People have become more responsible in how they use products and live, striving to provide a sustainable future for younger generations. And it seems the entire world has come together to uphold this commitment. Let’s explore how Flourish is making a difference by blending traditional craftsmanship with modern sustainability practices.
Flourish, a tech-enabled ecosystem of responsible manufacturers, was born with the aim of providing a market to local artisans while creating sustainable lifestyle products. Flourish was founded to connect markets with artisans in far-flung areas, providing sustainable products to customers. It curates products that meet eco-friendly criteria, ensuring responsible sourcing, reducing waste, and promoting production practices that minimize environmental impact.
“The rising tide of textile waste, coupled with the environmental costs of fast fashion, motivated us to prioritize sustainability,” said Pragati Tripathi, COO, Flourish. She added that the company’s mission is aligned with India’s evolving circular economy framework, ensuring that every product offered contributes to a more sustainable and responsible lifestyle.
As a platform that supports artisan-made products, Flourish integrates sustainable practices across the value chain. The company collaborates with artisans who use traditional techniques like handloom weaving and block printing, which inherently produce less waste. These artisans also reuse and rebuild waste clothes into mats, tablecloths, and other functional products.
Flourish’s artisan network utilises fabric remnants to create products like bags, quilts, and accessories, ensuring minimal waste. Working directly with artisans, the company secures demand-driven production to prevent overstock and consequent wastage. By implementing this approach, Flourish can minimise the risks of over inventory surplus, significantly reducing overproduction and waste.
“By working closely with our artisan partners, we maintain a demand-driven production model, aligning output with real-time requirements,” says Tripathi. Additionally, any minimal surplus materials generated are creatively repurposed into new, functional products, upholding Flourish’s zero-waste philosophy and empowering artisans to innovate with leftover resources.
As the company’s nature is to create sustainable lifestyle products, recycling and upcycling are at the heart of Flourish’s ethos. Most of the artisans and groups partnered with the company specialize in transforming waste into worth, recreating rugs, jewellery, and storage solutions using leftover materials.
“For third-party collaborations, we work with waste management and recycling organisations to ensure responsible disposal of unusable materials,” explains Tripathi. The company also explores sustainable materials and techniques, such as low-impact dyes and natural dyes derived from plants, fruits, and minerals, to reduce chemical waste.
“We are exploring collaborations with makers experimenting with biodegradable materials like hemp and orange peel fiber,” adds Tripathi. She emphasizes that promoting crafts like handloom weaving and kalamkari methods helps reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gases.
Flourish envisions a conscious consumers’ network. Customers will be allowed to return used products for recycling or upcycling at the company, for which the company will grant them some discount or store credit. In this context, the workshops that Flourish holds in upcycling and sustainable living have brought actionable knowledge to people and empowered them in turn. Tripathi notes that they offer options for customers to choose reduced or no packaging at checkout.
The Indian fashion industry is better placed to lead this charge in handling textile waste. With a rich heritage of craftsmanship and traditional low-impact production methods, India can bridge the gap between sustainability and modern fashion.