Purvi Doshi: If You Seek Quick Fame, Sustainability Will Frustrate You (Designer, 99.4K Followers)

Purvi Doshi Interview 

To me, luxury is not abundance, it is absence of harm

Q. To begin with, how do you introduce Purvi Doshi to someone who sees fashion as consumption, not consciousness?

I usually don’t begin with fashion at all. I begin with a question, where did this come from, and who did it touch before it reached you?

Purvi Doshi is not about owning more; it’s about becoming more aware. The clothes are simply the final form of a much longer journey—of hands, land, time, and intention.

Q. Your brand places strong emphasis on being ecologically sustainable and cruelty-free. Was sustainability a design choice, or was it a personal philosophy that later became a brand ethic?

Sustainability was never a design decision, it was a moral awakening. Around ten years ago, a personal realisation about the cruelty involved in silk production changed everything for me. Once I understood that thousands of silkworms were killed to create what we call luxury, I could not unsee it. That discomfort became conviction. The brand merely followed my conscience. Sustainability is not what we do, it is who we are.

Q. Indian fashion often celebrates opulence. How do you redefine ‘luxury’ in an era where excess is being questioned globally?

To me, luxury is not abundance, it is absence of harm.

Luxury is knowing your garment did not exploit a body, exhaust a land, or silence a craft. It is time taken, not money spent. Quiet confidence, not loud display.

Q. Your collections frequently draw from Indian heritage and architecture like Adalaj ni Vav. How do you translate cultural memory into contemporary silhouettes without romanticising the past?

By resisting nostalgia.

I don’t try to recreate history; I try to listen to it. Architecture, crafts, rituals—they carry intelligence, not ornamentation. I extract rhythm, proportion, and philosophy, not surface beauty. The goal is relevance, not revival.

Q. Fast fashion thrives on speed, while your brand clearly advocates intention. How difficult is it to survive and grow while resisting the pressure to constantly produce more?

It is undeniably challenging. Slow fashion demands patience, from the brand and the customer. Our production cycles can extend from three to six months due to handloom weaving, natural dyeing, and artisan-led processes. Growth in such a model is slower, but it is deeper and more resilient. We chose impact over volume, and that choice has sustained us.

Q. Vegan fashion is still a niche conversation in India. What misconceptions around vegan and sustainable clothing do you encounter most often, even among conscious consumers?

That sustainable clothing is either boring, fragile, or performative.

People assume ethics compromise aesthetics or durability. In reality, it demands deeper design thinking. Conscious fashion is not about limitation - it’s about responsibility.

Q. From fabric sourcing to final stitching, which stage of the production process challenges your sustainability goals the most and how do you navigate that?

Fabric sourcing is the most complex. Even handloom cotton has environmental concerns - cotton is water-intensive and chemically farmed. This led us to explore alternatives like kala cotton, which is rain-fed and indigenous. Sustainability is a continuous process of questioning, unlearning, and evolving rather than arriving at perfection.

Q. Your visual storytelling on social media feels calm, rooted, and minimal. How important is digital aesthetics in communicating ethics today?

Extremely important.

In a loud digital world, calm becomes a language. Visual silence allows reflection. Ethics cannot be shouted; they need space to be felt. Aesthetic restraint mirrors ethical restraint.

Q. Do you believe Indian consumers are genuinely becoming more mindful, or is sustainability still largely aspirational and performative?

It is a transition phase. While sustainability began as aspiration, I now see genuine shifts. Conversations are deeper, questions are sharper, and customers want to know the ‘why’ behind products.

Change is uneven, but it has begun, and that matters.

Q. As a woman-led fashion brand, how has leadership shaped your journey especially in an industry that often values scale over sensitivity?

Leadership taught me that sensitivity is not weakness, it is discernment.

As a woman, I lead intuitively, empathetically, and firmly. Scale can multiply impact, but sensitivity decides direction. Without it, growth becomes hollow.

Q. What role do events, media collaborations, and communities like ‘PD Tribe’ play in building a fashion movement rather than just a customer base?

They create dialogue.

A movement needs shared values, not transactions. When people feel seen, heard, and involved, fashion becomes participatory—not consumptive. Community is where meaning deepens.

Q. How do you ensure that sustainability does not become a marketing buzzword but remains a measurable practice within your brand?

By embedding it into operations, not campaigns. From zero-waste practices to artisan employment, from natural dyes to cruelty-free materials, our sustainability decisions affect margins, timelines, and design itself. When sustainability costs you convenience, you know it is real.

Q. Is there a moment in your journey when you had to choose between commercial success and ethical integrity? What did you choose, and why?

Yes, when we decided to stop using silk, despite holding inventory worth nearly ₹40–50 lakhs. It was a financially risky decision, but ethically non-negotiable. Each time I faced such crossroads, I chose integrity—not because it was noble, but because I couldn’t live with myself otherwise. Success that costs inner alignment is not success; it is erosion.

Q. For young designers entering fashion today, what is one uncomfortable truth about sustainability they must be prepared to face?

That sustainability is inconvenient. It is slower, costlier, and full of compromises. But it is also deeply fulfilling. If you seek quick fame, sustainability will frustrate you. If you seek purpose, it will transform you.

Q. If Purvi Doshi were not a fashion brand but an emotion, what would it be and why?

It would be ahimsa - non violence and a gentle strength. A quiet conviction that believes in co-existing with all living beings, while creating beauty with responsibility and grace.

Bio:

There is an old expression that says "Journey is better than destination". This sentiment could not be truer for the Gujarat, India-based clothing designer Purvi Doshi. What began for Purvi as simply a fashion label has since evolved over the past 25 years into the sustainable, environmentally friendly, artisan-empowering, cruelty-free, zero waste force in fashion it is today.

Each garment is adorned with intricate crafts, like hand aari embroidery, mirror embroidery, applique, and ancient extra - weft weaving technique. The brand today, remotely works with more than 300 artisans and weavers, and the entire communities have prospered due to these grassroot crafts reaching mainstream fashion. She has also developed a traceability app, “Field to Body '' to provide complete transparency to consumers by allowing them to trace how, where and who has made the garment that they are about to purchase.

Purvi Doshi has been recognized with PETA India's "Compassion in Fashion" award for her efforts to bring awareness about the fashion industry's cruel effect on silkworms.

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Interviewed by: Nidhi