Sometimes when we stroll into malls and fashions streets, a thought often crosses our minds that how is it possible for such affordable clothes to be made in huge quantities. Of course, fast fashion is all about that and has its way of working. Although it looks good and fancy from the outside there are various destructive effects it has caused to the environment.
To challenge this age-old working of the fashion industry and move towards sustainability The NoName Company has geared up on the field. Being empathetic towards the environment the organization has come up with various ways of making garments from recycled waste and organic eco-friendly materials.
Under the astute leadership of Kalpana Agrawal, Founder, the company is successfully fighting a battle for a greener and cleaner planet. She believes in providing her customers with 100% pure organic and sustainable fabric that ensures nothing but the best for every customer.
Course till Date
The NoName Company was started to promote efficient, sustainable, and ethical manufacturing of garments. It used organic and recycled fabrics like cotton, linen, hemp, bamboo, Tencel, etc.
The company has dedicated lines and manufacturing capacities for better utilization of resources and creating a network of audited, verified suppliers and factories. It takes end-to-end responsibility in the entire manufacturing process, quality of the fabric, and timelines to deliver the final product.
The NoName Company exports sustainable fashion products globally to small, midsize, and large fashion brands taking into consideration the small Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) which has become necessary after COVID as every business has faced volatile demand.
The company also provides solutions to Indian brands that wish to focus on sustainable and organic products and need a reliable and quality-focused manufacturing partner.
Percipient Leadership
The NoName Company is delivering complete end-to-end solutions from fabric to garments under the dedicated leadership of Kalpana Agrawal. She emphasises the need to be kinder and more sensitive towards the environment.
Kalpana has worked in the garment production industry for over 20 years with brands like Walmart, Marks and Spencer, Target, and many more.
She realised the need for fashion to be more sustainable and hence started The NoName Company in 2018 to focus on this niche which was then in its formative stage.
However, the trend is fast-changing now. With a significant rise in global awareness, an increasing number of start-ups and eCommerce have moved on to better quality products that can last and help their brands establish a distinctive USP. This sense of partnership and community drives Kalpana to make India a global destination of high-quality, sustainable, and organic garments that are manufactured from ethical practices and do not allow slave/child labour or other unfair practices.
Kalpana has been in the fashion and garment manufacturing business for over two decades. She has seen upfront how ‘fast fashion’ has boomed and caused huge environmental damage. She rather said that “it has become a race to the bottom.” Practices like lowering pricing, faster turnaround, and turning a blind eye to various industry malpractices have caused disharmony to the entire fashion industry.
The NoName company laid its foundation because Kalpana felt its high time to focus on smaller, community-focused, and sustainable needs. The company was entirely self-funded and supported by close family members who put their trust and money behind this larger cause.
NoName is unlike other start-ups that are trying to grow big at any cost, often bleeding to the point of death and depleting their wealth as well as their investors. Kalpana strongly believes that business should itself be sustainable to make an impact on sustainability.
End-to-end Support
Start-ups, small brands, and fashion designers who want to sell their garments online or offline need a whole lot of support to make their creative ideas convert into finished products. NoName provides a wide range of services to convert your dreams into reality. From designing, making technical documentation, creating a production-friendly and cost-effective design to sourcing of the fabric, trims, and other raw material, colouring, printing, dying and the list goes on.
Opportunities with a piece of Challenge
In the very early stage of the start-up, there was a general mentality among people that sustainability was a buzzword, and many brands were not keen to bet on that as a strategic direction. She didn’t like the fact most of the brands sold poor quality products, especially the ones imported from other countries.
This will long be a challenge for her because it is difficult to convince brands that on a dead planet there won’t be any customers so whom will they sell as there would be no end customer.
However, the company has successfully built a strong community of like-minded suppliers, fabricators, factories, and partners who help to make sustainable and organic products at a very competitive price. This makes it easier for garment brands to reduce their price differentials and help them position their brands higher on the value chain by selling products that feel better and last longer.
The Pandemic Dairies
COVID was a disaster for the company like it was a disaster for the entire world. It took over humans as well as the economy, to an unfathomable amount. The NoName Company took all possible measures as advised by the Indian Government from going into lockdown initially, then starting on work with safety measures and taking care that every employee is fully vaccinated. The organization is still working only at 75% capacity.
Even though they are not working in full capacity, because of the upsurge in the demand over the last two quarters it has managed to put the past behind. Kalpana feels that the pandemic has highlighted the tricky interlinkages between suppliers, manufacturers, logistics, and finally between the retailers and customers. Any slip anywhere affects all stakeholders as raw material prices are at very high levels, making supply expensive and demand slow.
The global logistics seem unlikely to reduce now with the added uncertainty because of the Russian Ukraine crisis. Kalpana wonders when and if human beings will be able to live together in peace and harmony. For her, such crises are unnecessary and foolish misadventures that have affected the entire humanity equally. Even though it’s sad but the company decided to stop nowhere. It wishes to be a shimmer of light and work towards their cause even though it feels small and insignificant today.
A note-worthy Advice
According to Kalpana, Roti, Kapda, and Makan (food, clothing, shelter) are the essentials for survival. Hence, fashion will always remain a core industry as long as humans exist. But as the face of fashion has turned to fast fashion, it could make short-term gains, but never will it be a long-term value.
Her most important advice to budding entrepreneurs is to find your niche and go after it with hammers and tongs. If youngsters feel that there is a lack of excitement and passion for the work, they have pursued then they shouldn’t be wasting time and money chasing a dream that they don’t believe in.
Standards over Surplus
Unlike other companies, The NoName company doesn’t believe solely in profits. They believe the greed to scale at any cost, is the root cause of all evil. It leads to a false ego and creates a dog-eat-dog world. Kalpana believes they are not bothered by scale. They make awesome clothes for many brands and are thoroughly enjoying doing that.
Of course, the company believes in profits as they are not an NGO, but they prefer to work more on the products than the profits. Kalpana talks about the learnings and message from The Geeta – Karmanye Vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana meaning do your dharma and leave the results to God.
Sustainability is the Future
The worldwide fashion industry is highly dynamic and has seen well-known and established brands close post-pandemic. Simultaneously, customers are still in the flow of fast fashion which makes youngsters adopt low-cost products.
From the other perspective, the organization applauds the rising popularity of brands that have contributed significantly to sustainability in fashion. The work done by established brands deserves to be applauded and this is what gives hope to a start-up like The NoName Company that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.
