I was a Sari: competitive and sustainable upcycling

Can the principles of social and environmental sustainability play a part in establishing and growing a business? Can sustainability-inspired change be actioned by a business model that merges competitivity, inclusion and respect for the canons of the circular economy?
These are the challenges facing I was a Sari (IWAS), a Mumbai fashion company, the brainchild of the Italian entrepreneur Stefano Funari. The aim of IWAS is to offer a unique product line (fashion accessories, bags, jewelry, clothes, shoes and housewares) made from upcycled saris, traditional Indian garments. The artisan workforce trained by IWAS consists of women from the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

In late 2012, Stefano Funari went to the Design Department at Politecnico di Milano University to ask for help to set up a competitive and sustainable business that would employ mainly underprivileged, semi-skilled women. His entrepreneurial project was based on two pillars:  upcycling (the process of reutilizing discarded items or waste materials), and saris (lengths of cloth, 5-8 meters long and 1 meter wide, very popular garments in southern Asia). Funari’s idea was to repurpose the sari, giving it a contemporary, international touch and turning it into a sustainable product that was unique and elegant, but at the same time with an affordable price tag and a high social impact. The company’s production processes involved collecting used saris from markets in Mumbai and then transforming them with labor-intensive processes performed by a specially-trained workforce. Initially this involved 20 Indian women from 18 to 45 years of age with little formal education and very minimal resources who were recruited with the help of local NGOs. So goes the origin story of IWAS.  

The company’s growth was immediate and rapid. In 2015, Arun Jothi came onboard, a fashion entrepreneur who wanted to put his resources to work for social causes. Jothi brought with him extensive experience in the industry and a vast network of collaborators and designers. In 2016, the social enterprise 2nd Innings Handicrafts Private Limited (2ndIH) bought IWAS and decided to reinvest 100% of its profits into developing the social project even further. That same year the company signed a distribution agreement with Oxfam Italia for a fair-trade sales channel.  

Over time, and with the help of two Indian NGOs, IWAS hit impressive milestones: in 2017 the company already employed 88 artisans and recorded over $150,000 in turnover. And during the Mumbai Fashion Week it was selected as one of the up-and-coming Indian sustainable fashion brands. Then in 2018 came the pivotal moment: Gucci recognized the enormous social and environmental commitment undertaken by IWAS and decided to support the company in various ways: financing a special training program to teach embroidery, and promoting the launch of a new product line. After Gucci stepped in, sales and turnover tripled over the previous period and the social impact of the project saw a dramatic acceleration. In fact, the increase in both the number of employees and working hours with fair pay topped 200%. And that’s not all: in 2019, IWAS won the Circular Design Challenge Award, an Indian award for sustainable fashion, and the Responsible Disruptive Award at the Green Carpet Fashion Awards in Milan, a prestigious event celebrating style in sustainable fashion.  

As the growth path for IWAS shows, the principles of sustainability can and must lead to positive economic results; its business model, anchored on partnerships with local players, represents an excellent example of the circular economy and inclusiveness. In fact, IWAS production hubs offer not only jobs but also safe spaces where women can spend a part of their day focusing on themselves and their professional growth. Their dedication and participation in the entire project, along with their emotional engagement, are proof of the success of this initiative, empowering women to tune into a keener sense of their rights and their personal potential.   

In keeping with the nature of a social enterprise, IWAS measures its business success not only by gauging economic growth, but also by monitoring the social and environmental impacts it generates. What’s more, a mark of distinction for IWAS is the excellence and sustainability of its products. Production processes begin with meticulous quality control of the incoming materials. The next step is creating and finishing the pieces with various sewing techniques and hand stitching. Last, finished items are inspected for quality a second time, and then sent to market via various sales channels (indirect offline and direct online). Nothing goes to waste: 100% of the saris used for production are repurposed and upcycled, and any leftover remnants are donated to an Indian NGO that transforms them into menstrual products for women living in Mumbai slums and surrounding villages.   

• As the IWAS project shows, the principles of social and environmental sustainability can serve as levers for economic prosperity. The process of upcycling makes it possible to reduce waste and pollution and cut the costs of raw materials. What’s more, the connection between the company and the host community remains intact, even enhanced. This inspires Western consumers (who are ever more aware of the impact of their buying behaviors) to accept a premium price for sustainable products.  
• A fundamental step in the success of a social and entrepreneurial initiative is when employees on the inside and the community on the outside all embrace the company’s purpose.   
• Challenging the traditional concept which holds that profits are any company’s primary goal, IWAS shows that centering a business on a social cause can prove to be the right model to follow, measuring success by indicators that are not exclusively economic, and reinvesting profits in social missions.