An Indian fashion brand creates sustainable designs woven from local artisans’ fabrics made of grass, bamboo, roses, and more. But that’s just the start of its sustainable initiatives.
B77, an online, sustainable fashion brand with roots in India, came to be during the pandemic. While most of us were focused on the virus, Rachna Sarup considered the lockdown an opportunity to learn more about the impact of pollution. Spending considerable time with her father — together they watched his favorite David Attenborough documentaries — “led me to research the main causes of the environmental crisis and how we can work towards a reverse, if possible,” she says.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the fashion industry produces between two and eight percent of global carbon emissions, is the second biggest consumer of water, and accounts for about twenty percent of global wastewater. What’s more, a staggering sixty-four percent of the thirty-two billion garments produced annually find their way into landfills. These startling statistics led Sarup, along with her business partner, Napur Mathur, to create B77. Bringing to bear their combined experience in the fashion industry and in technology, they aimed “to create a sustainable brand that is an amalgamation of technology, fashion, and planet-friendly materials,” Sarup says.
B77 started by seeking out natural and sustainable fabrics. After months of research and collaboration with experts in the sustainable textile industry, the young label partnered with Dev Ethical Sustainable Crafts and Textile (DESCATUK), a Uttarakhand-based Indian social impact start-up. DESCATUK specializes in producing New Natural Fibre (NNF), derived from rain-fed, fertilizer- and pesticide-free grass that is cultivated in the high altitude of the Himalayan range. According to Rachna, B77 is the first major clothing manufacturer to purchase fabrics from an NNF vendor in a small city in the foothills of the Himalayas. “We are [also] the first ones to globally use this grass in fashion styles,” she adds.
The label also uses fabrics made with organic roses, handloom bamboo, eri silk, eco denim, viscose linen, cotton linen, and flax — all considered sustainable materials. Sourcing fabric materials from local artisans not only reduces carbon outputs, but also, it empowers women and communities to develop skills that provide them with a stable income.
Another significant B77 innovation is the brand’s virtual 3D changing room, which allows digital consumers to “try on” a product. Using a virtual body avatar — created via innovative heat mapping technology — consumers can check the size and fit of a garment with just two simple inputs, height and weight, Rachna explains. “The accuracy is close to ninety-six percent, as our designs are created digitally, patterns digitized and, finally, our sales are aided for the customer digitally.” A first in India, the virtual changing room significantly reduces returns — and therefore carbon emissions. While online fashion industry returns often run as high as thirty percent, B77 boasts a return rate of less than six percent.
“Unlike most brands, which work only on some inputs as sustainable, we have created a whole journey of sustainable processes, materials, packaging, and production, with just-in-time technology,” Sarup says. The company uses low-chemical dyes and 100 percent biodegradable packaging constructed from hand-made, chemical-free, 60 percent recycled paper covered in a protective “plastic” coating made from bamboo fiber. Clothing tags are attached to garments not with plastic, but with jute or cotton thread. “Our sustainable journey starts from designing [and runs all the way through to] customer sales.”
