At 6 p.m. on a Friday, Nidhi Menon, a 25-year-old lawyer in Mumbai, realised her wardrobe didn’t include a formal dress for a client dinner beginning in two hours. Instead of braving rush-hour traffic to the mall, she ordered her dress online, with three options. A delivery rider arrived before seven, waited while she tried them on, and left with the rejects. For Nidhi, the crisis was solved in 90 minutes; for India’s startup ecosystem, it symbolised a new frontier — fashion quick commerce.

After groceries, food, and even iPhones, style is the next category chasing instant gratification. A clutch of startups including Slikk, NEWME, Blip, Knot, and ZILO — are betting that fashion, the ultimate discretionary purchase, can be made as spontaneous as a snack order. They promise curated looks a

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