Fast fashion comes at an astonishing environmental and social cost. While the impacts of the fashion industry in terms of pollution, water use and wastage, and carbon emissions are increasing, the need for a shift to sustainable fashion has become the need of the hour. Business leaders are joining efforts to revolutionize the fashion industry and foster sustainable practices. Rachna Sarup, Co-Founder & CEO, B77 TECHSTYLES is one of them. She is an environmentally conscious entrepreneur who is augmenting her almost two decades of experience in the fashion industry to build sustainable yet stylish garments for men and women and striving to embrace the sustainable approach to make it a priority for the brands and the customers. For over 20 years, Rachna has been driving Vibgyor Styles, as a manufacturer working with high-end fashion brands both internationally and in the domestic markets. This wide experience has helped her to build networks with reputed brands across the world, develop a diverse and quality-conscious portfolio of products, gain exposure to and participate in the innovation developments in the industry and emerge as a successful business leader. Rachna, through her brand, B77, is changing the way of doing things to become more environmentally friendly and propagating & persuading people to buy sustainable clothing while remaining fashionable. Let’s hear it from her.

Introduce us to B77 TECHSTYLES. Tell us about the emphasis laid on sustainability through the venture.

We are a sustainably conscious fashion brand embedded with a futuristic and revolutionary 3D technology being used for the first time in India. It helps the customer to get a See, Try & Buy experience of fit and drape. This technology, with a high accuracy level of 96 percent allows customers to have the experience of a trial room while sitting in the comforts and hygiene of the home. Our styles are completely made in sustainable materials and we promote innovative fabrics (new fabric developments, sustainable blends) low chemical dyes, (GOTS Certified) organic cotton threads to create stylish garments. To us, the most important aspect is being planet friendly, while providing opportunities and integrating technology to minimize wastage at every level. Our Wellness Collection includes using materials like healing stones and an innovative grass fabric. This grass fabric has been used for the first time to design and manufacture a Jacket which has received fantastic feedback from the industry and customers.

 What were some of the business challenges that you had to encounter while building the brand?

The biggest challenge is creating widespread awareness and understanding about the need to shift from being non-planet friendly to environmentally friendly apparel without compromising on the look, feel, and style of the garment. We have all acknowledged and have started moving towards organic products (which includes Skin Care) and natural foods as science has shown us the benefits of the choice. However, we haven’t yet realized completely that the most important part of our body is our skin which is covered more than three-fourths, and that what is covering it is equally important. We have horrifying data on the number of people suffering from skin allergies because of the poor quality and synthetic materials that are being used to manufacture apparel. There has been a massive compromise, purely to satisfy the pockets and the need to have more! This needs to be corrected by adding value and not just volume to the wardrobe which is eventually dumped creating an enormous amount of waste. We had to travel across North and South India to identify the right vendors and to get people who would understand our ethos and are making genuine efforts to move to low chemical processes. Fortunately, we are now very well established and partnered with a lot of vendors who are carrying forward the entire process with transparency and the mission to promote sustainability.

 Mention some of the key milestones of your professional journey.

 Like all entrepreneurs, the journey has had some great times, dreams fulfilled, and the worst nightmares. For me, the most important milestone is where I am today after having gone through many challenges to have launched B77 with my Co-founder, Nupur Mathur. I have been recognized by a global brand for helping them in building multi-channel export for their brand across the U.S., Europe, and Canada. I have been invited to fashion shows in Paris and Belgium to be one of the show stoppers as a key participant in the growth cycle of the brand.

"I believe that sustainability is going to be the new way of living life with the right inputs"

How do you foresee the sustainable fashion trend evolving shortly?

Sustainability could be a trendy conversation at present but eventually, it is going to be the way of production for every apparel company because this is the one industry that has to acknowledge, adapt, and respect nature. We are putting all our efforts to make apparel very stylish, well-fitting as well as attractively priced to enable and encourage the customers to choose right without having to think too much or compromise. I believe that sustainability is going to be the new way of living life with the right inputs.

What message do you have for budding business leaders?

As an entrepreneur, your belief will be tested but your faith is the only way you can get your desires fulfilled; entrepreneurship is a continuous commitment to yourself and your dream. If you believe in your power, dreams, and ability to change your reality, you are going to make it!

Rachna Sarup, Co-Founder & CEO, B77 Techstyles

With 20+ years of unrivaled experience, Rachna is addressing the impact the fashion industry has made on the global environment by developing environmentally-conscious products and creating demand for sustainable fashion among customers