As sustainable fashion gains popularity, new Indian indie brands are getting involved

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jul 28, 2017

As a new wave of indie brands pop up in India, many are following the trend of sustainable fashion and using unusual textiles to make their mark.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, over 15 million tonnes of textile waste is generated each year which has a great effect on the environment. Brands such as Doodlage have started to use textile scraps to make their garments in order to cut down on this waste. This has the dual benefit of earning them sustainable status and cutting down on their own manufacturing costs.

Doodlage also uses corn and banana fabric to substitute cotton and this is but an example of the many different materials being used to create sustainable textiles. For example, Menaka Bapuji was inspired by her time working at a wildlife resort in Satpura to do something about the toxic waste generated by the textile industry. Along with using natural dyes that do not put chemicals into the environment, she also started incorporating natural materials into her textiles. Combining hemp, aloe vera, and kenaf (local spinach) into her silks and cottons, Bapuji found a way to cut down on toxic deposits that also elevated her designs. “While hemp woven with cotton or silk is softer and falls better… kenaf-woven fabric has a firmer texture… while the material mad with aloe vera has a feel and weight that is reminiscent of raw silk”, explained Bapuji. In this way, sustainability can be used to drive design as well as reducing the carbon footprint.

Ritu Kumar from New Delhi uses banana and soybean fibres to create her signature sarees and, along with creating natural pigments for over 35 years, she has committed to reducing her carbon footprint by using such methods. “The reason we worked with traditional art is because it works well with the fabric itself”, says Kumar, explaining how using sustainable fabrics may indeed shape the design process but that can actually be a positive thing.

Jainam Kumarpal, the creator of the bhu:sattva label which is known for its raw, organic cotton, now exports to 17 countries along with selling in his native India. Over 45 employees work for the company and they are now pioneering garments made from milk protein fibres. There are many more sustainable brands starting up and this industry looks set to keep growing.