India’s textile industry is the country’s second largest source of employment. Considering the rich history of our craft traditions, it makes sense that both Indian and international fashion brands want to produce their garments in India. And yet, while the fashion industry brings employment opportunities to India, it too often also brings its unsustainable practices. In a tragic turn of events, while India’s craft traditions so often champion reuse and slow production methods, the fast rise of the fast fashion industry has made our levels of textile waste and worker exploitation boom with it. 

However, some homegrown brands are showing us that our fashion industry doesn’t have to be this way. Szabo Sihag is a designer label based out of London and India that honours, rather than exploits, the Indian garment industry. Founded by Meghna Sihag and Krisztian Szabo, the label seeks to merge contemporary Western style with Indian traditions and aesthetics.

Instead of working with large-scale manufacturers, who often prioritise profits over reducing waste and workers’ wellbeing, Szabo Sihag keeps their operations local. The brand works with small-scale manufacturers, like independent and family-owned businesses, across India to ensure that their practices uplift their artisans. This approach also allows Szabo Sihag to produce their garments in small quantities, with many designs not going into production until an order has been placed, to prevent overconsumption. In a time when fashion houses have become notorious for filling landfills, it’s nice to see newer labels taking actionable steps towards lessening their environmental impacts. 

Following the motto, “reuse, reduce, recycle,” Szabo Sihag goes beyond just minimising waste; the label also prides itself in upcycling old denim and unused odhanis. Szabo Sihag sources deadstock denim — that is, denim that has been rendered unsellable by manufacturers — and the odhanis that are collecting dust, unworn in households across Rajasthan and Haryana, to incorporate them into their designs. 

Additionally, where most brands would opt for cheap, mass-produced cotton, uncaring about the huge amounts of water and textile waste it produces, Szabo Sihag only uses Khadi cotton. Hand-spun on the charkha and hand-woven, Khadi cotton is a traditional craft that, when used, is both environmentally and culturally sustainable. Szabo Sihag’s commitments to Indian artisans and environmentally friendly practices go hand-in-hand, reinforcing each other in an industry that is all too ready to disregard both. 

Follow Szabo Sihag here.

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