Meet These 6 Entrepreneurs Embracing Sustainable Fashion

Have you also watched those HUGE try-on hauls where YouTubers try clothes after clothes? I am sure we all have been there. It is a part of the fast fashion trend currently booming in the industry. It is when we tend to wear items fewer times and discard them more quickly. It is everything opposite of what the sustainable fashion industry preaches- recycle, reuse & reduce.

Fast fashion changes over a matter of weeks. It is great for customers but is it sustainable–is the main question. Can we go on producing more and more clothes that may be worn just a few times before ending up in a landfill? These are the few questions that these six women entrepreneurs dealt with while starting in the domain of slow fashion. Sustainable fashion enables a fashion value chain that improves living standards for the workers and decreases stress on the environment.

Defying the fast fashion trend, SheThePeople brings to you leading women entrepreneurs who come on board with the perspective that clothes should be made to last longer and be easy to recycle at the end of their life. 

Read about these sustainable fashion entrepreneurs who produces organic cotton products & believe fashion freaks can be sustainable too-

1. World of Crow

The founder of this slow-fashion brand Shaila Khubchandani, is using handwoven textiles designed in harmony with nature. Crow is a contemporary Indian brand, founded in 2011 blending traditional and modern sensibility. Ensuring a fair wage with ethical working conditions is the at which Crow functions.

World of Crow uses 100% organic textiles and naturally biodegradable products to reach a minimal carbon footprint. Shaila produces and promotes clothing that eliminates chemicals and toxic substances that would otherwise be generously used in conventional farming. Without synthesised chemicals, the need to use water is significantly less. Organic cotton farming uses 88% less water, saves energy consumption, and creates a healthy working environment for farmers.

2. Lok Katha

Lok Katha is bringing handmade weaves closer to the people of India & across the globe, with sustainable methods at affordable prices.

After working for two years with Standard and Poor Global Ratings, Sonam returned to her hometown in Madhya Pradesh. While visiting Chanderi, a small town famous for its handlooms and weaver community, Sonam felt the need to improve the social status of weavers in India. Though she had no prior knowledge of the industry, she took the bold step to follow her love of the handloom industry and left her job.

From product photoshoots to modelling for the saree herself, Sonam was surprised to find the efforts it took to build a six yards piece of art. Lok Katha today has collections ranging from Chanderi to Maheshwar to Bhagalpur sarees. ​

3. Tamaksh

Anushree Bhatt, Tamaksh

Anushree Bhatt who is a NIFT graduate has built her brand Tamaksh which aims to unravel the Indian heritage to curate a collection of products that have a contemporary touch to them. 

Tamaksh maintains production standards through fair wages, lower carbon footprints, zero wastage, emphasising quality and hitting the brakes on excessive production.

4. Sundarii Handmade

A mom, wife and entrepreneur, Avni Agarwal went on to conceive Sundarii Handmade to support artisans, save Indian handicrafts from being extinct and propagate minimalist and sustainable fashion. Agarwal is an English Honours graduate who pursued a Masters's in Social Work to witness the plight and poverty of the artisans closely. She travelled to the nooks and corners of Gujarat and Rajasthan to meet the weavers personally and understand their craft and problems. To support and uplift these weavers, Agarwal founded Sundarii Handmade which sells hand-crafted sarees at a reasonable price. Agarwal aims at making Sundarii Handmade a household name for handmade and sustainable fashion.

5. Khara Kapas

The founder behind the brand Khara Kapas is ShiIpi Yadav. She began her journey by designing her personal wardrobe. She recycled the pieces she made to create distinct looks. Shilpi was not the person who believed in fast-changing trends. Instead, she has always been the proponent of sustainable organic cotton for its endurance and breathability. And that's what her brand name focuses on, Khara Kapas which means Pure Cotton. Each piece at her brand is handmade and crafted out of handloom cotton variants that are homegrown Indian fabrics.

6. Suta Sarees

Sujata Biswas and Taniya Biswas are the women behind Suta Sarees. It is a brand of sarees woven by artisans, especially women from Bengal. “Through our sarees, through our stories, we feel connected to every woman involved in the process – who share the same passion, the same nostalgia, and the same unified goal. Suta is not a brand, it is a community,” they say while speaking to SheThePeople.

These women-led brands are proudly challenging the narrative around the fast fashion industry- that one is fashionable only when one keeps up with the trend. Their work advocates for sustainable choices. They manufacture products that respect people, animals and the environment. 

This article is published in partnership with Google