Show Notes:

As a small business owner what does it mean to run a sustainability brand? Is it true that sustainability brands rooted in demonstrable solutions are generally more successful than those that use vague or superficial eco-friendly messaging? And how useful are authenticity and a genuine commitment to addressing environmental and social problems to building consumer trust? What is their contribution to financial sustainability, long-term loyalty and profitability?

Ruchi Chawla, Founder of Cottsbury a GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified sustainable fashion brand was my guest on the 141st episode of The Elephant in the Room podcast. In the episode we attempted to answer some of the questions above while Ruchi shared her inspiring journey towards establishing a sustainable fashion brand rooted in organic cotton. We also spoke about 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

- Her journey from working in the fashion industry to taking a more conscious entrepreneurial path driven by the desire to bring meaningful change in the industry

- The fashion industry’s overreliance on harmful chemicals and environmental negligence that is responsible for significant pollution and resource depletion

- How Cottsbury distinguishes itself from conventional fashion brands through ethical sourcing, transparency, getting certified, including 100% traceable production and a zero-waste policy.

- How consumer behaviour is driven by levels of market maturity (UK/India) for sustainable products/brands. This in turn is driven by consumer awareness, economic factors and cultural contexts (amongst others)

o Consumer resistance and price sensitivity

- Ruchi emphasizes the importance of mentorship and support networks, attributing her perseverance and success to the guidance she has received throughout her entrepreneurial journey

The episode culminates in a thoughtful reflection on the future of sustainable fashion and the collective responsibility of consumers and entrepreneurs to advocate for more ethical practices. Ruchi emphasizes the need for ongoing education and engagement to shift perceptions about sustainable products, dispelling the notion that such choices are inherently elitist or inaccessible.

Episode Transcript:

Sudha: Good afternoon, Ruchi. Wonderful to have you as a guest on the Elephant in The Room podcast today.

Ruchi: Good Afternoon, Sudha. My pleasure to be here and talk to you.

Sudha: Brilliant. So just give us a quick introduction before we launch into the questions.

Ruchi: I'm Ruchi. I'm from India. I have studied and worked in India and also in Europe, in Amsterdam and Belgium.

I've been in the fashion industry since my post-graduation and in various functions in the fashion industry with various brands and companies. I've travelled all around the world for work and for leisure and that brings me to my current passion project, which is Cottsbury which I'm running now, for last two years plus

Sudha: Brilliant. So what inspired you to get on this journey into organic and sustainable fashion and launch your brand Cottsbury. Can you share the story behind discovering Pure Certified Cotton and why it became the foundation for Cottsbury?

Ruchi: So I was in the fashion industry. Wanted to do something of my own, questioning everything with the bigger companies, bigger brands, and my bosses always why, how, why we are doing this. So all this led to me be very aware and observant of surroundings around me.

And as I travelled in my sourcing roles to different countries, I realized that what a mess the fashion industry is in, what are we creating? And this entrepreneur spirit just kindled with the thing that I have to do something different. Not just launch another fashion brand or another clothing brand, something different in which I'm actually doing good to the world also, and to myself.

So that's how I started Cottsbury.

Sudha: And what's the story behind discovering Pure Certified Cotton

Ruchi: It is a foundation and it's how it started.

So when I used to work around different fabrics, I would realize that we are all loaded and surrounded only by chemicals. Even if you say I'm a very aware person, I'm very conscious. I mean, the world is such, you are consuming chemicals from your food to everything you're touching and using. And when my child was born, I was like, I am not making her wear polyester you know, onesies and blankets. Not at all. It has to be pure, pure, pure, and that's how my search as a consumer began and I found organic cotton baby wear, very limited availability even in Europe and some in India.

That's how I started hunting for organic cotton. When I was struggling to find it, I felt horrible that how will the average consumer ever find it?

Some of them are not even looking for it. And those were looking, find it very limited availability. I started then looking for manufacturers, this was while I was working with the big corporates, and this question was always at the back of my mind that there are people who are doing the good job. And in that inquisitiveness I found few farms and factories who are actually making pure organic cotton without chemicals `and fertilizers and pesticides. They're growing the cotton, the factories are buying it and making products out of it. And that's when I said I have to do something about this and baby wear or adult wear, whatever, I have to start that.

Sudha: Okay. That was the genesis.

Your brand Cottsbury is based out of the UK. You sell in the UK market.

Did you encounter any challenges when you introduced your brand in the UK market, and how do you compare the UK customers to those in India? Why are you not selling in India as yet?

Ruchi: See the reason I launched in the UK market was, I have lived in Europe, UK, India. I was not very confident of launching it in the Indian market, firstly because like I said, the consumer here is not as aware or as ready to pay for this, or is not asking as many questions as have been asked and answered in the western world, which is the US market or the UK Europe market. Because that's where I worked and lived so I understand that. It's not that Indian consumer is not aware at all and there are no people in India who'd buy my product.

I have loads of queries as of now as well from India market. But India is huge, I'm a bootstrapped entrepreneur. So to launch in India, it requires much, much more capital and teams and resources. So I thought, let me start with European market, and I want to become a global brand.

I don't want this for any country specifically, because what I'm trying to tell through my brand is that, let's live a chemical free life. And it is not possible that one country is chemical free and the other country is not. We are breathing the same air. We are doing this for our planet. The effects of environment are on all countries all together. So the idea was to start in the UK and become a global brand. Not immediately launch here, I will start with Uk, Europe, US, and India, something like that.

Sudha: Based on the volume, the awareness the insight and the ability and the desire to be able to have an organic and sustainable product. So how does Cottsbury differ from larger less sustainable companies in your industry? And are there brands that you admire.

Ruchi: Yes, there are brands that I admire definitely who've done such amazing job in sustainability, recycling. And overall, they are leaders, I mean, very clearly the brand called Patagonia, I admire them, the founders, the people who work there.

So, I would say we are sustainable, and by the word of it, I mean, we are not just making claims here we are a hundred percent sustainable, traceable, zero waste, no plastics. All the definitions we tick for sustainability, it’s not that it was a thought after project that we added in our brand. Oh, let's become sustainable. I'm a successful brand, let me become sustainable now. We are not that. we are a sustainable brand to start with. Most of the brands, even today, what they do is they have a small line in their collection, which is organic cotton line, rest is not sustainable, not organic, not traceable, nothing.

So they have a small line. So it's a project for them. It's like an afterthought. So let's do something sustainable. For us, it was not that, we are sustainable by birth. And that's the DNA, we only go by that and that's what we've been saying to our customers online alwa...