Apurva Kothari No Nasties

Fibre2Fashion

13-06-2025

At No Nasties, sustainability is built into every stitch, seam, and shipment
When Apurva Kothari left his Silicon Valley consulting job, he was not chasing trends—he was answering a moral call. Moved by reports of farmer suicides in India, particularly among cotton growers trapped in cycles of debt and chemical dependency, he founded No Nasties in 2011—India's first Fairtrade-certified, 100 per cent organic clothing brand. What began as a personal response to an agrarian crisis has since evolved into a pioneering force in ethical fashion.
Built on direct partnerships with small-scale farmers in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, No Nasties ensures fair wages, promotes organic farming, and champions carbon-negative practices. With a focus on transparency, vegan principles, and a real-time tree-planting tracker—now crossing 234,000 trees—the brand is reshaping how fashion can intersect with climate responsibility and consumer trust. In this conversation with Fibre2Fashion, Kothari shares the journey of No Nasties, the realities of building clean fashion in India, and how saying 'no' to fast fashion can become a radical, regenerative act.
Sustainable fashion is often criticised for being accessible only to a niche audience. What do you think is holding back large-scale adoption of conscious fashion in markets like India?
Clean fashion is expensive—and that is the problem. It takes time to grow organic cotton. Yields are lower, the process is slower, and there are no chemical shortcuts. That drives up costs—but also protects the soil, the farmer, and the future.
I started No Nasties in 2011 after learning about farmer suicides in Vidarbha. The root cause? Bt cotton—GMO seeds pushed by Monsanto and backed by the government. They promised big yields but delivered debt and despair. Over a decade later, our organic farmers are finally earning fair prices. That is the good news. The hard truth? Fast fashion is still winning. It is cheap, easy, and everywhere. In a country with a rising middle class and growing consumer appetite, ethics often lose to affordability.
Until we stop treating clothes as disposable, sustainable fashion will remain niche. We do not need more stuff—we need better stuff. Made well. Worn longer. Valued more.
There is growing conversation around greenwashing in the fashion industry. How can consumers truly differentiate between genuinely sustainable brands and those just using sustainability as a marketing tool?
Ask better questions. We do it when buying a car, a phone, or even groceries. Why not clothes? Where was it made? Who made it? Who paid the real price for that ₹199 tee? What river did the dye destroy?
Greenwashing thrives on apathy. Brands can only fool the people who are not looking closely. If you care where your money goes, make it ask for answers.
Certifications like GOTS, Fairtrade, and OEKO-TEX are increasingly common. But do you think the industry relies too much on third-party validation instead of direct accountability?
Certifications like GOTS, Fairtrade, and OEKO-TEX matter. They set a much-needed baseline. They help weed out the worst offenders and give consumers a shorthand for trust. But they are not the full picture. A label does not tell you who made your clothes, how they were treated, or how much damage was done along the way.
At No Nasties, we are working to go beyond the tag. We track the carbon footprint of every product—from farm to doorstep—and offset it by 300 per cent. So far, we have removed, by offsetting 620907.96 kg of CO2e.
We believe accountability should be visible, not just certified. Show me your factory. Show me your soil. Show me your numbers.
How are innovations in materials—like bio-based textiles or textile recycling—reshaping the future of sustainable fashion, and what excites you most in this space?
The most exciting thing? Waste is turning into raw material. Old clothes becoming new ones. Fabrics that leave no footprint. Fashion finally learning how to clean up after itself.
At No Nasties, we are setting up our own Lab—a space to experiment with upcycling, bio-based blends, and circular design. Because sustainability is not enough. It is time fashion evolved.
What challenges did you face while introducing Fairtrade and organic practices in the Indian apparel industry?
When we started No Nasties, no one was talking about Fairtrade or organic in fashion. It was not trendy—it was confusing. We had to explain what GMO seeds were, why soil health mattered, and how a t-shirt could be 'fair'. It felt like shouting into the void. But it was a conversation worth starting. And today, we are proud that what was once radical is now baseline. The industry caught up. The vocabulary changed.
Now we are pushing the next conversation: carbon offsets, climate-positive action, and regenerative and circular fashion. We are building new solutions that meet the customer where they are—simple, traceable, meaningful. It is not easy. But we have done it before. And we are doing it again.
What does your commitment to carbon neutrality involve on a practical, day-to-day level?
At No Nasties, we track the carbon footprint of every product—from farm to doorstep—and offset it by 300 per cent. So far, we have removed over 620,900 kg of CO₂e. That means partnering with verified platforms like Veritree and Green Story to ensure real trees are planted and real offset projects are funded around the world.
On the ground, it is detailed SOPs—recording everything from garment weight to electricity usage. Working with Fairtrade and GOTS-certified factories helps too—there is a standard of care built into every step.
We also have a growing pipeline of sustainability projects in motion—from returnable packaging to building a fully circular system at No Nasties.
It is not just about offsets. It is about better systems. And we have an amazing team making it happen, every single day.
In what ways does your brand engage with vegan and plastic-free principles across operations and packaging?
At No Nasties, every detail is intentional. Our clothes are made with 100 per cent organic cotton. Buttons? Coconut shells and corozo nuts. Elastic? Natural rubber—not synthetic.
Our packaging walks the talk too: 100 per cent recycled paper boxes, recycled paper tags, and soy-based, earth-friendly inks.
No plastic. No animal products. No compromise. Because sustainability is not just a label—it is built into every stitch, seam, and shipment.
How does No Nasties ensure fair wages and ethical working conditions for the farmers and workers in its supply chain?
We work exclusively with Fairtrade and GOTS-certified factories—because third-party accountability matters. But we do not just go by paperwork. We visit in person. We meet the teams. We walk the floors to ensure that working conditions are genuinely safe—no exposure to harmful chemicals or toxic dyes, access to healthy food, and crèches available on-site.
For us, it is not just about audits—it is about energy. We believe in building relationships based on trust, transparency, and shared values. If the vibe is not right, it is a no.
Fair wages and safe working conditions should be the baseline, not the bonus. And we are here to make sure they are.
How did the idea for the Real-Time Tree Count come about, and how has it been received by customers?
We are always looking for ways to make our sustainability efforts real—and easy to understand. We already work with verified platforms like Veritree and Green Story that fund impact projects across India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Kenya, Haiti and more—from mangrove replanting to large-scale reforestation.
The real-time tree count was the next step. We plant three trees for every product sold, and we wanted that to show up live on our website—so customers can literally 'see' the impact they are part of. Your real-time impact on climate-change.
The response? Incredibly positive.
Up next: showing exactly where those trees are planted. Because at No Nasties, we believe it is not real unless it is visible.
What sets the Bloom collection apart from previous No Nasties ranges?
For Earth Day, we wanted to really focus on our Live Tree Counter. We worked backwards from there and built the idea of 'EVERY DAY WE PLANT TREES AROUND THE WORLD. EVERYDAY THE EARTH BLOOMS.'
ON THE SEASON: It is summer! It is our season, our way of right as No Nasties—a brand designed to reverse climate change—to launch a collection perfect for the 40-degree sweltering heat. It is a statement—as a planet heats up, we continue to cool it down with our tree planting drive and carbon negative existence.
ON THE PRINT: We love vintage prints and retro vibes in general—we are 90's kids! So, when it came to the summer collection, we went back to our moodboard with chintz and summer flowers and developed our signature Bloom print with Illustrator Nupur Panemanglor. We really wanted to deliver the idea of "EVERY DAY WE PLANT TREES AROUND THE WORLD. EVERYDAY THE EARTH BLOOMS.'
The next best thing to fauna is flora! That is where the idea 'bloomed'.
With physical stores in Assagao, Panjim, and Bengaluru, how important is in-person retail to your brand's growth and customer experience?
In-person retail is everything. There is nothing like watching someone 'feel' our fabric for the first time and instantly get why it matters. The softness, the quality—it clicks.
But it is more than just texture—it is trust. Our stores are where people meet the team, hear the full story, and see the humans behind the brand. That connection? You cannot replicate it online. Because real change only happens when we are in this together. And it starts face to face.
Lastly, with climate change accelerating, how do you see the role of fashion evolving—from being a major polluter to potentially becoming a force for environmental restoration?
Fashion helped break the planet. It can help heal it. At No Nasties, we have gone from organic clothing to climate-positive impact. Every product's carbon footprint is tracked—and offset by 300 per cent. We plant three trees per order. Over 237,900 so far.
It is not a rocket science. It is just intention, technology, and action. Say 'no' to plastic. No to toxic dyes. No to unfair prices. Start by saying 'no'. Start by planting one tree.
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.