Non-leather doesn’t have to mean non-chic. Luxury vegan brand GUNAS was created with both animals and the environment in mind, and founder Sugandh Agrawal continues to lead the handbag industry in using leather alternate materials.
The Knockturnal sits down with Agrawal to discuss her passion for the brand, and what’s next with her latest collection.
The Knockturnal: What originally inspired you to found the brand in 2009?
Sugandh Agrawal: I wrote my business plan for GUNAS during the final year of my Master’s program at Pratt in 2009. It all started with me having met another handbag designer. It sparked my interest in the fashion accessories world, and as I always wanted to do my own business, I thought why not start a handbag brand. I had little to no experience in that field but I had a strong design skill set and a business family background. I took a few handbag-making classes in New York and also interned for a local handbag label that specialized in exotic skin bags. My internship lasted less than two weeks. Their bags were beautiful but when I came face to face with raw animal hides in their stockroom, I could not fathom how and why humans would kill an entire crocodile or ostrich or cow just for fashion. I knew there had to be more people like me who loved fashion and animals. I took that up as my cause and decided that if I am going to make handbags, they would have to be beautiful but leather-free. I launched my first collection in September 2010 at the Nolcha Fashion Week in New York. The entire collection was handmade in New York’s fashion district using high-quality eco-friendly leather alternatives derived from the upholstery fabric industry. The market was just not ready for the concept but I helped lay the seeds of the foundation of this thought process. The press loved it and I caught the attention of all sorts of mainstream media.
In order to make the bags more affordable, I moved the production to China. I visited the factories and did two rounds of production. My sales picked up but during my visits, I realized that the factory conditions were terrible and the workers seemed so overworked and unhappy. I thought to myself, ‘if I’m caring so much about the animals who die for fashion, why am I not caring about the people who make my fashion?’ After I realized the need to pay attention to this side of my business, I moved back to India briefly and turned my parent’s garage into an artisan studio. I worked with local craftsmen and produced the collection in-house so I could control the entire manufacturing process and ensure my workers were happy and taken care of.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the process I soon realized that my focus had to be brand building. That was where my core philosophy was regarding animal and human rights. So I shifted back to the United States and continued working on building the brand while outsourcing the manufacturing to an artisan studio in Korea. The collections have gone through a lot of changes. I started out with extremely edgy designs, but then I toned it down and made the styles very casual and more appealing to a larger audience while using cruelty-free materials. Now I’m bringing back the edginess since that’s what’s going to help my brand stand out in the pool of vegan brands.
The Knockturnal: Shifting from China-based production to creating your own factory in India and now producing in Seoul, how do you balance overseeing a factory and designing the handbags?
Sugandh Agrawal: It was definitely easier to do when I was much younger and footloose! But I’ve always believed in a work-life balance. After getting married and having my daughter, I’ve figured out different ways to continue and oversee my operations. Technology is definitely been a big help. I now visit my factory in Korea twice a year. I have local partners that help coordinate and translate as well.
The Knockturnal: What was the process like for finding new vegan alternatives to animal leather, like mulbtex?
Sugandh Agrawal: It’s been a long and arduous journey figuring out the best leather alternative. It was challenging to find something that would be luxurious, durable and still something factories could work with. From consulting material experts to looking at different industries for solutions, I finally found nylons and high-grade polyurethanes used in upholstery for furniture to do the job. From there, customers started to demand for plastic-free solutions to vegan leather. That’s how I stumbled upon Mulbtex. It is an ancient technique used in Japan and Korea to make paper from mulberry tree pulp.
The Knockturnal: Where does your design inspiration come from?
Sugandh Agrawal: I’m inspired by many things. Mostly, my love for the animals and nature. I draw inspiration from cool product trends, classic fashion icons and my travels around the globe. My background as an industrial designer and my passion for human psychology has a huge influence in everything I do.
The Knockturnal: Congratulations on winning Macy’s Best Handbag Designer award in 2018! What is the partnership with Macy’s like, and how has been the transition from direct-to-consumer to wholesale retail?
Sugandh Agrawal: Thanks! Macy’s launched a small capsule collection at their Herald’s Square store. It was a long process to become a vendor. I went through a week-long workshop at Macy’s for new vendors and businesses. There is so much paperwork involved in becoming a vendor with a store like Macy’s. For a small business like mine, it can be quite an intimidating process. While it’s great to have scaled to that level, I still enjoy selling directly to my customers through our own online store as well. With a big box retailer, it gets easier to target new audience that might not be familiar with the brand or the concept. From an education and awareness point of view, Macy’s has been a game-changer for GUNAS.
The Knockturnal: What’s next in store for GUNAS?
Sugandh Agrawal: I’m currently working on launching skincare products under the GUNAS umbrella. The products I introduce follow the same careful integrity in the curation of sourcing and ingredients as I do with the handbags. I want to give my customers the peace of mind that every product they buy from GUNAS meets their ethical standards. So look out for our pure organic olive oil soap bars from Greece and plant-based skin glow serum produced in Korea. My goal with GUNAS is to evolve into a complete lifestyle brand that sets the bar high in terms of being cruelty-free, sustainable, vegan and ethical.
For more information on GUNAS, visit their website.
