Sustainable Fashion, the Popularity of Podcasting & Mental Health Support

Krishna Subramanian (0:13)

So as I'm looking at, you know, restocking my closet, you know, one of the things that came to mind is like, well, how do I make sure, you know, I'm doing this in a mindful way? And, you know, all of the insane stuff happening across the world, it's, you know, it's like, what is sustainable from a fashion standpoint? And, you know, typically sustainable fashion is usually tied to things that are like eco-friendly practices in the fashion industry.

So this goes for everything from, you know, referencing the approach of designing, producing, and consuming clothes that respect the planet by causing little to no damage and therefore sustaining the environment. I'm sure one of the top brands that everyone has something of in their closet is Patagonia, right? You know, one of those bare trade outdoor clothing brands that was one of the earliest defenders of environmental ethics in the active wear and fashion industry. But it was also one of the first adopters of used recycled materials. And, you know, they actually even switched to organic cotton. So, yeah, I mean, Patagonia is, you know, continuing to expand their commitment to labor ethics and works with a lot of factories across the US to really focus on that. But, you know, decided to dive in to the space in India. And in 2015, textile production led to 12 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions, more than maritime shipping and international flights combined, which is insane. As ego-conscious consumers realize the environmental toll of fast fashion, there's an increased focus in making clothes that are better for the planet. So this could be using less resource-intensive manufacturing processes, committing to recycle their sustainable materials, designing more durable fabrics, and even creating markets for clothing resale. So some of the companies that we checked out are... The first one is The August Company, based in Bangalore, founded in 2017 Workforce is 90% female, and they pay a fair fixed salary to all their employees, provide polyester and synthetic-free clothes to reduce plastic waste. They create packaging material out of waste paper. The second company is called No Nasties, founded in 2011, based in Goa.

Use only Fairtrade Cotton and Factory Practices, first clothing brand to get Fairtrade license in India. And all their products are completely vegan. You know, Sunil, definitely check that one out. They're also completely carbon neutral through their buy one, get one tree planting program, and they've generated over a million dollars in revenue.

North Mist is the third one, founded in 2018, based in Bengaluru, specialized in sustainable face masks. They grew their monthly revenue from seven lakhs to one crore from 2019 to 2020 They're growing 20% month over month, looking to raise three million in the next 18 months.

They've expanded their consumer base from 1,000 to 10,000 over the pandemic and brought in 500 B2B institutional clients.

And they also claim to save 435 liters of water of each T-shirt they produce.

The next one is Clan Earth. Founded in 2019, based in Kolkata. Plastic in cruelty-free bags and backpacks. They plant five trees for the sale of every product, and they were incubated at the WeHub in Hyderabad. The last but not least is PECT. Founded in 2019, based in Gurugram. All their clothing items are completely compostable. Founded by female entrepreneur Hitesha, who has 10 years of experience in digital marketing. Well, this is exciting. Which one's your favorite?

Vishal Gurbuxani (3:52)

Which one's your favorite? Swami, tell us.

Krishna Subramanian (3:53)

I asked you first.

Vishal Gurbuxani (3:55)

This is your category. You gotta pick your favorite. There's so many of them.

Krishna Subramanian (3:59)

I know. I think my favorite one is No Nasties.

Vishal Gurbuxani (4:03)

You gotta say that, because of the name. I'm just kidding.

Krishna Subramanian (4:06)

You know, not only are they organic, fair trade, and vegan, so they're 100% fair trade certified factories, 100% certified organic cotton, so no GMO, seeds, no toxic chemicals. They're also 100% PETA approved vegan. And 25% of every order total will be donated to Give India's COVID program. Please swipe up at the link below, click on my affiliate link when you sign up.

Yeah, No Nasties is the winner. You can also make purchases in USD. I like it.

Vishal Gurbuxani (4:42)

So for me, I've been thinking about the audio app space, Krishna. It's been booming in India.

India has about 150 million daily listeners of podcasts, audiobooks, and talk shows. It's the third largest podcast market after US and China.

And they're growing at 58% annually, which is pretty exciting if you think about the audio opportunity. So it's been crazy. If you look at Halo Drop, you know, most of our audience comes from India. So just showing you the exponential growth of audio consumption.