The power to change the world is in your hands (and your clothes)

Image: Ashita wears her much loved dress from The Summer House.

How much do you ask yourself about the clothes you wear? When you buy something new, do you just hold it by the hanger straight to the cash counter and out the door? Do you try it on? Do you feel the fabric, take in the texture, turn it over and check the label? How well do you know your clothes?

Sustainability in fashion is all about asking questions. And it’s a long road of questions. It starts with why is there a need to change? Because the current process of fashion production and consumption doesn’t have the best impact on our environment and our people. How do we change? I love that question. That’s the big one, how?

To answer this, I spoke to three people who in some way or the other have had an impact on making my fashion journey more sustainable. The first is one of my favourite conscious consumption brands – The Summer House. The brand’s sustainable choices were actually made as a step to better design and quality. According to founder Shivangini Parihar, “Design has to lead fashion. Our clothes reflect who we are and customers should not have to choose because of sustainability. Being sustainable needs to be given the core value in fashion”. They first picked sustainable cotton for its better quality. In addition they pay higher than average wages because it produces better results, better finish, and more ownership. The result is affordable, chic, good quality, sustainable clothing.

With stylist and brand consultant Ekta Rajani, the conversation is more philosophical. It’s always been like that for Rajani and I, she’s been my fashion guru for years. People like her give fashion the canvas to stand on which elevates it to an art form. Through the last year, she’s been chronicling the most beautiful fashion stories on her Instagram. She started documenting the number of wears of her clothes and how many new clothes she buys in a month. According to her, “Conscious fashion consumption is a habit we need to form. Like any habit, this will take time and effort. It has to start with us informing ourselves, read a little, be aware”.

Perhaps the biggest step in awareness and my first experience with the need for accountability in fashion has been the work done by The Fashion Revolution. Founded in 2013, the NGO has created a global movement towards more transparency in the fashion industry. You could even say that the idea of asking questions started with them and their campaign, #WhoMadeMyClothes. For Suki Dusanj-Lenz, Country Head, India, advocacy starts with keeping people informed, “We use social media as a form of campaigning to empower people with information and access to resources that will help them take action or to generate dialogues about the need for a Fashion Revolution”.

The take away from all of this is that as much as the ownership of sustainability in fashion lies with governments and brands, it lies with us as consumers. Because as Shivangini said, “Where we put our money can change the world.”

Through my conversations, I asked for recommendations on sustainable choices in brands, here are some names: 11.11 / eleven eleven, Doodlage, Made From Malai, Soul Space,No Nasties, Okhai, Anita Dongre Grassroot, Chola The Label and Omi na na.

Follow @NykaaFashion on Instagram for more!