Arjun Singh
“Don’t waste the vegetable peels, we can use them for fodder or fertilizer.” – Ms. Rameshwari Prasad (Ms. Ishi’s grandmother)
New Delhi (India), April 15: Growing up under the nurturing guidance of her grandmother, sustainability wasn’t just a concept for Ms. Ishi (creative director and founder of Emotive) —it was a way of life ingrained in her from an early age. As she entered her twenties, amidst the rising trend of sustainability, she found herself questioning its relevance in a fast-paced world dominated by fast fashion. Her search for meaning continued until a pivotal moment last year when she realized that the very essence of sustainability was deeply intertwined with her childhood memories of her grandmother.
She kept searching for her definition of sustainability, asking herself what it meant to her. Embracing fast fashion every day, how could she approach or even experience sustainability? These questions always bothered her and the search for satisfying answers went on. As a creative individual, she kept looking for its meaning until last year when she had a eureka moment. The meaning she was looking for all her life was hidden in her childhood memories with her grandmother.
In the 90s, she has seen the transition from living a childhood free from smartphones to seeing her adult life integrated with technology in every aspect of life. Those early years of living with her grandma helped her observe silently, listen closely, and learn patiently. Reflecting, she realized that everything she learned, observed, and heard was about sustainability. Her grandma had a system of waste disposal, recycling fabrics, reusing products, or finding effective ways of efficiently using everything that led to no or minimum wastage in the household. It was so deeply rooted in Ishi’s way of thinking that every time she saw running water being wasted from a tap, it bothered her. This comes from her deep-rooted value system of ‘zero wastage, efficient usage’.
In the last 10 years of building, and re-building the brand, the question hit her – why sustainable fashion can’t be priced or designed at power with fast fashion? As a fashion designer and artist, she has worked around the idea of narrating stories from Indian philosophy (she does not call it mythology as she believes that the stories have a deeper meaning and philosophy). Along with art, she knew there was something more that she had to explore, a part of her had to be integrated into the clothing and jewelry line she was creating. “That part of me is a blessing from my grandma, that part relates to the idea of zero to minimal wastage of fabric, efficient use of textiles, and affordable price range for sustainable clothing (at power with fast fashion brands),” says Ms. Ishi.
A decade later of hits and misses, the brand was re-born as Emotive. Emotive is a fashion brand that narrates stories of human emotions from Indian philosophy while exploring zero-waste draping techniques to create traditional and contemporary silhouettes. It is constantly trying to price the clothing at power with fast fashion brands to make ethical fashion choices available to a wider audience.
The current stories at Emotive are narratives of women from Indian philosophy who are brilliantly written powerful personalities and relevant to the women of contemporary society. Emotive strongly believes in narrating stories from India through clothing and accessories. The brand takes pride in the art of zero-waste– connecting all the dots to create human experiences through fashion. After all, fashion is not just about clothes, it is experiential and our second skin, core to human existence. Backlink: www.emotivefashion.com
