It was in 2009, when the third generation of a cotton-ginning family realised that their crop was the most polluting one, that Ethicus, an ethical, sustainable fashion brand was born.
Ethicus, an organic cotton clothing enterprise, was launched seven years ago by the husband-wife duo Mani Chinnaswamy and Vijayalakshmi Nachiar in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu. Both come from a “cotton background”: Chinnaswamy hails from a family that gins cotton under the name of Appachi Cotton, Nachiar belongs to a family that has been in cotton trading with roots in Kutch, Gujarat. The textiles that Ethicus produces are hand-woven by traditional rural artisans.
Sowing the seeds
The couple were introduced to the idea of organic fabrics by their friends back in 2004. Looking back at their decades-old business, they realised that the cotton crop was one of the biggest land polluters in the country. Since then, Chinnaswamy has been working with farmers’ groups in Karnataka, enabling them to grow ecological cotton. This totally organic cotton, grown without any chemical fertilisers, is used in all Ethicus products.
The area where it is grown is now a UNESCO-recognised world heritage site: the Western Ghats. Nachiar says, “Our cotton has a positive impact on the environment and also on the social and economic status of farmers.”
For Ethicus, the decision to source organic cotton stemmed from a global crisis. “In 2008,” Nachiar says, “when the first lot of certified organic cotton was released from the Appachi Ecological Project at Kabini in Karnataka, the entire textile industry in the country was suffering due to the [worldwide] recession. The whole project looked unsustainable as we couldn’t find buyers for our cotton.”
It was in the search for sustainability, that the couple noticed that they were living amidst a hub where cotton was in great demand.
Nachiar says, “We saw that every home in and around our village had handlooms and were producing the famous Coimbatore cotton sarees. The cotton that we grew was perfect for producing the finest of handmade textiles. We focussed our energies into forming a farm-to-fashion brand.”
First time in Mumbai
Ethicus comes out with two collections every year. In the past, designs have been inspired by the concept of love, architecture and tribal art. This year, a floral collection titled ‘ The Ballad of Blossoms ’ will be showcased in Mumbai for the first time. On sale will be sarees, stoles and throws.
Despite being a much-explored design theme, it will be an ‘East meets West’ mélange.
To give the new collection a signature look, there are the Victorian flowers and gardens interplaying with prose from Tamil script. The script was compressed, overlapped and layered to form a texture. This texture was used in the weaving of the sarees. A combination of various English flowers — like the rose, iris, begonia, poppy, daffodil, water lily — with a combination of their leaves and other elements from a garden, like the picket fence, gravel and water, have been incorporated into the designs.
Nachiar is excited about exhibiting their collection in the city for the first time. “Mumbai has been a good market for us. While we are looking forward to meeting our existing customers and many virtual friends, meeting new people and interacting with them gives us an idea of their needs.”
Changing mindsets
With no background in manufacturing or retailing of garments or branding, Ethicus has come a long way and the founders learnt on the job.
The biggest challenge, perhaps, has been the battling the assumption that cotton textiles fall into the budget/cheap category.
“Just like in all raw materials, we have qualities in cotton too. The prices vary as per the quality level. But we are happy that people now are recognising Ethicus for all this and have begun to accept it. This has been our biggest victory,” Nachiar and Chinnaswamy say in unison.
“While people have begun to accept organic food, they still have a long way to go as far as organic textiles are concerned,” says Nachiar
The duo is also working with handmade textiles, and therein lies the challenge. Nachiar adds, “We, as Indians, need to feel pride in our culture and heritage. Indian textiles need to dominate the world’s markets again, as they once did. With this, every individual needs to play a part, be it the policymakers, consumers, retailers, designers, or the general public. Having said this, we believe that sustainable fashion is the only way forward.”
The writer is an intern at The Hindu
Ethicus’s new line, Ballad of Blossoms, is on sale at Coomara-swamy Hall, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m today and tomorrow.
