Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Business Practices

End Term Jury

Prepared and Presented By:

Anurag Tandon｜Avinash Singh｜Nishant Gupta｜Rachita Kriti｜Riya Sachan

 About the Brand

Idea: UPASANA, is a brand where Creativity, Fashion, 1997 Founded by Uma Prajapati in
Auroville township situated in Tamil
Design, Indian Culture, Business, Social Responsibility
Nadu.
and Spiritual Progress get woven seamlessly together.

2004 Until 2004, the brand only made

quality garments for women using
traditional Indian textiles

Aftermath of 2004 Tsunami

2005
The brand extended its focus on rebuilding
the lives of the community around socially
and economically through fashion.

2011 Shift towards sustainability

The brand shifted its focus into
sustainable fashion.
About the Entrepreneur
● Uma Prajapati is a Fashion Designer, an
activist and entrepreneur. She is a graduate
from NIFT, Delhi (1994).
● She began her career as a design head
working for some company in Delhi.
● She visited Auroville in 1996 for a work trip,
fell in love with the place and upon coming
back to Delhi, quit her job and moved there
permanently in 1996.
● Her passion lies in using creative power of
design for grassroot level, creating social
businesses, and knowing her country
through textiles.
 Product line

WHAT THEY DO WITHIN FASHION, TEXTILES, CRAFT, DESIGN & LIFESTYLE RETAIL:

WOMENS MENS KIDS

HOME
WEAR WEAR WEAR

YOGA MEDICINAL
ACCESSORY
WEAR TEXTILES
● Traditional textiles include
Kalamkari, Hand block prints,
Ikat, Jamdani, Mangalgiri
Cotton, Khadi
● Most of the apparels are
handwoven.
● The collection also includes
upcycled garments and healing
(medicinal) textiles.
Success Factors for the Company
Projects:
 Tsunamika

● The project started in February 2005

as a trauma counseling effort for
fisherwomen of coastal villages
devastated by Tsunami.
● The raw material came from industrial
waste and more than 600 women
were taught to make these tiny dolls
called ’Tsunamika’.
● The project received UNESCO’s
recognition and Tsunamika’s story
book was published in 7 languages.
● ’Tsunamika’ runs on ’Gift Economy’ - it
is never sold, but given.
 Small steps

● Upasana initiated ‘Small Steps’ on Earth

Day on 22nd April, 2007 which supports
a dual-purpose model in sustainability.
● These handcrafted bags generate jobs
and ensure in a small way the curbing of
disposable plastic carry bags.
● One Small Steps shopping bag can
prevent the usage of over 500
disposable plastic bags that a single
person would use over a year.
● These bags can fit neatly into little
pouches.
 Varanasi Weavers

● Upasana began to work with Varanasi

Weavers Community in 2006 and later
went on to introduce a brand called
’Varanasi Weavers.’
● This project encouraged the weavers from
this community to continue what they
were good in weaving.
● Upasana involves itself with the
community with social intervention,
design, communication solutions and
marketing.
● This project has been granted special
recognition by the UNESCO. Upasana has
introduced Varanasi both nationally and
globally and has also brought many
brands to work in support of the weavers
community.
 Paruthi

● Paruthi – India’s Local Organic Brand With

’Paruthi’, Upasana decided to go ’Organic’
in 2011.
● Upasana has been working with the
Organic cotton farming community for
many years and decided to launch the
brand in their support. Paruthi, in Tamil,
means ’Cotton’.
● It has taken a fashion route to
sustainability and successfully launched a
clothing line under ’Responsible fashion.’

”Fashion has the power to change the world.

Give it a chance.”
 Janaki
● JANAKI is a retail project of Upasana to
promote organic and sustainable lifestyle
where it stocks handmade products that
offer a unique combination of tradition
and modernity.
● Products offered include merchandise of
Upasana, furniture, handmade jewellery,
soaps, decorative earthen pots,
cosmetics and skincare products, etc.
● JANAKI is a community of consumers,
producers, designers and dreamers of a
conscious lifestyle.
● The dream is Responsible design, Luxury
and Excellence. The brand designs
products connecting Luxury and Grass
Root.
 Prakrit

● In 2011, cyclone Thane swept across the

green belt of Auroville. The dawn revealed
the destruction of 40 years of labour that
it took to create the forest.
● JANAKI, a retail arm of Upasana, decided
to create a sustainable furniture line
linked to this cyclone. Thus Prakrit was
born in 2013.
● The brand created a product out of a
tragedy that offers a memory of the
township into people’s living spaces.

“Let us be conscious in our certitude towards

land and nature!”
 Entrepreneurial Qualities

Conscious Creative Socially

Entrepreneur Thinker Driven

Risk Taker Compassionate Determined

 Sustainable Practices Undertaken by Upasana

Green Material
Manufacturing Packaging Upcycling
Sourcing
 Sustainable Practices Undertaken by Upasana

Green Material Sourcing Manufacturing

● Upasana claims their

clothes are made up of a. Weaving-Upasana works c. Dyeing-Upasana uses safe dyed
“organic cotton from local closely with Khadi institution and fabrics in making their products
farmers”. locally available weavers in South and the dyes are made by
● But organic doesn’t mean India. The most commonly used extracting naturally available
sustainable or ethical. weaving technique is Jamdani. pigments through:
Ethical + Sustainable Jamdani is a labour-intensive
form of handloom weaving. (i) Neem tree
means Care about
workers' rights and care (ii) Tulsi
b. Printing-Hand-block printing
about the Earth's
is the most commonly used (iii) Sandalwood
wellbeing.
printing techniques by Upasana.
(iv) True Indigo

Sustainable fashion shows
● To solve this we thought of an
idea to do fashion shows
across the bank of dried rivers
in order to raise awareness
among people about the
seriousness of the situation.
● This would help raise funds
for such social issues and the
same can be used to solve the
issue.
Suggestions
End of life
● Reverse logistics is the process of moving goods from
their typical final destination for the purpose of capturing
value, or proper disposal.
● Remanufacturing and refurbishing activities also may be
included in the definition of reverse logistics.
● Brand should work on its reverse supply and provide an
opportunity to its customers to return the products at the
end of their life cycle.
● This will lead to optimal waste management and efficient
use of material which, otherwise, would have ended up in
a landfill.
 Suggestions
Collaborations
● Partner with like-minded businesses.
● Through facilitated group conversations,
you can come up with a collective action
plan to reduce your environmental
impact.
● By partnering with other business
owners, environmental groups, and local
governments you can collectively reduce
your environmental footprint, promote
your business as sustainable, and bring
in more customers.
● Upasana hasn't collaborated with others
brands as for now.
Increase focus on Men’s wear
● Women’s wear accounts for more than 60% of the total
sustainable apparel items available. This could be due to
the fact that women, in general, purchase more clothing
than men and are more conscious of sustainability when
shopping.
● The only exception is India, where 67% of sustainable
apparel sold in the local retail market is men’s wear.
● Some of the well-known brands in the sustainable fashion
sector include Nicobar by Good Earth, Shift by Nimish
Shah, Ka Sha by Karishma Shahani, and Grassroot by Anita
Dongre. However, these designer brands essentially focus
on women’s wear. The ethical brands focusing on men’s
wear are Boheco and Brown Boy.
THANK YOU