The foremost thing on every aware citizen’s mind today is undoubtedly the planet. Our ecology and environment have been suffering for a long time and slowly more and more individuals are getting clued into how important a cause this is. Every vocation in society can find room to fight for mother earth and Nidhi and Gaurav of Indigreen are two such people contributing in their own fashionable way.
TheTossedSalad: From media to eco-friendly consciousness, how did the transformation happen?
Nidhi Singh: Well, I have a fashion background and was a part of the fashion industry before I joined the media Even as a TV journalist, I would report on fashion and lifestyle trends and other related stories. So when I decided to get back into fashion to start my own line, I realized I had to incorporate the two most valuable lessons I have learnt in life.
One, business is nothing but serving people in the best way possible. I have learnt this from my Guru Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the world famous spiritual classic- Autobiography of a Yogi.
Two, in order to catch the attention of the people, your story has to be visually stunning & effective. This lesson I learnt from my experience as a TV journalist.
I began researching on what my line should be about way back in 2006 and after two years of research, I saw how big the ‘green revolution’ was in the developed nations and the huge influence it had on the Paris, London, Milan, New York Fashion Weeks. It was high time this revolution became a part of my own country. I realized hence that Indigreen would have to be the following:
100% eco friendly…100% fair trade…100% quirky…and 100% Indian
Indigreen is thus, a fusion of Indian art, fashion, eco-friendly and fair trade values. It serves the well being of not only the people buying it; it also serves the people involved in creating it!
TTS: Do yours and Gaurav’s well defined roles help in achieving your goals?
NS: When I met Gaurav at The Climate Project-India and told him about the concept of Indigreen, I knew I had found a person who is equally passionate about all the values that the brand embodies! While I had the creative and the technical aspects of production and design sorted, I also needed a strong business mind to steer the project into a profitable direction. After all, you can’t expect to help people without doing well for yourself, right? And Gaurav, apart from being an ecopreneur is an economist by background having graduated from Oxford and Yale in the subject.
So it just works out perfectly for both of us. And many a times, Gaurav helps provide the global perspective to Indigreen’s creatives that help our message and concept become more global in spite of being an Indian brand. Our limited Edition Obama line was a result of Gaurav’s creative input!
TTS: Suddenly the environment has become the new it cause to be associated with but how does one manage to sustain the hype so that results actually come out?
NS: Well, we are glad that the concept that I have been working on for the past 4 years has finally caught the imagination of the people and media alike. The Copenhagen Summit saw the peak of media attention with world leaders coming together to find a possible solution to the crisis and India playing a major role. So in essence, what we had anticipated is now beginning to take shape here in India and we have the beginner’s advantage! People want to go green, save the Planet, do their bit for the environment- and we have the answer and options that are eco pure and so much fun!
And at this point of time, we really don’t need to make any efforts to sustain the hype. The cause of a Green and happy Planet has a life of its own!
TTS: Gaurav is involved in many other sustainable development and eco friendly projects, how is his time divided between these enterprises and Indigreen?
NS: Indigreen is a personal passion. Sometimes we talk at midnight other times we meet on weekends. It doesn’t feel like work so Gaurav doesn’t really himself understand how my time is divided. But sometimes there are constraints placed on the business because Gaurav travels so much for his other work. On the plus side, all his work is in the field of social responsibility so there is great synergy between his other activities and Indigreen’s overall ethos.
TTS: How did you come up with the idea of bringing Bollywood and Indigreen together? Was it done for more publicity or aesthetic value?
NS: To start with, it was done out of the desire to create work opportunities for artists who lost out on the business of Bollywood posters when digital printing took over.
And all of us love Bollywood, don’t we? Hand painted Bollywood poster art is a 100% Indian art that is also 100% quirky with its beautiful colors, figures and nuances that are typical to it. It works very well for our concept of creating a ‘good visual’ story to get the clients attention to serious issues like environmental degradation, pollution, deforestation, and other social issues like child labor, AIDS, illiteracy.
Indigreen is a communicative fashion brand, and we use art and high fashion to communicate serious issues – and Bollywood art and other forms of Indian art and a very effective visual medium to explore. The cherry on the cake is the work it generates fair trade work opportunities for the artists and is also helping keep Indian art alive.
TTS: Tell me more about the Painters and the women from NGO’s like SEWA. Does Indigreen donate its earnings to other organizations?
NS: By engaging the women of NGO’s like SEWA we are able to maintain our fair trade values even as we scale up our lines and expand our retail base. And make sure that any embellishments that are incorporated into the Indigreen collections are handcrafted by women, artisans that are being supported and trained by fair trade NGO’s. So that is how we end up directly contributing to other causes.
Apart from that Indigreen donates part of its profits to The Climate Project- India, to help in its work of spreading awareness of the science of Climate Change across India through its initiatives like the Environment Sustainability Leadership Program (ESLP).
TTS: What about the one of a kind fashion pieces? Do you experiment with all kinds of raw material?
NS: Indigreen has a Limited Edition hand painted Bollywood poster art line that retails from top end designer stores like (Mélange, Bombay Electric, Kimaya, Ayamik, Tribal Route, and Earthworm). We only create 20 pieces in each design as and each piece is numbered. Our clients really appreciate this line as it gives them the opportunity of owning something rare and unique.
TTS: What sells the most and being hand painted, does any care need to be taken while washing and drying?
NS: Every piece of Indigreen is also a work of art and so we advise our clients to take care of it as such. Gentle, loving hand wash works best for most of the Indigreen merchandise!
While the Bollywood hand painted line has a universal appeal, our quirky ‘go green’ desi line works better in places like Goa! And our Bollywood dialogues line is a sell out in Mumbai!
Website: http://indigreen.co.in
Alisha Fernandes
