I love glamour and I truly love clothes and that’s the reason I quit my software career. It was a hard decision to switch my career from an IT Engineer to a Merchandiser without any relevant knowledge as I belong from a white-collar job family background where everyone asks to be as smart as a doctor or an engineer. I was the first one in the entire family to put my foot forward in the fashion industry and I was lucky enough to have got immense support from my family who helped make my dreams into reality. 

So as a graduate in Information Technology and a masters in fashion technology from one of the premium fashion design colleges in India- National Institute of fashion technology, New Delhi, I started from the nascent stage and got a chance to work deeply with the best of the industry export houses, Designer Labels, Liaison Offices and Internationally. I was always surrounded by clothes every single day! Be it a fabric sourcing or production sample. I have watched lakhs of clothes getting constructed every season.

My technological skills came into use when besides creating a sustainable fashion platform, I also integrated science-based sustainable target solutions into it. The Platform was named ‘Upcycleluxe’ where our vision is to build a huge sustainable community of upcycle and organic products, by offering disruptive technologies, enabling innovative and transformative ways of sustainable luxury through the process of change by adding value at each step of product development.

My vision became even stronger when Upcycleluxe was selected for Industry Disruptor on behalf of UN Women WeEmpowerAsia and The Do School, Berlin. The industry disruptor cemented my dream and vision and gave us the boost I needed. Apart from this I also deliver my experiences of the fashion industry globally with young entrepreneurs, fashion students, and industry professionals.

Fashion is sexy but how about wearing something biodegradable and yet stylish. Imagine if Fashion goes through an organic transition like wholefoods, a place where you can buy ethically made garments, stylish & yet eco-friendly. Sustainability asks us as humans to consider really deep questions about a personal relationship to nature and the ethics of our actions and strategy used dint really consider this as deeper issues. 

Ultimately sustainable fashion is about value, we have to decide what we value. For people who love fashion and love to shop we have to decide how we spend our money and how we care for the clothes we already have, we have outsourced so much in our lives in the form of food and clothing but now it’s time to bring things back home. It is easy to point finger on brands for not having a transparent supply chain or government for not having a landfill tax for instance, but we really have to take responsibility of our choices and there are several ways we become more mindful about fashion by-

  1. Learn the simple art of hand stitching with needle and thread, we all have that in us but we have lost that touch for clothing
  2. Buy second-hand clothes
  3. Buy Smart

Sustainable luxury fashion, how do you think this will impact on the community?

Sustainable fashion has gone mainstream with big and small brands creating capsule collections & implementing upcycling in their annual collections. Upcycling is a process where clothes are repurposed/ add value to the existing clothes whereas recycled clothes are made from materials that have been broken down first. Upcycling is good news for the environment as clothing has the second largest environmental impact. The impact of joining Sustainable Luxury Fashion as a community will bring improved quality of products, empowers brands to differentiate, be innovative as well as taking social and environmental responsibility. Their influence is so phenomenal that fast fashion brands will be forced to push themselves to sustainability as they always follow the luxury powerhouses. In such a situation the consumer will invest mindfully.

Our mission is to create an ethical, sustainable, and eco-efficient textile & apparel industry. A luxury industry where eco-friendly products are not just seeking a premium image but are products with sustainability reflecting in their luxury value chain. Our sustainable luxury products are life-long products that never go out of fashion making them stand out in the market. Upcycleluxe strives to redefine the odds and bring innovative sustainable products to our consumers.

Have you taken any initiative for Women’s empowerment?

We have got partnered with an amazing London based platform Independent woman, where not only we include the actions of raising the status of women but also equipping them to make life determining decisions through the different problems in society. We help raise the status through education, raising awareness, literacy and artisans training.

We have a team of more than 50% of women in our corporate office, and working with 500+ women artisans to train ethical fashion.

What are the challenges you faced before getting into this business?

Sustainable fashion is becoming the next mainstream and one of the best ways to clinch a sustainable wardrobe is to upcycle your clothes or use clothes made of organic fabrics. One constant challenge still in fashion is consumers want more but buy less. They are inclined towards sustainable fashion and living , but buying products seems to be a problem as  lack of awareness in the Indian consumer is increasing due to another big challenge of Green Washing. Brands are constantly diluting the market by tagging the products as organic/sustainable without actual being sustainable. Therefore, the consumer is buying a pig in a poke. Consumer should be well aware about a product before buying as brands that are actually sustainable have a transparent supply chain and they do not hide any information from the consumers.

How this pandemic impacted your business?

The New Normal has shaped the world of fashion where I have noticed a behavioural shift in consumer interests that are around natural, durable and bio degradable. I could also notice consumer believing in slow fashion as the next smart fashion. The consumer had time to self-reflect during the lockdown and is now more inclined today sustainability and eco-friendly fashion. The E-commerce & technology is the future where virtual fashion shows will comprise the new normal. Hence, ‘Green is the new luxury’.

Achievement / recognition

Upcycleluxe was selected in industry disruptor on behalf of UN Women| WeEmpowerAsia and The Do School, Berlin in more sustainable and women-benefiting fashion in India.

What’s in the future?

We truly believe reaching out sustainability in every nook & corner. Knowing our consumers and using that knowledge in our channel. Based our research we are integrating science based sustainable target solutions on our website and will be launching our own upcycleluxe collection soon.

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