Fashion / Earth Day 2025: Spotlighting 5 South Asian Designers Weaving Sustainability Into Fashion

Earth Day 2025: Spotlighting 5 South Asian Designers Weaving Sustainability Into Fashion

Fashion Apr 22, 2025

by Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

Fashion and it’s impact on the environment has become a hot button topic over the years. Today, sustainability is no longer a nice-to-have, but a north star that guides designers. In particular, five South Asian designers have taken matters into their own hands by demonstrating that fashion can be fabulous and kind to the environment!

With Earth Day upon us, and this year’s theme being “Our Power, Our Planet”, one important topic is the fashion industry, which has been increasingly under fire for it’s impact on the environment. For instance, the “…quick output of garments demands a sizeable volume of raw materials fed into the fast fashion industry, [creates] a significant amount of waste, pollution and degradation to air, water and wildlife habitat,” according to The Center for Biological Diversity. Sustainability, as a result of these effects, has become a crucial focus for some designers, who are doing their part to ensure that fashion isn’t wasteful or harmful to the environment. As such, if you’re looking for South Asian designers who are blazing an eco-friendly trail using recycled materials, you’ll definitely want to continue reading!

Bodice by Ruchika Sachdeva

Ruchika Sachdeva, originally from West Delhi, India started her brand Bodice in 2011. Bodice is well-known for incorporating deep-rooted Indian techniques with a modern twist. The brand is deeply committed to sustainability, taking great care with where the materials are sourced from.

Bodice is so thoughtful about every thing they do, for example, “the buttons we use in our garments, which come from renewable sources such as coconut shell, seashell, and wood. Rather than using polyester and energy-intensive heat processes, we hand-stitch and bind every pleat in fabric.” Even outside of the design process, “buyers who shop from our flagship store are handed the clothes in a cotton tote bag,” which are constructed using scraps of material.

This demonstrates that Bodice can an end-to-end consideration about what they are creating and doing their best to ensure that the beautiful pieces they create are being done in an eco-friendly way.

Earth Day 2025: Spotlighting 5 South Asian Designers Weaving Sustainability Into Fashion: Ruchika Sachdeva is hard at work making those fabulous and sustainable fits! Photo Credit: www.instagram.com @ruchikasachdeva

Earth Day 2025: Spotlighting 5 South Asian Designers Weaving Sustainability Into Fashion. Credit: IG @bodicebodice

Rahemur Rahman

Rahemur Rahman is a British-Bangladeshi designer who is deeply committed to ensuring his eponymous label upholds his values. According to Victoria and Albert Museum, Rahman’s brand is focused on educating people about his “sustainable, ethically-produced and gender-neutral approach to fashion design,” following through on his promises, and his work is created “for the people who dream in colour.”

I love that all of his pieces are made to order, as reported by Vogue, which helps to reduce waste. He also is a huge proponent of reusing old materials to create beautiful new collections, according to 10 Magazine. But, what I absolutely love about Rahman’s sustainability efforts is that all of his designs include “…a poplar tree seed sewn into it. Should a client dispose of a garment, it can be buried into the earth, thus planting the seed.” Needless to say, Rahman is doing his best to ensure that his designs are as kind to the Earth as possible.

Imli Dana by Shradha Kochhar

Shradha Kochhar founded Imli Dana a few years ago and operates the business between Dehli, India and New York, The United States of America, where she is based. The brand is seeking “…to reclaim generational textile practices and materials.” In addition, “Imli Dana uses textile waste from garment manufacturing factories in Delhi, India as it’s raw material that is curated, cleaned, assembled and sewn meticulously using patchwork techniques.” In this way, you can feel good about purchasing pieces from a brand that is working diligently to reduce waste and create beautiful new things with an old soul.

According to Paper, Kockhar believes that “…sustainability is caring for people.” That’s why she cares so much about creating “an alternate fashion supply chain” with Imli Dana. Did I mention that her pieces are absolutely stunning?!

Greensole

Ramesh Dhami and Shriyans Bhandari founded Greensole in 2015 in Mumbai, India. I love that this company is dedicated to sustainability and they are giving back to their community. In fact, did you know that “more than 350 million pairs of shoes are discarded each year?” To help combat this matter, Dhami and Bhandari’s company provides “…discarded shoes a second life by upcycling them into comfortable footwear.” Not only does this reduce waste, but it also limits “…carbon emissions in the process.”

Even more impressive though, is that “…this upcycled footwear is provided to the people in need across rural India which protects them from diseases contracted through unprotected feet.” In addition, you can find a breakdown on their website about how each part of your shoe is created and what materials are used so you can get a holistic understanding of the product you’re purchasing. They offer shoes for men and women, along with accessories – be sure to check them out!

Zn Ali by Zain Ali

Zain Ali, originally from Pakistan, grew up in London, England. Ali founded his brand Zn Ali in 2021. The company is is based “…in Lahore – where he had spent several childhood summer holidays – and immersed himself in the fabric of the city for three years,” according to AD Middle East. His brand is focused on telling different narratives along with sustainability. For instance, Vogue describes that “Ali and his team develop their own handloom materials but also work with deadstock fabrics and textiles sourced from around the world. For his debut collection, which launched in 2021, Ali used jute – an affordable, natural fiber common in Pakistan – to make formal tailoring out of this unassuming textile.”

That said, it just goes to show that when you think outside of the box, not only can you create beautiful things, but you can make the world a better place.

Main Image Photo Credit: IG @bodicebodice

Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

Author

Devika (@goberdhan.devika) is an MA graduate who specialized in Political Science at York University. Her passion and research throughout her graduate studies pushed her to learn about and unpack hot button issues. Thus, since starting at ANOKHI in 2016, she has written extensively about many challe...

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