BTB: How do you maintain a balance between the trends in the market and your own artistic vision for Lafaani?

DRISHTI: We do look at trend forecasts simply as cue points just to see what we are doing, because aesthetics at the end of the day are what really matter. Our north star is still sustainability and its considerations, but trends are something that we look at on-and-off to see where everybody is heading. And we have often seen that with the conversations we are having and the observations we make, we are somehow in sync with the trends and we are very happy about that.

RASHMICK: I think with having timeless aesthetics, something or the other always comes back to trend, so that works out for us in a way without trying very hard. Also, I believe that with trends we get to learn about new and innovative technologies and design techniques.

BTB: Tell us about the artisans who make the clothes for Lafaani.

DRISHTI: I think we have been extremely lucky with the people we work with - our team of embroiderers, a pattern master and our tailor masters, and a talented team of women artisans who do all the handwork at the workshop. We give them a lot of creative freedom in the production process and often co-create. We might just give them a little direction and a few instructions so they know what they are supposed to do. We have a lot of inputs coming to us from our embroiderer or from our tailor who see these small details when they are creating the pieces and help us fine-tune the designs.

RASHMICK: Even our partner organisations like Yali and Karghewale are very aligned with us in terms of their vision and their goals. We get full supply chain transparency as to who is the weaver and who is dyeing the fabric, the amount of work they put in, and certifications and more. They reach out to us if there are any new developments by the weavers in terms of materials or techniques, which we pick up swatches of to see if there are any products we can create with. Despite being very small, these organisations have the same vision of not treating the artisans as mere doers, but rather foster the spirit of entrepreneurship in them. Even with our in-house team, we started with one embroidery woman artisan and now she has become our leader who trains everybody else. We see a lot of ownership of the brand in her work where she does all the QC by herself and we don’t even have to ask or check by ourselves again. It’s been wonderful to see growth for everyone involved in the brand so far.

BTB: How do you decide what fabrics to work with for your collections?

DRISHTI: Honestly, it is not a difficult process for us as we have researched in depth as to the impacts and opportunities that cotton cultivation in India holds. The indigenous varieties of cotton like the Kala cotton from Kutch or the Andhra cotton or the Brown cotton from Karnataka, hold great potential as these are not water thirsty or resource hungry crops. They can grow in arid areas, can grow entirely rain-fed and are also naturally pest and drought resistant, which is best for a country like ours and also with the climate inconsistencies we are anticipating. Using these varieties basically helps the money flow in a very small radius and create self-sufficient and decentralised local economies, which is also what the pandemic taught us is the way to move forward.

RASHMICK: It is also a way for us to honour local geographies and local traditions. The weaving techniques of these fabrics also enables us to create a trans-seasonal range every time - it could be thicker for outerwear or thinner for daily staples. We have also worked with cotton denim which is much thicker and can be easily worn during the winters.

BTB: Elaborate on the circularity aspect of the brand.

DRISHTI: First is biodegradability - all our products are entirely biodegradable. We try to encourage our consumers to repair their garment if it develops a hole or a tear with a little repair kit that is customised to each product. We want to foster a sense of belongingness of the garment to the customer and to get rid of that disposable mindset/culture. We also add a wash care label to each garment so the consumer knows exactly how to wash it and how it will extend its life.

We do try to incorporate minimal waste pattern cutting, but of course there are some designs that will have some pre-retail waste. We collect all of it from the shop floor to make small accessories. So there is a smaller loop within the production phase but overall the whole production to consumption space is a loop and that is how we understand circularity.

BTB: Describe your creative process - from ideation to the final product.

DRISHTI: Tons of research, brainstorming, observing, sampling and prototyping. We dive deep into the ‘why’ factor - if we are adding a certain detail, then is it for aesthetic or utility, is it solving any purpose? We also have conversations like if someone is buying a top from Collection Four, do they also have to buy our pants or can they pair it with something they already own. If we are making an outerwear essential piece should it be in a neutral beige or an off-white or some other colour. We don’t want our customers to do mindless consumption. These are difficult conversations but we have realised that we come to the best possible outcomes with our designs.

RASHMICK: There are also a few limitations with our processes, for example we use natural dyes for our garments which causes a certain degree of bleeding everytime there is a wash. So when it comes to embroidery, we take into account that the colour of the thread is such that even with every bleed, there will not be much effect on the embroidery per se. We are constantly exploring new woven fabrics and experimenting with different concepts with our team, which helps us understand what we can and cannot do at the current moment.

BTB: What does a typical 9-5 day look like in the life of an entrepreneur like you?

DRISHTI: It is never 9-5, it is essentially all our waking hours, haha! Each day is very different from one another as we are a small but really dedicated team. There are certain things we try to do everyday consistently as a team such as touching base every morning to set the tone for the day and prioritise the agenda. We connect with the team at the workshop to understand if everything is smooth and going at the desired pace. Apart from this, Rashmick and I both make sure to take some time out everyday for research - it could be something in the space of sustainability or something interesting happening at a brand or just generally what’s going on around us.

RASHMICK: We are Remake ambassadors, so as a part of the Remake community, we have had the opportunity to expand our base in terms of creating a conversation around fashion and trying to tell our story. We try to keep up with the conversations that take place in the community.

BTB: As an entrepreneur, do you find that it is hard to take time out for yourself?

DRISHTI: We do, yes, but we are not complaining. The good thing is Rashmick and I have many shared interests like going and trying out food at cool new places or catching a play together or going to an exhibition.

RASHMICK: If we are going to Delhi, we will also check out any events happening there so that we can fit something in our schedule. That’s how we take little breathers. I think we are also quite happy the way things are and I wouldn’t say there is an imbalance of things.

BTB: What has been an accomplishment that you are the proudest of in your journey?

DRISHTI: We made it to the top seven in the India shortlist at the R| Elan presents The Circular Design Challenge this year. While we are a little sad that we did not make it to the top three, we are quite proud of the fact that everything we presented to the jury was very well received and we got great feedback from them as well.

RASHMICK: As a very young brand, we feel the achievements we want to accomplish are yet to come but the journey so far has been very good. We are growing as organically as possible by just letting our story out, and the fact that we are receiving a response from the other end is very reassuring, kind of telling us that we are on the right track.

BTB: Is there any other brand doing great work in this space that you would like to highlight?

DRISHTI: We really look up to this brand - Oshadi Collective. They own their entire supply chain right from their own farms to the final product and it is absolutely lovely.

BTB: What do you think the next five years look like for your business?

DRISHTI: A lot of hard work for sure. We are really looking to expand our retail network both domestically and internationally, as the appeal for a product like ours is much more overseas, though of course we feel India is catching up really soon. And we want to add meaningful partnerships and collaborations with like-minded organisations.

RASHMICK: We want to explore different artisan clusters and crafts. With transparency, we want to become innovative in terms of communicating our circularity so that our consumer can understand it easily and quickly.

DRISHTI: We have recently integrated a climate action API into a few of our products where it displays the positive climate action that is being done with respect to a purchase a consumer makes and the impact of the product while it is being made. The idea is to make it easier for the consumer to make mindful choices with simpler communication and hopefully this is a tool that will help them.