Our working definition of Sustainability

For Torn & Stitched, sustainability is NOT a marketing gimmick but a part of the corporate culture we are building.
At T&S, we have the following working definition of sustainability. As with other things in our brand, we are evolving this as we better understand our business ecosystem.

Torn&Stitched aims to make its voice heard in the age of fast fashion by focusing on creating high-quality clothes that do not go out of fashion quickly. The clothes we produce have lower wear and tear due to the higher quality of raw material and maintain their comfort level for a more extended period, increasing their life in our customers' wardrobes.

It also means creating such designs that do not go out of trend quickly but have a perennial appeal. We focus on monotones, basics, traditional wear, and other items that customers can wear for years without being called unfashionable by their peer group.

We are committed to responsible sourcing, responsible shipping and providing a second life to our clothes by second-hand sale and donations to charity, avoiding land dumping for as long as possible.

ALIGNMENT WITH THE UN SDGS
We have chosen 4 goals (Responsible Consumption and Production, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Quality Education and Gender Equality), from the United Nations SDGs for our initial journey by mapping our vision statement with our key stakeholders. The following provides a quick summary:

 

  • We leverage technology to understand our users' consumption and are willing to under-produce and lose a little profit instead of sitting on unused inventory that goes to the dump.
  • While we are doing contract manufacturing at the moment, our contracts stipulate the availability of a Quality AND Sustainable Practice Manager role, which we are willing to pay for in case the role is not available, to ensure that fair working practices are followed at our suppliers
  • The goal of our Series B funding is to have our own manufacturing facility where we can closely monitor responsible production
  • We engage with hyper-targeted audiences that have sustainable fashion high on the agenda. We have found in our research and pilots that the customer is willing to pay a premium for sustainable fashion, and that is our target market
  • We DO NOT provide next-day shipping. All our shipping would be via the transportation mechanism with the lowest carbon footprint.  We will actively focus on this in our branding, marketing and advertisement campaigns, and we aim to grow a customer base that does not mind getting their shirts a little late since they are making an impact, however small.

 

 

  • We pay our employees at par with the industry. As a startup, we can pay disproportionate salaries to attract great talent, but we would end up burning them out to get a good ROI for these higher salaries. We maintain a 45hrs work week and discuss with employees to lower their salary expectations so as NOT to create a high-pressure work environment.
  • We also discuss this as a key ask when talking to investors and refuse any investments that demand turning profitable quickly by squeezing 60-70hr in a week in turn for a fat check for us and a fatter check for our employees.
  • We aim to grow at a manageable pace and have proactively offered equity to our key hires(that we could have hired just for a salary) so that they are a part of our growth and not just resources.

 

  • T&S has committed 3% of its equity to improve education in 6 villages in Northern India
  • Upon turning profitable(in around 9 months), we are committed to raising this to 5%
  • Upon a successful Round A, the commitment is to raise the contribution to 7%
  • Upon a successful Round B, the commitment is to raise and retain the contribution to education at 10% by building schools in underprivileged communities in collaboration with the local government.
  • All employees at T&S get access to premium subscriptions to online learning platforms of their choice.
  • All employees have learning and development goals as a part of their contracts. Most of these are cross-functional. So a fashion designer has to learn Digital Transformation, etc so that the team continues to evolve and has lifelong learning opportunities

 

  • We aim to maintain equal representation at all levels. One of the co-founders is male, while the other is female.
  • Our advisory board is split two and two.
  • All our positions need to be mandatorily interviewed for an equal number of male and female applicants. All interview panels have two members, one male and one female. We do not look at gender during the selection process, though it is entirely merit-based.
If you have any questions on our sustainability mission, or think you can contribute, or you want to collaborate, please feel free to contact us!