We all love shopping for high-end branded shoes and clothes and accessories and everything to pamper ourselves. But, do you know? Unknowingly with every purchase, we are also promoting environmental pollution as well.
The fashion industry is creating truckloads of waste that get burnt, buried, and dumped in landfills due to overproduction, and overconsumption.
Waste is prevalent in every part of the fashion industry and it is estimated that 92 million tons of textile waste are generated annually.
Meet Labdhie Mehta, a flagbearer of change who is a fashion designer by profession but a conscious human of heart by heart and with her eco-friendly and sustainable clothing venture is bringing the change.
Labdhie Is not the only one creating a revolutionary change in the fashion industry, Namrata Ramanathan is also using discarded waste to beautiful bags with her brand – ‘Upcyclie‘. But the way Labdhie is doing it is the most impressive part.
How did Labdhie Mehta tread the path of Sustainable clothing?
Being born in the textile hub of India, Surat- it’s in her blood to do something in the field of fashion. The 29 years old, Labdhie Mehta has done her graduation in fashion design and her passion for doing something of her own was so much that she started Labdhie Couture – designing wedding outfits only in the second year of her college.
Being an eco-conscious person Labdhie was not happy with the fact that so much waste is generated in the fashion industry. One day, while attending an exhibition on sustainable and environment-friendly fashion, she was so inspired that; she took it upon herself to start a sustainable clothing brand of her own to heal mother nature and promote sustainable clothing amongst people.
That’s how ‘Sukuun’ – an environmentally friendly and sustainable clothing brand, came into being four years back. At Sukuun she very uniquely uses flowers and herbs to design the product, she has introduced a new niche of fashion while finding a way to promote slow fashion and eco-friendly printing. so flowering cool!!
Nowadays, many people are introducing and offering an eco-friendly solution to replace plastic and chemical use, like Bambrew the bamboo packaging company.
The inspiration behind ‘Sukuun’- a sustainable clothing brand
‘What we wear becomes a part of our personality’
True, isn’t it? The meaning of ‘Sukuun is peace’ and that’s why Labdhie Mehta wanted to start a sustainable clothing brand that brings people satisfaction, peace, and blissfulness both for nature and the wearer.
Do you know? 15,000 tons of water is wasted every day in the fashion industry in making just one t-shirt. Shocking! And so to keep the water waste in check she is making these exclusive wears with a minimum of water use.
The whole concept was to incorporate eco-friendly and sustainable clothing in daily wear which was limited only to ethnic wear earlier. Labdhie swears by what she says and uses eco-printing techniques to colour the fabric.
Labdhie Mehta who is ready to start the new chapter of her life- ’embracing motherhood’ believes it is our duty to make this planet a better place for our kids and future generations and with her sustainable clothing brand- ‘Sukuun’ she is bringing the much-needed change.
Sukuun involves the use of natural dyes which includes flowers from the temple waste, herbs, fallen leaves from the Jamun tree, and other Ayurvedic stuff which are good for the skin. Not only that but from printing to choosing the right fabric in her company, Mehta takes extra effort to use only environment-friendly products; she uses GOTS(Global Organic Textile Standard) certified fabric only.
Labdhie Mehta is a generous person, she supports local weavers and traditional artisans who are very well aware of the art of natural dying in getting the right kind of printing in her sustainable clothing venture so that these small-scale workers can earn value out of their livelihoods.
Hurdles faced in starting a sustainable clothing venture
‘When there’s a will, there’s a way’- holds true in Labdhie’s case who single-handedly runs her business without any outside support. There were challenges that she faced over the course of time but she never gave up. The biggest problem was to make people understand what need to be done rightly.
She believes that people think that the price of the clothes is too high, but they don’t understand that it’s a long process to get one cloth dyed. Labdhie takes extra effort in finding the right kind of fabric and also chooses all the natural dyes for printing as well without damaging any natural resources.
“We are okay with purchasing a coffee for Rs500 but not an artwork for the same price, and that is what my real struggle is—to convince people that certain things are worth purchasing for both the environment and their own good.”
A thing with art is – not all understand it and those who do, do it in their own way. Products of Sukuun are unique and mesmerizing & like it’s said: “Diamonds are recognized only by jewellers”. Only true aesthetic fashion followers understand what Sukuun is offering. People often doubt the quality and durability of †he prints but let the soil and winds decide which direction they’ll flow.
How to take care of a naturally dyed sustainable clothing?
Many people wonder if naturally dyed clothes will eventually fade over the course of time. Well, that’s the beauty of Labhdie Mehta’s sustainable clothing products. She assures that there may be some changes that may happen when the naturally dyed clothes come in contact with direct sun for a long period of time or come in contact with any metal.
You take care of a fur cat the way you care for your own hair, similarly these meticulously made flower-dye cloths need extra love and care just like the way we do. Ph-neutral soaps or reetha-based soaps are the suggested cleaning agents by Labdhie.
And in my case, I’d simply love a carrot orange T-shirt gradually turning into starfish orange giving me a new look each day with the much-needed aesthetic Sukuun is offering.
The USP of her sustainable clothing brand- Sukuuun is that she is giving a new introduction to your old clothes.
I would love to Eco print people’s pre-owned and pre-loved clothes to give them a makeover and a new look without them having to actually purchase a new clothing item.
Labdhie’s innovative idea to reuse flower waste and create something so unique and pretty is simply extraordinary. She is healing Mother Earth one step at a time.
Well, now gotta go as I am getting late for my shopping for naturally printed clothes. You can buy your own pretty flower-painted looks too, find Sukuun on their Instagram page. Spend some money and do your share of fashionable goods.
Feature Image – Instagram, Instagram, Instagram
If you loved reading this story, you can also check One Innovation At A Time! Meet The Couple Who Recycles 10000 Tonnes of Waste Every Month.
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