What was your first job?
My first “pocket money” earning job was packing t-shirts during my school summer holidays in my mothers little 3 people factory in our garage in New Delhi when I was 12 years old.
My first “real money job” in the fashion industry was in 1988 for Mexx International in Holland. I moved from India for this job as it was a fantastic opportunity to move to Europe and be part of a very international company with 1.200 employees, people from 28 countries and distributed its brand in more than 35 countries.
How was your view on the fashion industry and sustainability before hessnatur? In terms of sustainability, my view was that it’s something everyone talks about but only on the surface level i.e. there were more words than action. Brands, because it gave them credibility and consumers, because they appreciated it but were not willing to pay the premium. Regarding social standards, however, as there were some real standards and external audits and the risk of investigative journalism exposure the issue had become more real and the industry was aware and was taking corrective action. However, there were very few experts in the industry and as the subject was so often discussed it meant different things to different people. It is a complex subject and still probably means different things to different people.
When did you realize that successful business and sustainable fashion is a concept that works?
When I was first exposed to hessnatur. In 2012 I was invited by the owners of hessnatur to join the “Beirat” of the company. That’s when I took a deep dive into the brand, the business, its values, its products and its supply chain. Clearly as a pioneer they were forced to think through the entire value chain and actually develop systems, processes and products that allowed this business to successfully exist over 40 years. There was extensive deep rooted knowledge which had been accumulated over the years on how to offer sustainable fashion.
