ABSTRACT

The aim is to emphasize on the theory of entrepreneurial motivation that explains

how non-entrepreneurs develop the motivation to pursue entrepreneurship. We are
going to look at how an individual’s self-assessment of their identity is the primary
factor in developing his/her entrepreneurial motivation. This self-assessment leads
individuals either to seek enhancement of their identity or to establish a new identity
for a sustainable future for the coming generations.
The aim is to also contribute to a better understanding of ethical fashion
consumption. Even though consumers demand more ethical responsibility from
companies, it is debatable if consumers would sacrifice their own personal needs
to support ethically produced clothing.

– This research paper gives insight into ethical fashion practices and how the need
to adopt this is a trend among Brands, big or small and provides suggestions to
improve the potential of ethical fashion for BODICE.

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 RUCHIKA SACHDEVA’s
HANDCRAFTED
JOURNEY

More than sustainable, BODICE

is thoughtful design.

Ruchika Sachdeva is a social

entrepreneur. In one of her
interviews Ruchika said, “If we had
to objectify Bodice, it will be a pair of
binoculars: classic, scientific and
with a vision.” “Travel feeds me pure inspiration about the
story I want to tell. When I travel, I don’t think
about emails, phone calls and to-do lists. I
leave them behind.”

While she was still in school, and her

sister was enrolled in NIFT’s
Accessories Design program,
watching her sister play with
materials, moulding glass and metal
to create new forms. The, then child
in her could only think of garments
that way. She used to drape and
stitch her mother’s used dupattas.
All this went on organically and who
could’ve thought that little girl could
make a successful career out of it.

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BIOGRAPHY
Ruchika lead onto the first step of the ladder of her career by enrolling at Pearl
Academy in Delhi, but after one year i.e. in 2007, she moved to London to enrol at the
London College of Fashion. The vagaries of student life in London brought out the best
in her. At 20, she wanted to think like an adult while possessing the energy and
enthusiasm of a child. During her studies, she interned at Vivienne Westwood and was
fortunate enough to get trained under other renowned fashion designers, like Giles
Deacon and Nitin Bal Chauhan.
After this considerate time, she even started sourcing fabrics from second-hand stores
and making her own clothes by altering and mixing them up, which her friends started
buying. This signalled the beginning of her entrepreneurship. Ruchika returned to her
native India in 2010, making her debut as a “Gen Next Designer” at Lakme Fashion
Week.
Her label, Bodice, was launched in 2011 and was showcased during the
Autumn/Winter 2011 season at Lakme Fashion Week.

BODICE
Vision: BODICE’s vision is to make timeless classics with a modern twist by adding
unexpected details and quirky embellishments.

• Currently retailing from –

• Bodice flagship store - New
Delhi
• Bombay Electric –Mumbai
• Atosa – Mumbai
• Attic – Mumbai
• Aura – Nagpur and Raipur
• Aashni & Co. – London
• Vira Boutique – Boston
• Philosophy – Riyadh
• www.perniaspopupshop

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“A bodice is the first block in patternmaking. Centuries old, it’s where the science
begins: with the basic round neck and armhole shape till the waist. It’s the first thing
they give you at fashion school. BODICE is very elementary, simple and classic. The
name seemed like a good fit for Ruchika Sachdeva’s brand.”

BODICE is a contemporary label that believes in expression of individuality through

clothing. At the Bodice studio, every individual tries to see the approaching life
minutely and implement the visions on their designs, geometrically, focusing on
androgyny. Today, she employs 14 people in her sampling and production team,
based out of her flagship store in Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village.

INSPIRATION

Ruchika Sachdeva is the founder and creative director of Bodice, a label that takes
inspiration from menswear clothing and history, and translates them into androgynous
garments with quixotic elements.

Bodice also worked with bio-dye in Sawantwadi, central India, which makes all colours
from natural sources. The colour palette of navy and forest green mixed with pink and
green pastels contains natural dyes and are safe for the skin - a nod to the ancient

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practices of Ayurveda. Completing the label's holistic approach, Bodice sourced
buttons from renewable sources of coconut shell, seashell and wood.

The budding fashionpreneur has taken her brand Bodice to a remarkable height since
the past 6 years. When dogged more into her creative work and collaborations, her
recent collaboration with sports brand FILA under #thecultureproject. The
collaboration basically turns sportswear into everyday wear for women with the
inclusion of Bodice style. Few of her favourite and trademark colors, like burgundy and
maroon, are incorporated.

Inspired by her grandmother, who used to upcycle

saris into quilts, Sachdev collaborated with hand
weavers and encouraged them to take an
unorthodox approach to traditional techniques,
producing an elegant collection honouring
Australian Merino wool and Indian artisans.

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PRODUCT LINE

Bodice’s unique selling point is derived from a

fine mix of modern tailoring and pattern-
making skills, integrated with androgynous
silhouettes. While designing garments in a
muted colour palette, Sachdeva is extremely
particular about finishing and tailoring. Her
clothes consist of transitional wardrobe staples
with character, which are recognisable by their
unique, minimal aesthetic, quality construction
and versatility. Her garments are usually over-
sized or easy fit, steering away from body-
hugging silhouettes.

Ruchika uses Fabrics like Wool, Cotton, Silk,

Cotton Wool, Fine quality Merino wool, etc.
and compels trends inspired by menswear
clothing. The ambisexual patterns and
romantic designs are the pre-eminence of the
brand. Ruchika’s collection mainly revolves
around oversized and muted colour bomber
jackets, sleeveless coats, box pleated dresses
and overlap tie pants.
The dyes used in the production are from
natural sources which are safe for the skin.
Even buttons are sourced from renewable
sources of coconut shell, seashell, and wood.
With the concept of oversize and easy fit, the
clothes are recognizable by their unique,
minimal aesthetic, quality construction and
versatility.

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AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
1. Bodice label was launched in 2011 and its first collection was showcased during the
Autumn/Winter 2011 season at Lakme Fashion Week.

2. She also won the Elle Style Award for the Breakthrough Designer in 2012.

3. Ruchika’s brand was honoured with the Grazia Award for Best Urban Collection in
the year 2013.

4.
In 2014, she worked with local weavers in Varanasi for an ongoing project with e-
commerce portal Indelust- a portal in collaboration with Loom to Luxury, which is
funded by Nest (a New York based NGO).
Her label was given a boost after winning the Vogue India Fashion Fund competition
in 2014, providing her with a prize money of Rs. 25 Lakh to expand Bodice, along with
a contract with Van Heusen for her minimalist ensembles as well as a sponsored solo
show and mentorship from Vogue and an industry professional.

5. Indian designer Ruchika Sachdeva won the womenswear 2017/2018 International

Woolmark Prize with a collection of wool pieces. For her winning collection at this
year’s International Woolmark Prize, she travelled to 22 states across the vast length
and breadth of India. Of course, not all of these excursions yielded results. But to map
the course of her collection is to share the sweet satisfaction that comes from dogged
planning and execution. She began by “looking for Indian inspiration. The collection
also incorporated traditional techniques, courtesy of the local artisans she employed.

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She left a remarkable impact on the judges with her unique way of addressing the
issue of consumer waste in fashion with traditional techniques of recycling. The
$156,000 prize money and year-long mentorship is set to grow her business even
further — her collections are now stocked in Far fetch and MyTheresa.com.
She collaborated with Bhuttico Tribe in Himalayas, that developed fabrics using the
extra-weft technique. Went to Maheshwar and there she met Hema Shroff, an
entrepreneur who owns a fabric unit- Amba. She sourced a few fabrics from the lady.
Ruchika wanted to know about different dyers who use natural dyes on fabrics that
are durable, so she went to explore a dyeing unit named Bio Dye in Goa for getting
different sorts of natural colours for her new collection. In Maharashtra, Sachdeva
tracked down a place that upcycled yarn from second-hand clothing.
She enlisted Raymond, one of India’s oldest family-run mills, to produce a custom
colour story, as well as custom weights. Here, she added another dimension – an anti-
microbial coating made with neem, as well as a UV filter coating.
All in all, her collection for the Woolmark competition speaks for itself.

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SUSTAINABILITY

X
BODICE

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 SUSTAINABILITY IN FASHION

Sustainable fashion/Ethical fashion is about being kind to our environment, being

responsible and careful with our resources and treating our fellow garment workers
like human beings. This means looking at the tag, using what you have and being
creative in one’s wardrobe choices.

What is Sustainable Clothing?

It refers to all sorts of fabrics derived from Eco-friendly resources such as sustainably
grown fibre crops and recycled materials. It is a process of how the fabrics are made
ethically without damaging the environment.
Today, with a prominent trend towards sustainability and being ‘green’, encouraging
the use of sustainable clothing has expanded towards reducing the amount of clothing
discarded to landfills, and decreasing the environmental impact of agro-chemicals in
producing conventional fibre crops like cotton.

Need for encouraging the use of Ethical Fashion

Since the High street clothing industry accounts for a massive share of western retail.
In an era of Globalisation where materials and labour can be purchased in different
parts of the world where costs are very low and industrialised methods of growing
cotton mean that fabrics can be produced quickly and cheaply, and in very large
quantities. These savings are passed on to the customer, meaning that high street
fashion is available at increasingly low prices, and much of it is regarded as
disposable. There is a need to dispose less fabric wastage into the Environment so
that more of it can be reused in an era of Slow Fashion.

Some of the issues with Ethical Fashion

• Serious concerns being raised about exploitative working conditions in the factories
that make cheap clothes for the high street.
• Child workers, alongside exploited adults, can be subjected to violence and abuse
such as forced overtime, as well as cramped and unhygienic surroundings, bad
food, and very poor pay. The low cost of clothes on the high street means that less
and less money goes to the people who actually make them. The low costs and

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 disposable nature of high street fashion means that much of it is destined for
incinerators or landfill sites.
• Cotton provides much of the world's fabric, but growing it uses 22.5% of the world's
insecticides and 10% of the world's pesticides.
• Many animals are farmed to supply fur for the fashion industry.
• To name a few hazardous chemicals commonly used in the textile industry: lead,
nickel, chromium IV, aryl amines, phthalates and formaldehyde. Most textiles are
treated with chemicals to soften and dye them. However, these chemicals can be
toxic to the environment and can be transferred to the skin of the people wearing
them.

SUSTAINABLE FABRICS USED BY THE BRAND

1. Merino Wool
• Merino is the world’s naturally technical fibre which is renewable and bio-
degradable. Its natural proteins will completely break down with environmental
exposure into organic carbon and return to the environment in years to come.
• Merino fibres are much softer than normal wool fibres, so can be worn even against
the most sensitive skin.
• It is lightweight and comfortable to wear, it has an excellent warmth-to-weight ratio.

2. Recycled Wool-Blend Felt

Wool felt is a natural product. Its processing requires very little environmental impact
compared to other natural fibres or man-made fibres. since wool felt is made of sheep’s
wool and viscous staple fibres, this means that after the felt product has been used or
is worn out, it can be safely disposed of as it is 100% biodegradable.
The designer's innovative practices include using upcycled wool for Kantha yarn as
well.

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SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES BY RUCHIKA’s BODICE

1. Design
Ruchika Sachdeva didn’t promote the brand as a sustainable one because more
than sustainable, it’s thoughtful design. Since the Brand’s second collection, they
started experimenting with handloom, knowing that the handloom and natural dye
sectors are unorganised.
In the brand’s this season’s collection, 10% of the collection is reversible. They made
a jacket that one can wear inside out as a new design. It’s a versatile classic that can
be worn through winter, at home because it’s comfortable or for meetings and
occasion wear.
They also have garments adjustable at the waist that cover two sizes. The designer
plays with construction and utility and she’s trying her hands on more things that can
be washed instead of dry cleaned; or we can say the type of clothing that doesn’t have
to be ironed because the materials aren’t stiff, so one can travel with them.
Today, 70 percent of the world’s clothes are made of polyester which is not a
biodegradable fabric. The designer saw this opportunity to innovate such fabric
specially by way of pleating. Bodice uses binding process to create structured pleats
that are easy to maintain.

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2. Buttons
A toymaker in South India produces coconut shell buttons from his by-product.
Seashells and wood are also sourced from renewable resources to make buttons for
garments made at BODICE.

3. Yarns
The wasted yarn from wool production gets recycled down for jackets.
Kantha embroidery is a southeast Asian practice that reuses old saris to make quilts
for new-born babies (with a belief that the love of the mother will be transferred to the
child and keep it warm and safe). The designer applies this craft, but cut onto smart
midi skirts and bomber jackets. Thus, upcycled wool is used in making of the Kantha
yarn.

4. Dyes
Wherever possible, they work with custodians of cultural heritage and the ecology, be
it artisans who weave with wool in the Himalayas, or master dyers with intimate
knowledge of the natural dye-producing plants, roots and shrubs of central India.

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5. Animal welfare
It is another area that fascinates the designer, who refrains from using fur or leather in her
designs. Leather also, not only an animal welfare issue, but involves one of the most
chemically-laden production processes with detrimental effects upon rivers and the water
table.
In order to lessen the wastage done by using animal skins, she recently discovered
wonderful fabrics including a luxurious powder pink vegan suede that she’ll be using in
her new Bodice Studio Resort '19 collection. She pledges to continue to find alternatives
to leather and fur that entice people to rethink what they believe about luxury textiles.

THE DESIGNER’S BELIEF AND IDEOLOGY

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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Bodice employs Bhuttico Weavers and other

craftsmen across India for turning their craftwork
into high fashion.
Bodice collection is made in collaboration with local artisans, of the Bhuttico Weavers,
a co-op certified by the Woolmark Company.
Bhuttico Weavers is a renowned name in handloom weaving particularly related to
Kullu Shawls and other products namely produced in Australian yarn, pashmina &
Angora yarn.
Her Woolmark journey actually started at Bhuttico, where she developed fabrics using
the extra-weft technique. “With Bhuttico it wasn’t just about the textiles, as with any
given place, it’s not just what they’re making, but the whole experience that counts.
And Bhuttico’s history is very romantic in Ruchika’s view– where it is situated, the fact
that weavers live where they work, that sense of comfort is really enchanting where
you just wake up and start working. The weavers lead a good, happy life, and that
energy translates into their work.”
Today Bhuttico is a leading name in the shawl industry and its weavers have earned
respect and recognition from the rest of weaving world. Every year Bhuttico is
participating in many national and international exhibitions. The products of this
Society are not only popular with Indian customers but it is gratifying to note that their
work is popular with foreign customers also.

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 SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTH
• Continuing to use wool, its versatility, •
sustainable impacts and its sculptural
beauty for the wearer. (The wasted
yarn from wool production gets
recycled for her jackets).
• Bodice focuses on using indigenous
and traditional materials to create •
contemporary and trendy designs.
• Ruchika doesn't imitate clothing that
already exists and try to make designs
using more sustainable means.
• Always working with and promoting
the Indian artisans and their craft and
ensures fair wages for the artisans.
THREAT
• There are many ethical fashion •
brands emerging with the same
ideology and making efforts to •
approach more people at a time,
BODICE should reach out to masses •
otherwise its essence would be lost.
WEAKNESS
Her label is still not accessible
given a tough retail environment
where the Indian buyer prefers
high street mass fashion, knowing
the fact that boutique culture is
still developing in India.
The struggle may last long to
establish Bodice as the most
comfortable name in premium
everyday clothing boutique label.
OPPURTUNITY
It is an Indian brand on the radar
of a global audience.
Vogue India gave BODICE, a
platform and support to grow.
By Winning Woolmark prize, the
recognition she received for her
designs, helped her to reach out
to foreign land and participate in
fashion shows.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Since, the designer discovered the usage of Vegan Suede for one of her collections;
but many of her garments are made out of fine quality Australian Merino Wool. The
Australian wool market is coupled with strong Australian dollar that has pushed up
importing prices of raw wool to India. It is recommended that the designer can make
use of fabrics like Vegan Wool that is sustainable, not as costly as the premium quality
Merino Wool and do not contribute to animal cruelty.

Give something back- The designer can contribute as little as 5% of each of her
collection’s profits for the Artisans (those in charge of making that collection). This can
contribute to Health and education so as to support their families. This can be done
through governmental support so that the funds directly reach the Weavers and
Artisans.

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REFERENCES
 http://www.forbesindia.com/article/30-under-30/ruchika-sachdeva-bringing-lifes-
lessons-to-fashion-design/39575/1
 https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/ruchika-sachdeva
 http://www.borderandfall.com/ruchika-sachdeva-bodice/

 https://www.woolmark.com/collaboration/fashion/a-sum-of-parts/
 http://elle.in/fashion/world-environment-day-indian-designers-eco-friendly-fashion/

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