From Concept to Conscious Collection: Your Startup Guide to Sustainable Fashion

In an industry often dominated by fast fashion and fleeting trends, building a brand rooted in ethics, longevity, and sustainability is a bold and necessary move. For fashion and beauty small business owners looking to create with purpose, the path to sustainability can feel overwhelming—but it’s also one filled with opportunity.

To help demystify the journey, we spoke with Noorin Khamisani, founder of Outsider, an independent ethical fashion label that’s been championing conscious design since 2009. Outsider offers timeless, versatile pieces for the modern woman—crafted from luxurious sustainable fabrics, made ethically, and designed to last.

In this interview, Noorin shares her top advice for designers launching their first sustainable collection—from navigating fabric sourcing and certifications to reshaping the design process itself. Whether you're just starting out or looking to refine your brand's values, her insights offer a grounded, practical roadmap for building a business that reflects both style and substance.

Follow Outsider on Instagram HERE and Facebook HERE

For a fashion designer looking to create their first sustainable collection, what would be your top three pieces of advice to get started?

• Thorough research is an essential starting point, from your fabrics to your trimmings, through to the manufacturers you are working with, you need to know where everything comes from and how that aligns with your values as a sustainable fashion designer.

  
  

• Record keeping, it sounds boring, but keeping all the info on your sourcing is also really important so you can always come back to this if asked, where did that come from etc.  Transparency is not possible without the the record keeping.

  
  

• Focus on one thing at a time, you may not be able to make everything 100% sustainable in your first collection, but you can get one thing perfect and then develop from there.  For me it was really nailing the perfect cut of a shirt dress or the perfect soft organic cotton sateen fabric early on and then building from there.

Ensuring the sustainability of fabrics and materials can be complex. What practical steps and resources would you recommend a designer utilise to verify the eco-credentials of their chosen materials? Are there specific certifications or questions they should always ask suppliers?

There are a lot of certifications out there and depending on what and where you are sourcing they will vary, so this comes down to a value led research process for a brand.  Personally I source GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified organic cotton fabric, that’s the most reliable certification I could get in India.  But if you are sourcing for example from hand weavers or artisans, they may not have certification, but if you have visited them and feel comfortable with their approach, you should tell their unique story and work with them.  Certification is expensive and it’s not a perfect system, so you have make a decision based on your research.  Being curious and asking questions as you do your sourcing is the most important step, whether or not certifications are important to you or your clients will depend on the answers to those questions.

Follow Outsider on Instagram HERE and Facebook HERE

In your own business, what are the core principles or practices you have implemented to guarantee that your clothing remains both high-quality and sustainable throughout its lifecycle?

My focus is always on design for longevity, I want to create pieces women can wear and enjoy for as long as possible.  To ensure their success I source high quality sustainable fabrics, certified where appropriate and I have them made with ethical manufacturers.  The people that make my clothes are also small businesses and I have visited the factories on many occasions over the years.  I also test all my fabrics to figure out the best wash care, most of the fabrics I use are machine washable but I often recommend a delicate cycle to protect them.  Some are eco-dry clean due to the dyes or delicate nature of the fabric.  I also partnered with a platform called OWNI which allows my customers to later resell their garments linked to my website.

Does the design process itself differ when you are consciously choosing eco-friendly alternatives for fabrics, trims, and production methods? If so, in what key ways does a designer need to adapt their approach when prioritising sustainability from the outset?

For me the design process often starts with the fabric, really exploring the qualities of the cloth, what can it do, how will it best be used and draped on the body.  Then I love to look to the past and reimagine essential pieces that are successful as timeless classics.  So for example, a shirt dress, a wrap dress, a tuxedo blazer, I study them and reimagine them for the now with the sustainable fabrics I want to work with.  So there are boundaries I set myself for my design process, but they have always been inspiring to me, they pose a bit of a challenge sometimes, but my values as a designer are there to keep me grounded.  Any sustainable fashion designer needs to be clear on their priorities and then adapt their design process accordingly, there are many approaches to be explored.

Follow Outsider on Instagram HERE and Facebook HERE

Many perceive sustainable and eco-friendly fashion to be more expensive. In your experience, is this always the case, and what are the key factors that contribute to the cost? Ultimately, why do you believe the investment in sustainability is worthwhile for both designers and consumers?

There is a big issue with how the fast and now ultra fast fashion industry has devalued clothing, as Li Edelkoort pointed out in her Anti-fashion manifesto, garments sold at a price lower then a sandwich highlights the seriousness of the issue.  So I think the problem is that we are not being charged appropriate prices for our garments, if it’s cheap, someone down the supply chain is paying the price.  Sustainable fashion is actually priced correctly, because it aims to ensure that from the fibre to the finished garment, everyone is paid fairly for their work and has safe working conditions.  In my case with Outsider, my pieces are also designed to last many years, if you calculate the cost per wear, my pieces are not more expensive then a fast fashion item designed for a 3 month use phase.  It’s all in our perception, and I guess again thinking about out values, as individuals.  Does it feel good to you to buy a dress that you can wear for years to come?  Does that feel better than buying a fast fashion piece?  I hope so!

Noorin Khamisani's journey with Outsider underscores that building a sustainable fashion brand, while demanding diligence and a values-driven approach, is entirely achievable. Her emphasis on thorough research, meticulous record-keeping, and a focused, step-by-step integration of sustainable practices offers a tangible blueprint for aspiring entrepreneurs. By prioritising quality, ethical production, and longevity, businesses can not only minimise their environmental impact but also cultivate deeper connections with conscious consumers.

For those venturing into sustainable fashion: Beyond ethical production, how can you innovatively engage your community in mindful consumption?