If there’s one thing the pandemic has helped favourably, it’s the sustainable lifestyle debate. Fence-sitters who have been toying with the idea of dabbling in sustainability – be it their closets or their choices – have finally decided to bat one for Mother Nature. The same sensibility is percolating to festive gifting leading the pack with Valentine’s Day – that has shed its teenybopper image long ago.
Handmade, thoughtful, sustainable gifting will mark the year, experts predict. K H Radharaman, CEO and principal designer of The House of Angadi adds, “Having witnessed a global pandemic has definitely made people closer to their near and dear and has possibly altered the meaning behind gifting even more significantly.”
Volunteer-led craft relief organisation Creative Dignity in December 2020 launched its ‘Gifts of Love’ campaign that harnesses traditional craft practices. From Aal sarees of Chattisgarh to Sikki grass boxes from Bihar, these gifts are not your usual mass-produced picks. Himachal-Pradesh based Swati Seth of social enterprise The Color Caravan that makes toys and knitwear for now is promoting handmade for the season of love.
(The Color Caravan handmade knits)Seth’s idea is to #expresswithhandmade and curate stories of how something made by hand is true love. “There’s something more warm and heartfelt in a handmade gift – and not just in receiving one but even gifting it,” she adds. Seth believes the fact that you are supporting a small organisation and an artisan at the end of it is bound to add more warmth to your gift. “Also smaller brands create responsibly,” she mentions.
(Dolls by Leconet Hemant x The Silaiwali)Hemant Sagar, co-founder & designer, Genes Lecoanet Hemant agrees that gifts that are thoughtful and responsibly crafted are the best kind. Invest in products and services that give back to the community. He says, “We need to talk about conscious production. As market leaders and innovators it is our responsibility to ensure that our practices are more sustainable than yesterday.”
(Libellule bouqet from repurposed material)According to Sagar, upcycled fashion and thoughtful collaborations is the way forward. Recently, Genes collaborated with social enterprise The SilaiWali to make a handcrafted doll under “The Joy Project”. Sustainability in gifting manifests in different forms. It could be jewellery made from recycled materials or a bouquet that is made of 75% foraged, dried and repurposed materials like artisanal florist Libellule’s Amaranthine (Greek for ‘immortal flowers’) bouquet.
Founder Nazneen Jahangir says it’s time to broaden the horizon of this holiday to celebrate all loving, special relationships that we are grateful for – not only romantic ones. She says, “More awareness of how wasteful our habits are has helped us to slow down and observe our lifestyle and made some of us veer towards more responsible choices.” Bespoke products with kinder environmental impact are certainly the way forward.
Radharaman has noticed the rise in customisation too and notes that sustainability had been a leading point in the global luxury discourse for the past few years, and the pandemic has helped the message reach a wider audience. He adds, “As a trend I see people buying gifts that have greater inherent value and which are more symbolic as well. Gifts are indicative of the values of the giver and so I see a lot of people being more conscious in the message they convey through their choice of gifts.”
The calls of #handmade, #vocalforlocal or #preloved are also being seen in Valentine’s gifting. Gayatri Khanna, creative director of Gaya says that today gifting is thoughtful and practical. Though she cautions that on occasions like Valentine’s Day, the customers may go out of their way and make impulsive and emotion-based purchases rather than thoughtful and practical. The way out? Assemble a thoughtful, timeless gift like Gaya did with two facemasks, scarf, headband and upcycled pouch. There are options available for mindful consumers so they don’t slip up on their sustainability goal.
Vasundhara Patni, founder of clean beauty brand Kiro says that the pause of the pandemic has given us the time to research and understand what we are purchasing. “The focus on gifting is a lot more towards wellness, pampering and health as opposed to opulence. There’s a lot more push towards buying products that are more conscious, socially greener,” she adds. The good bit, she feels, is that now there’s a lot more sentiment involved. The need to show a sense of gratefulness, gratitude, appreciation is going into the way people are thinking about their gifts.
(Funky Maharani works with brass)Designer Meghna Goyal of sustainable resortwear brand Summer Somewhere says that queries for details of the fabrics they use and manufacturing process have gone up, which only means that the consumer is willing to be educated and wants to know more about the where and how of what they’re purchasing. Jewellery brand Funky Maharani’s founders, Steven Jhangiani and Hansika Jethnani agree that people are becoming aware of the need to support smaller enterprises, the artisans of the country and the immense talent and quality that is available locally. “Most of our customers are responding to the fact that we manufacture using recycled brass. Knowing that you have supported a small enterprise whose goods are environmentally conscious is quite a cathartic feeling,” Jhangiani says.
Jethnani adds that there’s a general impression that conscious products are more expensive. She assures, “This is not true. India has a wide variety of wonderful, small brands providing excellent goods while keeping their environmental footprint small.”
Now, more than ever, people are looking for gifts that are unique, affordable, yet high quality, and are environmentally conscious. Good brands have to tick a lot of boxes. Akanksha Arora, CEO Tribe Amrapali says that it’s all about investing in things that last. “People are looking for additional value in every purchase they make and sustainable and customised products add that.” What you gift, is what you receive too – make it count.
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