Birth of Fitkaari
Previously experiencing a lifestyle problem known as PCOS, seeing my own body transforming, gaining weight and fluctuating between different sizes, made me utterly frustrated. Apart from such physical changes, it was stressful to see my clothes not fitting anymore. I observed many women of different age groups around facing similar issues, impacting their relationship with their clothes. My intrigue led me to study this during the course of my MA at London College of Fashion. My year-long research revealed that size and fit issues are one of the major causes of garment disposal and post-consumer textile waste. The birth of my brand, ‘Fitkaari’, in an endeavour to challenge fast fashion and bring stability in the changing bodies and lives of women.Frequent changes in their size and body are problems that almost everyone experiences once in their lifetime. This is more common in women with health and hormonal imbalances and increasingly complicated due to their unique shapes. Such episodes end up leaving the consumers dissatisfied with unusable clothes being piled up and a rising need to buy new ones. With Fitkaari, we are trying to address this issue with clothes that grow with you. Our sustainable womenswear brand offers a range of clothing to address garment size and fit issues occurring due to the body size changes.
Our products, features and techniques
There are multiple ready to wear options which can be altered when a person loses weight, but there is no such solution for when a person gains weight. We, at Fitkaari, make adaptable clothing which can be expanded to a size larger. Our pieces are designed thoughtfully with elements that enable size flexibility and enhanced volume. Each piece is made with a unique functional detail, fastening or attachment with which it can be adjusted as per your changing size needs, without compromising on aesthetics.Our clothing is classic and made using premium quality materials to ensure longevity. Each of our creation is accentuated with distinctive handwork embroidery. Our aim is to provide comfort and versatility with our modern and contemporary styles. The beauty of our designs is in the silhouettes that define simplicity and subtlety.
Our materials
We are very selective with our materials, and offer our customers fabrics that are high in quality, durability and softness. These have special textures and provide every garment with a unique character and feel. All our textiles come from natural, biodegradable and plant-based fibres such as corn, orange, banana, sugarcane, organic cotton, FSC certified viscose, and rayon ecovero. Our trims, such as horn buttons, coconut buttons, shell buttons, are made from natural fibres too.Our sustainability approach and practices
Our brand works within multiple sustainable paradigms. Mindfully designed clothing does not only work towards solving the garment fit issues but also address the concerns of increasing textile waste, quick disposal and overconsumption of clothing.Our attempt is to create products while being closer to nature, and hence use sustainable materials that come from natural sources and do not use plastics. All our textiles are certified and sourced from verified vendors. Our packaging also speaks our language and is made from 100% biodegradable materials.
Our timeless designs enable customers to carry them for longer. Thus, with each step we aim to influence mindsets by instilling awareness about sustainability concerns and create consciousness towards product usage and life, thus developing acceptance for slow fashion. We are connected to the old values of using resources mindfully, establishing sustainable behaviours and giving more value to the things we have.
About the founder: Shreyansha Khandelwal
After completing her graduation from Pearl Academy of Fashion, Delhi and working in different design, export and buying houses, she gained knowledge of the fashion industry’s workings, especially fast fashion. The subject of sustainability always interested her along with innately being cautious about textile waste, valuing products for longer and adopting a sustainable lifestyle. She believes that a product can be repurposed in some way or the other and should be thought about twice before being disposed. These beliefs led her to pursue MA Fashion Futures at London College of Fashion where she studied different aspects of sustainable fashion design which carved the journey for Fitkaari.