Fabric selection is a vital process in getting ethical fashion made. This is intertwined with design. While designing the collection, I always find it challenging to match the right fabric to the right design and vice versa. On my trips to India, I visit fabric fairs and markets to improve my knowledge of fabrics. I feel empowered to bring you exciting, new collections with what I learnt.

Recently, I learnt about Tusser silk which is made from the cocoons of wild silkworms found in the forests in India. Here, the tribals (indigenous people living in the forests) collect the cocoons and dry them in the sun so that that warmth forces silkworms to escape from the cocoon. The tribals believe in this form of production as it is non-violent which meant that the animal that created it doesn’t die.

This is different from the commercial production of silk where the cocoon is thrown into boiling water, along with the silkworm. I loved how the tribals made a choice to do the right thing, even if it meant it took them longer to get their produce to market. At Grab Your Garb, we do not use leather or commercially produced silk.

Where possible, we use synthetic fabrics to keep our environmental footprint as light as possible. We launch few collections each year and operate on low inventories to ensure there’s no wastage. We promote slow fashion.

Once the fabric has been selected, we work with our artisans on having the design templates made and the clothes being stitched. These artisans work in ethical labour settings, are paid fairly and have plenty of holidays and access to medical facilities during work – all the things you would expect in a fair labour setting. This way of working goes by names ethical fashion and fair fashion.

When you wear our clothes, you can be assured that they were created by dedicated artisans who were happy about their working conditions. Choose fair fashion and be guilt free!