 came down to Pokhara to study. To pay for classes, he sold down jackets.

More than 20 years later, he is still selling jackets. Not international brands anymore, but products of his own outdoor outfitting company, DOLPO. And despite a double master’s degree, he is still studying.

Acharya and his brother-in-law started making and selling jackets and gear for international companies out of Thamel. After losing his business partner in the 2015 earthquake, he was done selling imported items and launched his own line of outerwear named after Nepal’s rugged and remote district known for its stunning landscape.

Something clicked, and DOLPO took off, replacing foreign brands with Nepal-made high quality outdoor gear at affordable prices.

“A lot of work went into choosing the name Dolpo,” says Acharya, who considered what came into people’s minds when they heard the name of a place with double-O sound. “I wanted a brand that local customers would instantly relate to toughness and mountains.”

The elegant logo reflects this as well, made up of two overlapping rounded triangles denoting mountains with a third peak in the middle. Underneath is ‘DOLPO’ in upper case sans serif.

RIGHT DESIGN, RIGHT PRICE

“Our philosophy is to have the right design, at the right price,” says co-founder Deepak Acharya, adding with a smile that his pricing strategy has made business easy: “The employees at North Face may sell North Face, but they wear Dolpo.”

The rebranding was so successful that Acharya regrets not launching it sooner. The reason for the success is that the outdoor gear market in Nepal has taken off with more and more domestic tourists trekking in the high mountains to share their adventures on social media.

Nepalis seem to be consciously choosing sustainable, Nepal made products of international quality. Acharya says: “Of course, there will always be a demographic that only wears North Face, or Sonam. But we have the right design, right price philosophy.”

DOLPO uses fabric and material mainly from Japan, and adheres to strict quality control. The reversible down jackets, windcheaters, shorts, fleece-lined pants, trekking trousers, backpacks, and polo shirts can be bought through its website, or two exclusive flagship stores in Sorakhutte and Thamel Chok.

“After the rebrand, we slowly made a digital platform, marketed online, and worked with a delivery company to get items directly to buyers,” says Acharya. “We have no brokers or middlemen to keep prices low for the consumer.”

Besides selling directly, DOLPO is a family business with Acharya’s mother, sister, and nephew all involved. The company proves there are business opportunities in Nepal to meet a growing demand for high quality products at affordable prices “The market is begging for an auto-correction,” he says.

For Nepal’s pessimistic youth who are fleeing the country, Acharya urges patience: “The younger generation wants shortcuts. The mindset is to set up a venture and in three years they will be set for life. But this is not how success works.”

“Choose a field, put in ten years of effort, really learn about it, and then you will see the vast possibility present in Nepal,” he continues.

Last month, the DOLPO logo was seen on the jerseys of the Biratnagar Kings in NPL 2. The company made hats, jackets, and jerseys for star-studded cricket players including Lokesh Bam, Sandeep Lamichhane, Faf Du Plessis, and Martin Guptill. The Kings finished second in the group, and although Acharya is a football fan, he is happy to contribute to the rise of cricket in Nepal.