BENGALURU: It's the little things that add up to make a big difference and it was the small home grown brands of our fashion community, who came forward to make a change as our country continued to battle the unprecedented second wave.
While some brands choose to donate 30-100 per cent of their sales to charities such as Hemkunt Foundation and Give India's COVID Missions who have been on the forefront of oxygen and meal distribution, Bengaluru-based brand Summer House founded by Rekha and Shivangi, believed in cooperation over competition by choosing to support other home grown brands through their Instagram.
Says Rekha, "We all agree business hasn’t been usual for a while. As the second wave hit us, it just didn't seem right to market our clothes at a time when people were gasping for oxygen. We thought about how we could be of help. So we decided to share our social media platform with other small businesses which worked with responsible processes."
"This single act of reaching out garnered over 1,200 responses and most of the brands saw an immediate and significant increase in followers, inquiries and orders. This brought hope and confidence to brands at a time when it was needed most," she added.
Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference. GUAPA Resort Wear by Ruby Jindal believes that those who work under them directly or indirectly are their first priority.
Keeping a constant check on them, the brand has pledged to take care of medical and basic needs and not cut salaries to help their community get through these times. "We believe anyone, fashion or not, that has a large platform has the duty and responsibility to use it for good," says accessories brand Olio, founded by entrepreneurs Aashna Singh and Sneha Saksena.
They started a donation drive with the intention to raise Rs 2 lakh over three days but raised that in the first hour of the first day, and finally ended up donating Rs 12,40,974.95. "It was just astounding to see the impact our donation drive had. Similar sentiments are echoed by craft driven brand Jodi who donated 50 per cent of sales while Khara Kapas founded by Shilpi Yadav, urged their tribe to come together and help raise as many funds as possible, curating a special capsule collection of which 100 per cent profits were donated for COVID relief," said Team Olio.
With every heartbreaking news story she woke up to, Bengaluru- based jewellery designer Anu Merton found herself asking 'what she could do to make India breathe?'. She decided to donate a sum from brand Anu Merton. "I don't want to attach it to the sales of my jewellery, neither do I expect my customers to," she said.
She felt right now was the time to give back unconditionally to the land that inspired her work every day.
Our future should lie in brands that stand for purpose beyond profits and with each small act of giving, inspire us to become that much closer to our collective goal of the world we want to see tomorrow.
(The writer is a lifestyle consultant and mindful fashion advocate)