How Kriti Tula Champions Sustainable Fashion With Upcycled Designs

Kriti Tula, Founder of Doodlage, won SheThePeople’s Digital Women Awards 2024 under the Impact category for her dedicated work in recognising the urgent need to combat the detrimental effects of fast fashion. Doodlage focuses on small-batch production, utilising fabric waste generated in garment factories. Kriti also works with fabrics crafted from recycled materials, including handwoven textiles made by skilled artisans, and adheres to zero-waste principles. Any leftover fabric is transformed into new products through embroidery, patchwork, and re-weaving techniques.

Additionally, she repurposes fabric remnants into paper for eco-friendly packaging and notebooks, further minimising waste. Kriti’s commitment to sustainability extends beyond the materials. She implements take-back programs, allowing customers to return worn items for responsible disposal or recycling. Alteration services are also offered to extend the life of products, ensuring they remain cherished pieces in customers' wardrobes. Packaging is completely plastic-free, and all products are ethically produced in fair-wage factories that foster safe and encouraging work environments.

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SheThePeople in Conversation with Kriti Tula:

What roles do you play at Doodlage, and what drives you toward this goal?
I am the founder of Doodlage, a pioneering sustainable fashion brand celebrated for its innovative approach to upcycling. With accolades such as the Grazia Young Fashion Award, Vogue Forces of Fashion recognition, and the UN Changemaker title, I have established myself as a leading advocate for sustainable practices in India. A graduate of Pearl Academy and the London College of Fashion on a full scholarship, my work has been featured globally by prominent media outlets, including BBC, Deutsche Welle, and Vogue. I collaborate with esteemed brands like Hero Moto Corp and Mercedes to promote sustainable choices in merchandise and uniforms, significantly impacting the fashion industry.

How did you use digital platforms and tools to build your business?
Digital tools have been instrumental to our growth and business. 3D tools help us pre-sample the products, and AI allows us to deep dive into customer interaction with the website. This helps us understand the changing trends and aspirations of the audience. Moreover, designing weaves and patterns digitally saves time and resources. These are some of the ways we use technology to take meaningful strides in elevating and sustaining the business in today’s digital sphere.

How do you envision your future with Doodlage?
Just from our B2C business, which operates in India, we are currently upcycling and recycling close to 30,000 meters of fabric waste into high-value garments made for longevity. Given the right capital, partners, and mentors, we will be able to take this to global markets. At 100x growth, we can save more than 3 million meters of fabric waste from landfills. Recycling just one ton of cotton can save around 7,000 gallons of water. The textile industry is responsible for nearly 10% of global carbon emissions. By repurposing existing materials, we help mitigate these emissions. By promoting local craftsmanship on a larger scale, we will be able to preserve traditional skills.

What does your business model look like?
We are mainly a D2C brand where we create clothes out of upcycled, recycled material, incorporating zero-waste practices to create our womenswear clothing. To increase the impact of our work, we also take up B2B projects, helping other organizations make greener choices by replacing materials in uniforms and merchandise and offering cleaner gifting solutions. All this is done with fair-wage factories, social enterprises, and NGOs.

What are the key challenges you faced in this journey?
Over the years, we have navigated several significant challenges. One major hurdle was the lack of awareness and consumer acceptance, which required extensive efforts to educate and build trust in our products. Additionally, the absence of a clean and reliable supply chain for small businesses posed operational difficulties, necessitating innovative solutions. Limited research and development in the field further constrained progress, demanding creative approaches to bridge the gap. Despite these obstacles, we have worked diligently to overcome them, driving growth and fostering resilience within our ecosystem.