It started with upcycling - Throwback to college graduation

My sustainable journey began in the last year of college.

I have realized that textile waste is actually, not waste at all in 2012 when I started working on my Design Collection in my final year at NIFT, Mumbai.

We had to create five ensemble looks for our graduation and I created them, using rags and fabric scraps.

I didn't fully understand sustainability then. All I wanted was to come up with a good collection and graduate, before starting life as a professional designer. However, while working on it, I have learned the best lesson that I could and that is the lesson about textile waste. The rags were sourced from the garment construction lab of the college. I did not spend a penny on my fabric! Instead, every day for two to three months, at 6 p.m before the lab was cleaned up, I collected all the textile scraps lying around. Scraps wasted by others became my entire fabric through patchwork & applique. After some time my classmates started contributing their waste fabrics. I finished my collection titled "Rags to Riches", of five ensembles and graduated, just the way I wished for.

But that experience had a far deeper impact on me. And that is till today, I cannot call or discard any bit of fabric as scrap and throw it away!

I always knew since then that in the future as a professional, management of textile waste will be one of my core values.

I'm glad that just around the same time when I started Kaizen the label, talks about the wastage generated by the fashion industry gained momentum. Upcycled fashion became a cool thing!

Heirloom crafts and age-old practices of upcycling were recognized and celebrated again.

Today, at Kaizen the label, we upcycle our leftover fabrics along with high-quality handloom surplus into a limited quantity upcycled collection. We are a low-waste brand and aim to be completely zero-waste one day!

We always encourage our customers and followers to reuse, recycle & upcycle their clothes.

Because "Waste is only waste if you waste it." - Will.i.am

The eco-consciousness happened in a professional sense and penetrated my personal life gradually thereafter. But that will require a different blog post altogether! Follow @kaizenthelabel for all updates on our work as a sustainable slow fashion label.

Also, you can check out @doersofdream on Instagram - which is a personal scrapbook of mindful musings and slow, conscious steps I take in life beyond work.