Ethicus, an online clothing label, checks all the boxes when it comes to sustainable fashion. Started in 2009 by husband and wife duo Mani Chinnaswamy and Vijayalakshmi Nachiar, this label offers handcrafted sarees and stoles made with its own organic cotton and handwoven in Pollachi. Not just Pollachi weavers, they even work with Ajrakh and Bandhani artisans in Kutch, Kalamkari artisans in Telangana and Chikankari artisans in Lucknow.
Offering nearly ten different saree collections, all telling the story of weavers from different regions, Ethicus makes it own sarees using its own cotton and coloured with eco-friendly dyes. Their Crossroads collection is a blend of Madras Checks inspired designs and colours from the birds of Coimbatore and the Anaimalais. Interesting right? It gets cooler. This label also has collections inspired from Gond paintings in Madhya Pradesh and designs that exude the vibrancy of the Kabini region.
Our fave is their Ballod Of Blossoms collection which has vividly coloured-sarees with intricate, floral motifs. Prices start from about INR 11,000. If not for anything, go straight for their Classics saree collection, which has a mix of traditional and contemporary designs perfect for work as well as casual outings. You can also shop for Ajrakh and Bandhini sarees.
But it's their rainbow saree with nearly 6400 colours in it that we lost our heart to. Their stoles are just as stunning and again feature a lot of Ajrakh patterns with floral motifs, geometric detailing, stripes and more in mainly earthy colours. Ethicus' packaging deserves a mention too as each piece they create carries a tag featuring the name of the weaver, the number of days it took him /her took to weave the product and his/her picture. Talk about valuing craftsmanship.
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