Ecentric- A step forward to sustainable and slow fashion with India’s first hemp-based brand

• ByStartupStory     |    October 9, 2022

In an exclusive interview with Startup Story Media, the founder of Ecentric, Mr. Salendra Gupta said, “ For a brand to grow exponentially, it is very vital to have people on board who’re very passionate about their work and have an undying urge of learning something new everyday.”

Salendra Gupta, an engineer and  IIM Calcutta graduate born and brought up in Surat founded Ecentric,  India’s first hemp-based sustainable fashion brand in September 2020. Ecentric was a brainchild of his passion and dedication to creating something new and building a brand that he can call his own with the learnings from his various internships and two unsuccessful attempts at business before. In his previous businesses, he assimilated that he wanted to tap into the industry with fewer entry barriers and minimal competition. He also did have a clear vision of making a brand in order to make his own space in the e-commerce business sector and be fully focused and dedicated to it.

COVID- A blessing in disguise

In 2020, when the world was brought to its knees by the pandemic and the focus on sustainability, health and wellness escalated, that’s when Salendra found a loophole and converted it into a full-fledged and successful business. The textile industry is the second most polluting industry in the world and this very thought combined with a lot of research made him come up with a brand that focuses on making sustainable living affordable for the masses starting with fashion in the pandemic that forced people to shop online and their new found love for environment-friendly products. Acknowledging this gap in the clothing industry, he decided to launch a sustainable fashion brand which is environment-centric, hence the name Ecentric. Their entire line of men’s and women’s clothes is manufactured from industrial hemp, a sustainable and environmentally beneficial fibre. The majority of Indian online fashion customers may find Ecentric, the first hemp clothing line, on Amazon and Myntra. It is one of the few brands with a practical selection of everyday, casual, and formal clothing. The organic lifestyle is becoming more and more popular as people learn to live sustainably, but in order to truly impact the future, it must be embraced in all spheres of life, not just in relation to food and personal care. Everyone’s life revolves around clothing, and the fashion business significantly increases the global carbon footprint. Thus, they think that environmentally conscious fashion is the way of the future and that it is crucial for everyone to live in a community that values the environment.

What makes them unique? 

Their uniqueness is derived from “HEMP,” which is their fundamental component in manufacturing sustainable apparels. Hemp is the most sustainable plant on the earth; it doesn’t require any fertilizer or pesticide for its growth and prevents soil erosion too. It also requires 4 times less water than cotton. Hemp fabric looks like linen but doesn’t wrinkle like it and feels exactly like cotton. Hemp clothing is more comfortable, breathable and softer than other fabrics. It also retains colour longer and lasts more washes than clothing made up of other fabrics. In addition to being better for the environment, wearing clothing made of hemp is better for you. Hemp cloth is healthier for your skin, has a longer lifespan than other materials, and protects against UV radiation. While incredibly absorbent and lightweight, it is also one of the softest and coziest fabrics. Hemp supporters refer to it as the second layer of your skin.

They only partner with GOTS-approved suppliers for the fabric requirements and make sure the hemp is cultivated organically. Also, for stitching of their apparel, they’ve partners who stitch for the marquee brands in the country so that the quality of both the material and stitching remains uncompromised. As a brand, they highly focus on building culture and trust building. 

3 Pillars of Ecentric

Environment Centric: Ecentric as a brand focuses outrightly on the environment from their procurement to manufacturing to delivery of goods to their customers. The core value of the brand is raising awareness about sustainable and slow-moving fashion and building a space wherein people use eco-friendly and sustainable goods for all their needs.

Customer Centric: They have got a no question asked return and exchange policy. They work with the best logistics partners available in the country and deliver goods the very next day in metro cities and 3-4 days in tier 2&3 cities. Their customer return is only around 7-8% which speaks volumes about their amazing products.

Data-Centric: Whenever they plan to launch a product, they use their data to track down what the customer wants or what current trends in the market are and that’s how they based the launch of their very new collection that comprised only of darker colours according to their customer choices.They track customer product delivery timelines and improve that further to enhance the customer experience and also track data to reduce the RTOs and customer returns.

Salendra Gupta during an exclusive interview with Startup Story Media said, “ When building a brand, two things are the most important ones- Patience and Perseverance.”

Customer Experience and Challenges

The customer experience for the brand has been great till now with a rating of more than 4 on all the e-commerce platforms that they are listed on. They have got a repeat purchase of around 15% and a yearly repeat purchase of around 30%. The biggest validation came in from one of their customers when She invested in the brand in a round of angel funding.

Due to cannabis, there is a strong sense of taboo surrounding the hemp business in India, which is unfortunate. Making their potential clients aware of hemp through their environment-friendly packaging wherein they send a thankyou stating the differences and advantages of hemp clothing and how it differs from the infamous marijuana has proven to be a significant challenge. Also, when they first registered on Amazon and Myntra, they couldn’t find an attribute named “hemp”, which talks about its little or no awareness. The brand helped platforms like Amazon,Myntra to add the fabric attribute called “hemp”.

Growth and Future Plans

Ecentric has seen a tremendous journey of growing from a brand with just 100 orders in their 1st month to 2500 per month now and growing at an ever-increasing pace. Their NPS is around 70% which is better than most of the established players in the market. It also describes the brand as having a good amount of loyal customers and their rate of customer satisfaction is quite high. Their RTO is around 3-4% which hails their upswing as a brand. The brand has also been listed on Amazon Launchpad Program and Myntra for Earth among the 70 brands listed so far- in their special flagship program where Myntra is promoting sustainable products on their platform.

They were bootstrapped till April this year when they raised their first angel funding round. They are looking to raise a larger funding round through VCs to increase the product portfolio, explore international opportunities and to create awareness for sustainable products through marketing efforts and increasing their customer base.They also wish to expand their niche into home furnishing because it’s one of the biggest industries in India currently and it pivoted on linen which is very similar to hemp fabric therefore, they see home furnishing as the next big thing for them.

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