What makes us different?
Business for society
Business needs society and society needs business. Hence, social costs must be internalized by businesses for long term economic sustainability. Ethique Chic's business & operating model is based on triple-bottomline principles and we contribute to several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
SUSTAINABILITY
SUSTAINABILITY
100% Organic Cotton
Every year, each American tosses an average of 82 lbs of clothing into landfils. Everything that goes in to producing those excess apparel has more hidden evil, such as the pesticides & fertilizers used in producing the thirstiest GMO Cotton, all the chemicals & dyes used in developing fabric, the industrial pollution, and the pollution caused by logistics etc. Conventional cotton farming is responsible for 24% of insecticides and 11% of pesticides, despite using only 3% of the world’s arable land globally.
We promote environmental sustainability by using sustainable and eco-conscious raw materials throughout our supply chain, from Farm-to-Rack.
sustainability
natural dyes
Dyeing is the most polluting process in textile manufacturing process, creating unhealthy living conditions for factory workers and people living around the dying facilities.
Natural dyes extracted from fruits and vegetables are environmental and human friendly. All our fabrics are dyed using 100% natural dyes (flowers, roots and fruits, such as turmeric, onion, myraballams, madder, kesu flowers, dhavadi flowers, and natural indigo etc.) and low impact dyeing processes. Besides, hand dyeing using natural dyes is one more path for us to contribute economically to a section of the society that is facing financial hardship.
sustainability
closer to zero waste
As a tripple-bottom-line organization, efficient use of resources and waste reduction are vital for financial viability and sustainable growth. While precision cutting for Made-to-Order is one way to reduce waste, repurposing the scrap to produce accents for kids wear is another innovative way we are moving closer to zero waste.
We produce Ready-to-wear clothes for kids using these accents so that the scrap is consumed to create value, our production capacity is utlized to the fullest and all our tailors are fully employed even during pandemics. We are continuously innovating to reduce waste, for example, upcycling scrap into soft toys and accesories.
SUstainability
becoming Circular with upcycled silk apparel
Natural silk is highly prized and has the highest potential for upcycling due to its high tensile strength. Millions of tonnes of silk, in the form of sarees, is stowed on wholesale racks and wardrobes, with limited or no use.
Silk production is highly resource intensive with significantly high carbon footprint. 1 Kg of handwoven silk (lite-weight adult-size silk shift dress is about ~ 1/5 Kg) production emits approximately 13.5 Kgs of CO2. One of the key inputs for silk is Mulberry leaf, which is conventionally grown. Fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals used in the process have other negative impacts including human toxicity, ecotoxicity, nitrification and acidification etc. Hence, upcycling silk saree into dresses is a significantly high impact solution.
Our circular economy based silk upcycling unit converts unused silk sarees to boutique women wear. Each saree can be converted to 1 to 3 dresses depending on the saree design pattern, dress type and size.
SOCIAL IMPACT
social impact
collaborative, equitable and transparent
Corporate brands, retailers, investors, and inadvertently consumers too, have been reaping the benefits of low-cost apparel production in emerging markets, while most human resources on the apparel industry supply side are exploited in sweatshops in unsafe working conditions for below living wages.
We strongly promote equitable income and best-in-class working conditions. Our production operations are modeled based a unique collaborative fair-trade arrangement and engage several micro-entrepreneurs as opposed to a large-scale sweatshops.
We strongly believe that our transparent supply chain will not only boost our employee morale and productivity, but also encourage our competitors to step up and become transparent.
Social Impact
revival of artisan skills
Skills mastered by Indian apparel industry artists such as Maggam artisans(hand embroiders) and hand-loom weavers, developed over numerous generations of family lineage, are now facing obsolescence due to extremely short fashion cycles (fast fashion). Narratives of productivity and efficiency, fueled by the discourse of progress and development, are not helping any government incentives to revive these sections of the industry.
At Ethique Chic, we strongly believe in preserving this form of Indian ethical and cultural art. Our team proudly promotes local Maggam artists and Hand-loom weavers. We optimally utilize a mix of latest technologies and artisan skills in our production process. Please feel free to contact us should you be interested in visiting one of our micro-production facilities.
Social Impact
Empowering Women through our Peace Silk products
Our peace silk (Ahimsa Silk) fibers are extracted without causing any harm to worms.
Hand-spun and hand- woven fabric is an eco-fabric. The process involves no environmental pollution and is extremely eco-friendly.
An efficient spinning wheel, known as Charkha was invented in India. Mahatma Gandhi brought the Charkha into wider use with his teachings. He hoped the Charkha would assist the people of India achieve self-sufficiency and independence, and therefore used the Charkha as a symbol of the Indian independence movement.
Empoweing women: 70% of the artisans involved in the process of yarn-to-fabric production are women.
MEDIA TESTIMONIAL
Impressive
ethical and sustainable custom tailored clothing at our price !
"Extremely good" - Greenrunway.com
