CHENNAI: Leftover fabrics from factory floors, a well-worn cotton sari passed on through generations, and the promise of an ear eager to listen this makes up Oh Scrap Madras’ line of four dolls crafted with upcycled fabric. Four employees recently stitched up the idea of the 11-inch dolls during a conversation at the city-based brand’s office.
Hours of toying with design ideas led to the creation of the confident bespectacled Lolita, meticulous Louise with a handy pocket, pig-tailed Lola with a yellow bowtie and Lili who loves laughter. The comfort dolls, priced at `800 each, hope to help buyers ferry through anxious and fearful times, say Oh Scrap Madras founders designer-stylist Priyanjoli Basu and researcher Dominique Lopez.
Bye, bye Barbie
Established in 2019, the sustainable firm intends to create products from textile waste. In a world that feeds on fast fashion and capsule collections, they craft clothes, hairbands, and other items from used fabric, and provide long-term solutions to garment waste.
Their most recent concoction, the line of dolls, arrives at their customer’s doorstep after two days of toil. The firm has roped in 10 women, mostly housewives, from economically backward communities to work with stitching, cutting fabrics, and production work. Three years ago, the company started with just two women, laugh the founders, adding that much of the brand’s growth occurred during Covid-19 when they began stitching masks and mulling ideas of emotional support dolls. “We’ve grown through word of mouth and found more women in and around Chennai. We want to continue growing this way because we were not scouting out for women looking for jobs. They came to us because they not only wanted a skill, but also to work from home and have a source of income,” says Priyanjoli.
As for the idea of soft toys, that came from being parents, they say. “We wanted to make interesting-looking dolls. The dolls are all not Barbie-looking ones with model-like features but are unique. Most women have started relating to dolls and objects that are more personal now compared to what we were growing up with. There was the idea of creating more modern dolls,” explain the founders. Priyanjoli adds their target audience also includes adults that gift these dolls to their friends. “This doll symbolises that even if you’re alone, there’s somebody there. Often, friends are not physically around each other but when you meet them, you want to give them something that they will remember you by. It comes from a place of being thoughtful.”
Cut from different fabrics
Each doll is unique; none are crafted from the same fabric or contain the same stuffing. “It is tough to design with scraps because you have to repeat those designs. The product will have a similar texture or colour palette or print, but they’re never the same. For example, if we make a small blue Japanese flower, we find all the shades of that blue to make multiple such clips to sell online and to be able to cater to an online audience,” the women tell CE.
The brand’s fabric is sourced from factories and designers but recently, individuals began contributing textiles. “This started during Covid-19. Everyone started cleaning out their cupboards and had time to think and be minimalistic in lifestyle choices. People who are emotional about something they bought, they wanted that piece to be a part of their house, and they recycle them into products,” they say.
Behind their long line of upcycled, zero-waste, and sustainable products is a segregation process where each textile and garment are examined. Then a deliberation process: whether the fabric is to be donated, going to become an upcycled product, or thrifted. “We decide the product depending on the size and the material of the fabric that we get so that we are not creating more waste out of it,” points out Priyanjoli.
Need for textile waste laws
Speaking about the importance of being conscious of climate change and waste management, the founders argue that people need to understand what has gone into making a product and avoid over-purchasing. Priyanjoli also mentions segregation needs to be taken seriously at the state level. “While Chennai municipality pays a lot more attention to the waste segregation process, the state government is not there yet. It has to be a collective effort to have an impact.”
Currently, as their dolls have hit the online market, Dominique and Priyanjoli are back on the drawing board. The two entrepreneurs are brainstorming alternative products to plastic toys, educational ones, and sensory toys with different fabrics.
Reach out to them on Instagram at @ohscrapmadras