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Sustainable Fashion in the Industry: Steps Toward Real Change
Fashion is often described as a mirror of society — an ever-shifting reflection of what we value, celebrate, and consume. Yet in recent years, the mirror has revealed some uncomfortable truths: overflowing landfills, carbon-heavy supply chains, and workers exploited in the name of ‘trends’ (cough, looking at you, Loro Piana). This is where sustainable fashion steps in — not as a buzzword, but as a call to rethink how clothing is made, worn, and ultimately valued. It's high time to take this term seriously, rather than using it as mere marketing while doing little that is truly sustainable.
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What Does Sustainable Fashion Really Mean?
First things first, let’s get the term and the meaning right. Sustainable fashion is not about deprivation or ‘wearing sackcloth for the planet.’ At its core, it’s about designing and producing clothing that respects both people and the environment. It means slowing down the endless churn of fast fashion and prioritising longevity, ethical labour, and environmental responsibility. From fabric choice to fair wages, it’s about reimagining fashion as a circular system rather than a disposable one. It’s slow fashion, circular fashion, conscious fashion — different words pointing to the same idea: garments that last, are ethically made, and tread lightly on the earth.
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Why It Matters More Than Ever
The numbers are stark. The fashion industry generates nearly 10% of global carbon emissions and creates 92 million tons of textile waste annually. Every second, a truckload of textiles is landfilled or burned. These statistics aren’t abstract — they are the direct result of an industry built on speed, volume, and disposability.
Fast Fashion: The Elephant in the Room
Let’s be clear — fast fashion isn't just a problem, it’s a giant. Brands like Shein, Zara, and H&M aren’t just competing with luxury fashion houses; they’re outpacing them. Shein’s reported valuation once surpassed that of stalwarts like H&M and Zara combined, while Zara-owner Inditex consistently posts profits higher than most luxury conglomerates. These brands have proven that speed and scale can beat heritage and craft in sheer revenue. But the cost? Exploited garment workers, toxic dyes poisoning rivers, and microplastics leaching into oceans.
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In the midst of these fast-fashion brands, many Indian brands are sustainable brands, especially smaller Indian labels, that may not yet match these juggernauts in scale or valuation. But what they offer — authenticity, transparency, and respect for resources — is exactly the antidote the industry needs.
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The Indian Lens: Designers Leading the Change
India, with its centuries-old textile heritage, is uniquely positioned to lead sustainable fashion forward. Several homegrown designers are rewriting the rules of sustainability in fashion in powerful ways:
Rkive takes the idea of memory and continuity seriously with every garment made from deadstock or discarded textiles. Their pieces often carry a sense of individuality, almost archival in nature, making each design one-of-a-kind. In an industry obsessed with mass production, Rkive flips the script and celebrates rarity.
Sand by Shirin believes in seasonless luxury. The designs don’t chase trends but instead build a wardrobe that ages gracefully. Using clean silhouettes and slow production cycles, her pieces make the case that true luxury is timelessness, not the number of drops per year.
11.11 / eleven eleven goes back to India’s roots: khadi, indigenous cotton, and natural dyes. The label is less about ‘collections’ and more about narratives, connecting wearers to farming communities, hand-spinners, and dyers. Wearing 11.11 is not just a fashion choice, it’s a political one: a vote for India’s textile craft and its survival.
Jayati Goenka works with artisanal handlooms, focusing on creating pieces that marry modern sensibilities with India’s weaving and block-printing traditions. Her design philosophy is rooted in mindful cycles — producing in small quantities, focusing on textiles as heirlooms, and resisting the pressure of fast fashion’s endless newness.
No Nasties holds the distinction of being India’s first organic, fair-trade clothing label. Based in Goa, it’s refreshingly transparent: 100% organic cotton, fair wages, and zero toxic chemicals. The brand has also expanded into basics and essentials — proving that sustainability doesn’t have to be a luxury; it can be an everyday choice.
Oshadi is one of the most ambitious sustainable ventures in India. Based in Tamil Nadu, it has created a regenerative supply chain, right from growing organic cotton to weaving, dyeing, and tailoring. Their seed-to-stitch approach not only cuts out harmful practices but also revives ecosystems and gives back to farming communities.
Iro Iro, helmed by Anavila Misra’s protégé Ananya Singh, works with textile waste and zero-waste pattern cutting to create garments with bold silhouettes. By turning discards into design statements, the brand champions a contemporary aesthetic without abandoning its ecological responsibility.
Together, these brands (and many more such Indian brands) remind us that sustainability is not monolithic — it can mean upcycling, ethical supply chains, artisanal revival, or simply slowing down the cycle of consumption.
Beyond Cotton: Emerging Fabrics and Innovation
Sustainable fashion is expanding beyond the familiar. Hemp, banana fibre, bamboo, nettle, and even orange peel-based fabrics are entering the market. On a global scale, mushroom leather (mycelium), pineapple fibre (Piñatex), and lab-grown textiles are pushing innovation further. India’s unique biodiversity and handloom traditions mean it can be both a testing ground and a leader in this material revolution.
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The Consumer Shift
Brands can only go so far without consumer support. Each purchase becomes a moral decision: do we buy the Rs. 500 dress that falls apart in three washes, or the Rs. 5,000 piece made by artisans that lasts for years? Thrifting, swapping, repairing, and re-wearing are no longer fringe behaviours — they are central to conscious consumption. If fast fashion thrives on volume, sustainability thrives on care.
The Road Ahead
The future of fashion will not be defined by how many new products a brand can churn out, but by how responsibly it can produce. Sustainable Indian labels may not yet rival fast fashion giants in valuation, but they’re carving out a different kind of currency — cultural, ecological, and emotional value. And perhaps, in the long run, that’s the kind of wealth the world will need more of.
Also Read:
Beyond The Buzzword: How Sustainable Brands In India Are Fighting Greenwashing