Turning a firm with an annual turnover of $105m into a carbon-neutral enterprise is daunting, but Dongre is up for it
Fashion designer Anita Dongre at her factory on the outskirts of Mumbai, India. Picture: AFP/LAURENE BECQUARTWith stores in India and New York, multiple clothing brands and a global celebrity following, fashion designer Anita Dongre is a feminist powerhouse in a male-dominated industry. But her true ambition is to create an environmentally sustainable company, she says.
Turning a company with an annual turnover of $105m into a carbon-neutral enterprise is a daunting proposition, but Dongre has never been one to shy away from challenges. “I see my journey reflected in theirs,” she says, emphasising her belief that “economic empowerment is the only way a woman can assert herself”.
“It is very important for me to show a woman who is not coy or veiled — someone bold and sassy. I was that girl. I drove a jeep. I proposed to my husband,” she says. “It's so rewarding to walk into stores and meet the women who buy my clothes. When a customer tells me, ‘I wore your blazer to my first job interview 15 years ago and I got the job’, it's thrilling,” she says.
The SAC is a non-binding organisation, meaning members are largely responsible for their own efforts towards sustainability and transparency.At her factory, cafeteria food waste is composted or used to make biogas while the water utilised in clothing production is recycled and pumped back into the bathrooms.
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