'How many clothes are too many clothes?' Enough to affect the environment in a harmful way. The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity's carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of the world's water supply, and pollutes the oceans with microplastics.

Now, to give out more produce, fast fashion brands produce clothes almost every week with attractive sales and discounts and guess what? People fall for it and hence, fail the planet.

Keeping the water, energy and resources waste aside, waste is yet another issue of fast fashion. Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned!

If nothing changes, by 2050 the fashion industry will use up a quarter of the world’s carbon budget. Washing clothes also releases half a million tonnes of microfibres into the ocean every year.

And with this unfortunate notion in mind, we decided to embark on this journey to create while being conscientious.

Sustainability has been the talk of the town for the last few years. We've seen massive growth in the number of thrift stores, clothing swaps and sustainable brands emerging out of our country. India has always been forward in the spectrum of sustainability due to our traditional practices of reuse, recycle and hand-me-downs.

Our traditional methods of fabric productions are also eco-friendly. So, we decided that it was the perfect place to start and sustain our homegrown techniques and produce. Our main values as a brand include responsible sourcing, ethical production, conscious packaging, and the revival of Indian crafts. We are dedicated to social and environmental well-being and are constantly finding more sustainable and ethical ways to create fashionable products.

Sustainable clothing - Mundane and uninteresting?

Our first capsule collection Duality was launched in November of 2020 and is made with unsold fabrics (owing to the pandemic) from the Charaka weaving society in Karnataka. In March of 2021, we launched our first full collection Duality Vol 2, which includes 6 ensembles designed specifically with the purpose of versatility in mind. We want to bust the myth that is, sustainable clothing is mundane and uninteresting.

The capitalist world has heavily influenced all our minds into thinking that when we observe something multiple times we need to own it too. The frequently used word for this is 'trend'.

At KiRu, we developed our own term for re-interpreting the Indian handloom sector and bridging the gap between trend and tradition - introducing Trendition. To represent this idea, we have decided to bring to the young what is an exciting way to wear sustainable clothing, through none other than the phenomenon, that is Instagram reels.

Our reels showcase six different looks for different occasions using four key items of our collection. Through these, we hope to showcase the multi-faceted ways of styling and the need for buying slow fashion clothing.
For a time people had forgotten what the essence of fashion is, self-expression, but over the past few years, we've seen a change in this pattern and we are all for it.

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(In our first video, Krithika is wearing our Lost my way trousers, In the crib jersey, Jeepers Creepers trousers and Sunshine shacket.)

Through this collection and these videos, we hope to demonstrate the adaptability of each design and how they possess the ability to fit all aesthetics with a touch of styling. There is a shift in the world, one that makes it more inclusive, more thoughtful, and encouraging, We are part of this transformation and are learning on a daily.

(Check out KIRu on Instagram)