Two Years of Leading with A Green Heart
In light of our current situation, many of us have found while reflecting that it’s important that we appreciate all that we have and always look for the silver lining. For us at Sui, this month is especially important to us and we wanted to take a moment to look at how much we have grown this year and reflect on this key milestone: Sui turning two!
In our journey up to this point, we have been dedicated to creating sustainably and connecting with those who do the same. They are key pillars to our mission that we think over daily, constantly mulling over what we could do in our production that is better for the environment and who we can bring in on our projects - those who are passionate about crafting slow as well as who could use our support.
Our love for green thinking and community are everything to us, after all we are all on this planet together. And so, we wanted to look back here at those fundamental parts of our Sui identity, reminisce about how our year went and be proud of all that we have accomplished so far.
HOW WE HAVE GROWN
What we have always prided ourselves on is that we are always looking for the greener way. As we have grown, we have strived to do nothing but expand our knowledge on how to create with lower impact and understand our actions even further.
In 2018, when Sui first began, our small team was just beginning to learn how to put together a conscious collection. Our first chapter, ‘The Palm Stories’, was primarily created with pieces made in organic cotton and hemp using azo-free dyes and since then, with every season and collection, we have expanded our range, connecting with others who value the same sustainable mission. We have been able to incorporate a variety of blends, favouring materials that are handmade and organic, and utilized herbal-dyes more and more.
(Seen here: a look at Sui's beginnings working on 'The Palm Stories' collection)
It’s been a constant learning experience with each creation we produce. We are always teaching ourselves more about the state of our industry that helps us understand where exactly we need to make changes that would be beneficial for our planet. For example, in a 2018 report, the fashion industry was found to produce approximately 92 million tons of solid waste per year globally. Knowing this, we do our best to use what we have in any way we can. And so, our ‘An Upcycled Story’, ‘Basic-ally Sui’ and 'Basic-ally Sui 2.0’ collections do exactly that with all three consisting of pieces made with fabric scraps and deadstock left behind from our previous collections.
With each step we take in our journey, we improve in every way with our nature-inspired motifs getting stronger with each collection as we build a better sense of what we’re creating. We create for causes like with our SUI X ReefWatch project we launched last year in order to support their Marine Conservation with their efforts. We continually strive towards zero waste within our production, as mentioned, as well as within every other aspect like our packaging by avoiding plastic and opting to use recycled materials. As we have grown, we have found it increasingly important that we don’t just set out to create something pretty, but have put thought behind it and made garments with a purpose.
BETTER TOGETHER
Our understanding and ability to be slow in our craft would not be possible without the help of our community, one that we have been so proud to have built. From green partners to all of you, our planet needs us to join hands in a collective effort, to include as many people as we can and so we do our best to get involved with those who help us contribute to helping our environment and operate more sustainably.
Over these couple years, our own team has grown and learned an immense amount from each other. From our threadspeller team to our designers and content creators, we have encouraged each other to go greener not just within our work but within our daily lives, bringing in and sharing new ideas that have only strengthened Sui’s own conscious outlook.
(Seen here: our threadspeller team working on various collections)
Moreover, our green partners are also a very big part of our Sui family. In the past year, we have been so happy to have worked with NGOs such as Pins and Needles, WomenWeave and Bagru Textiles that all support small, local communities by creating safe, beneficial work environments and also craft sustainably. They are the reason we are able to implement fabrics such as handwoven organic cotton and techniques like block printing, so that we are able to create garments as slow as we can.
(Seen here: Pins and Needles, left; Bagru Textiles, middle; WomenWeave, right)
As we head into this month, we hope to share some more insights into what we have accomplished over these 2 years and what we have planned further on. Our focus this month is to look at two main parts of our mission: going slow & community. These aspects are the core of all that we do and we will be speaking more in depth about it on here and on our social media while also talking to others in our industry, discussing more about how we stay conscious as a business and what we hope for the future of slow fashion.
Check out our schedule of discussions and activities we’ll be carrying out on Instagram:
We hope to see you further along on our journey and would love your support. Please share the love and send us a photo of you in your favourite Sui outfit - just like you see below - or write us a little message about what you have loved seeing from us this year, we would love to hear from you!
You can e-mail us on info@wearesui.com, WhatsApp at +91 9315547977, DM us or post and tag us on Instagram.
We are still learning, growing and looking at how we can get better and better every day, with every collection and project. Thank you for being a part of our story!