Clothing Line

Fashion aficionados launch sustainable clothing line

After their tryst with working in a clothing line years ago, two young fashion enthusiasts — Thasneem Masood and Adveta Dwivedi — decided to set up their own brand where they produce sustainable wear for women with a commitment to reducing textile waste.

“The fashion industry is currently one of the most polluting industries in the world and 350,000 tonnes of used clothes go to landfills, while 95 per cent of these discarded clothes can be recycled or upcycled,” said Thasneem Masood, co founder of Rossbelle, a city-based eco-friendly clothing brand. “We are not just about creating beautiful clothes, but also enabling our customers to make empowered choices and helping create a long-term lifestyle solution for them,” she added.

The duo recently held a first-of-its-kind event in the city — ‘Swap your clothes’, an initiative to promote sustainability, where people exchanged their old, wearable, clothes, accessories, jackets and shoes with each other. The ones that couldn’t be exchanged were set aside for recycling.

“Being in this industry and with the rising concern about its impact on the environment, we regard it as our Corporate Social Responsibility to ensure maximum recycling and upcycling of discarded clothes.” said co-founder Adveta Dwivedi.

“This is an opportunity to show the world the causes and efforts that should be celebrated as we move towards a sustainable future.”

The duo launched the brand three months ago, and operate from Dubai and Chennai. While Thasneem takes care of operations and design from their office in Vepery, Chennai, her partner looks after online marketing, sales and branding from Dubai.

The two pay regular visits to each other, but during the rest of the days they are constantly working together online. “Everything from sourcing fabrics to the end-channel of sales, mode of operation, PR and marketing campaigns is discussed and executed everyday. We are both each other's backbone,” said Thasneem, who also holds a postgraduate degree from the National Institute of Retail Management, Bangalore.

Linen collection soon

The brand, which currently designs women’s wear and bags, all made from sustainable, dead-stock and repurposed vintage fabrics, will soon be launching its home linen collection. The collection is available online at asos marketplace and shopgoodcloth.

“It is our duty to create clothes with a low carbon footprint. We are doing our best to ensure that,” said Thasneem.