As the world focuses on sustainability, an Indian startup is leading the way by creatively turning waste into fashion. From discarded fish skin to banana stem fibers, these innovative companies are redefining the concept of eco-friendly style. Here, we select a selection of Indian startups that are pioneering the convergence of fashion and sustainability, and how they can reinvent the industry with creativity, resourcefulness, and promoting environmental awareness.
Goya Swim Company – Goya Swim Company, founded by environmental activist Riya Mazumdar, specializes in creating sustainable swimwear for men and women. Operating under the brand Goyaswim.Co, they make eco-friendly swimwear using recycled plastic bottles and ocean-based industrial waste. With a focus on eco-friendly luxury fashion, Goya Swim Co. aims to reduce the fashion industry’s environmental impact by reducing plastic pollution with every swimsuit sold. Innovative methods like Repreve extract approximately 29 plastic bottles from the ocean for every swimwear item produced.
eco line – The Ecoline brand creates affordable hybrid fabric fashion clothing by blending organic cotton with fibers obtained from recycled plastic bottles, which typically take about 400 years to decompose. Using innovative dope dye technology, the company’s manufacturing process eliminates the need for water in textile dyeing, which traditionally consumes 2.4 trillion gallons annually. Founded by father-son duo K Sankar and Senthil Sankar, the brand specializes in sustainable clothing such as jackets, blazers, T-shirts and bottoms made from recycled plastic bottles. One T-shirt requires approximately 8 plastic bottles, a jacket and a blazer require approximately 20 bottles each, and approximately 30 bottles each. Their efforts keep an estimated 1.5 million plastic bottles out of landfills and oceans every day.
Mayu – Maya is a luxury lifestyle brand founded by Mayura Davda Shah that focuses on sustainability by utilizing discarded fish skin waste to create sophisticated leather goods. The brand ethically sources its materials from cruelty-free leather companies and incorporates elements such as salmon and wolf fish skin waste, and pineapple waste. Mayura’s inspiration came during her stay in Iceland. There, she discovered the Scandinavian tradition of upcycling fish skin that dates back thousands of years, and was inspired to incorporate responsible design principles into the brand’s ethos. Her Mayu creations have been shown on international runways in Paris and Hungary.
Marawa Kera Resa Utpadan Raghu Udyog Kendra – Marawa Kela Resa Utpadan Raghu Udyog Kendra in Uttar Pradesh, led by Ravi Prasad, processes banana stalk waste into various handicrafts such as footwear, hats, bags, sanitary napkins, etc. are doing. In addition, Prasad supplies banana stem fiber to companies that manufacture biodegradable fibers. The startup has pioneered the use of banana stalk fiber in Uttar Pradesh and offers a wide range of products such as clothing and carpets made from banana waste.
