How a women helping us "Twirl" toward a better world
December 14th , 2019 | Sujata Chatterjee
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The idea of Twirl born through socio-environmental problem
Is your wardrobe full of clothes that you don’t want to repeat ? Then here is some good news for you. Twirl aims to solve the problems of everyones overcrowded wardrobes and benefit both society and environment, in the process.
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We are living in an age of a retail boom and constant purchase through online-offline sources throughout the year kept filling my wardrobe to the brim. Looking around me, I knew that my family and friends all had a similar problem – full wardrobes, wanted to shop more but not sure what to do with existing unwanted clothes lying there. At the same time, there are lakhs of people in slums-villages of India who struggle to find basic clothing and so many talented women who need a decent source of livelihood. The effect of fast fashion on the environment, specially natural resources like water, is even more tragic.
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So to solve all these socio-environmental problems, the idea of Twirl.store was born. To minimise the cloth wastage caused by just leaving unwanted clothing lying on the shelf- the Twirl model of retail was formed.
Benefits society and environment at every step
Twirl is a platform that is helping reduce fabric waste and promote sustainable fashion. We believe Retail should benefit society and environment at every step.
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Hence, our customers are incentivised with online points for sending their old clothes to us so that they may continue shopping new products. Twirl.store either donates the old clothes(through monthly donation drives) or upcycles the fabrics therby benefitting both society and environment. Upcycled products by their very nature are more environment-friendly as by reusing the existing fabrics, we are able to conserve gallons of water everytime. Also, this work of upcycling fabrics is being done by rural women/slum women thus giving them a source of livelihood. These handcrafted products in range of bags, accessories, home décor etc are sold through Retail channels and also find place in corporate gifting.
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Within 2 years of launch, Twirl.store has served with customers across the country- both individuals and organisation.
New life to fabrics converting them into upcycled products
Today we are proud to say Twirl is part of Startup India, selected under the prestigious NASSCOM 10000 startups program and have been recognised by IIM-Calcutta and Govt of India as one of the best solutions to transform India. We were felicitated at Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2019. We have been awarded Swayam Siddha by Eastern Chamber of Commerce and Women-on-a-Mission award by YourStory. Very recently, we received the Devi Award, powered by NewIndia Express from the hands of Mrs. Smriti Irani, Union Minister.
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However at Twirl.store we believe our main achievement is the smiles on the faces of those whose lives we have enriched. We have given clothes to thousands of needy people and been able to empower so many talented women along the way. We have rescued and given new life to several thousand fabrics and sold eco-friendly upcycled products made by them.
Minimising waste and conserving resources
Twirl.store is proud to be a team of girls led by me- Sujata Chatterjee. Even our manufacturers are women, predominantly rural women. Twirl is proud to be able to provide them a source of livelihood. Every member of our team believes in minimising wastage, conserving resources, meeting the clothing requirement of the needy as well as women empowerment.
We hope people and institutions across the country continue to support our social initiative Twirl.store. Remember you just need to reach out to us from anywhere in India and we would ensure a free pickup of your unwanted clothes from your home as well as free delivery of our unique upcycled products! So together lets “Twirl” to a better world.
The author of the story is Sujata Chatterjee, Founder of ‘Twirl’ and you can reach out to them at www.twirl.store
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