More than a decade ago, sustainability was not a buzzword, but for Apurva Kothari, it was a premonition that came as a personal reckoning triggered by the rising number of cotton farmer suicides in Maharashtra. The origin story of No Nasties is unlike any other startup tale of spotting trends and entering the market. Instead, it was to build a bridge between the farmers and the right marketplace to practice fair trade. “Honestly, I don’t think I chose fashion as much as I chose the cause; it just became the medium to express that,” Kothari says.

Kothari left his lucrative job in the U.S., where he worked as a software engineer for 12 years, and decided to come to India to understand the root cause of the crisis, which was caused by the vicious cycle of debt from GM cotton farming, lack of cooperatives, and exploitation. But the farmers knew the solution—organic farming and fair-trade cooperatives. What they needed was not help on the ground, but access to a market for their organic cotton. 

India is the second largest producer of cotton in the world, yet it has to import as it is more viable to buy other competitive cotton for a lower price. According to the Cotton Association of India (CAI), India's cotton imports for the 2024–25 season are projected to more than double to 33 lakh bales (each weighing 170 kg) from 15.2 lakh bales in the previous year. This increase is attributed to a decline in domestic production, which is estimated to decrease by over 11% to 291.35 lakh bales, and heightened competition from cheaper Brazilian cotton, priced around 7% lower than Indian cotton. 

For Kothari, it was answering a simple question, “Could clothing be a force for good?” The answer was No Nasties, launched in 2011—a brand rooted in organic cotton, fair trade principles, and radical transparency. Over a decade later, as sustainable fashion gains momentum in India, Kothari’s commitment to a “planet-positive” future saw gears changing to the increasingly loud alarms of climate change and environmental pollution. 

The fashion industry is one of the largest contributors to environmental damages, accounting for nearly 10% of all global carbon emissions, outpacing pollution due to transportation. Around 700 gallons of water are used to make a single cotton shirt, and 2,000 gallons for a pair of jeans. Fast fashion, which is all about mass production using cheaper materials, is led by temporary trends that change more often than seasonal collections on the runway, apparently generates 92 million metric tonnes of textile waste every year. Even India’s contribution to the number is staggering—a projection of 7.7 million tonnes for 2025. This comes at a cost of the growing fast fashion market in the country, which is currently valued at $13.5 billion, and is expected to nearly triple by 2032, growing at over 16% annually. 

“No Nasties is an outlier in this space,” Kothari explains. For him, sustainability is not a marketing buzzword but the DNA of the brand. It is framed through two lenses: social and environmental sustainability. Social sustainability means no one, people or animals, are exploited, and environmental sustainability means ensuring today’s choices don’t damage the planet beyond repair, according to him.

But this definition of sustainability does not bargain, as it is an expensive affair. A quick search on the internet can take you to online stores to check out sustainable fashion stores, only to be a little discouraged by the price tag, thereby discounting efforts to save the planet. And Kothari is no stranger to this; in fact, he elaborates on the math behind the price tag, saying that sustainability has its costs—fair trade, organic materials, and responsible supply chains. “But we don’t pass those costs onto consumers as premiums. Our price range is competitive, not inflated because of our sustainability efforts. That’s a hard-earned lesson. People may believe in our values, but we still have to meet them where they are, both financially and emotionally, to truly bring about change,” he says. 

Kothari says that he still prices his products competitively to both high-end fast fashion and other sustainable fashion brands, and cuts on the margins, expecting to penetrate a larger consumer base. In the previous year, No Nasties generated a revenue of about Rs 4-4.5 crore. The brand has a customer base of around 50,000, mostly buying through the website. No Nasties also has retail stores in Goa and Bangalore, intending to expand to other metropolitan cities soon. He expects that sustainability will be financially viable for everyone if smaller brands can achieve economies of scale and if the larger brands take steps towards environmentally-friendly practices, as they already have the foundation factored in. 

Kothari states that profitability is not his real goal, instead, the numbers that matter to him more are how much carbon negative a T-shirt can be. For him, it is a battle against the idea of “greenwashing”, a term that means practising false advertising of products as “eco-friendly” or “organic” to attract more customers. That is where Kothari’s inner software engineer wakes up and decides on how to make data about their cause available to the customers and promote transparency. “Greenwashing is one of the biggest risks, not just for us as a brand but for society. It means companies are lying about their intentions, manipulating people into thinking they’re buying a good product when they’re not. It’s like selling cookies that are “made with oats” but 98% made of something unhealthy,” he says. 

As to be transparent, customers can track trees planted, carbon offset, and product origins through verifiable data on the No Nasties website. As of now, the brand has planted nearly 2 lakh trees both in India as well as other countries like Madagascar and Mozambique, and is eying to expand to Kenya and Senegal as well. The brand’s Circular Closet initiative, which is currently being revamped, aims to close the loop by enabling customers to return clothes for resale, refurbishment, or recycling. Every product is designed for reuse, repair, or responsible retirement. Kothari intends to experiment with returnable packaging made from recycled plastic, reusable up to 20 times, and plans to expand into kidswear, home textiles, and even sustainable food and coffee, integrating sustainability into everyday life. The brand is also in the works of exploring projects with organic cotton farmers on soil carbon sequestration, a process of infusing soil with carbon to make organic carbon that is beneficial to plants. 

For No Nasties, this year’s theme of World Environment Day does not faze them, as combating plastic pollution was already wired into their philosophy. Every product is made from 100% organic cotton sourced directly from Indian farmers, and as a Fairtrade-certified company, it ensures products are produced and traded according to social, economic, and environmental standards. From low-impact dyes to natural trims and plastic-free packaging, even the buttons are crafted from coconut shells or corozo, eschewing synthetic materials completely. 

Despite progress, Kothari is acutely aware of the race against time. Changing consumer behaviour is slow, and transforming global supply chains is even harder. “We need collaboration between consumers, brands big and small, and governments,” he says. He advocates for policy reforms like mandatory carbon footprint disclosures on apparel, akin to nutrition labels on food, to push accountability and level the playing field. As Kothari puts it, “This is bigger than fashion. It’s about rethinking how we consume, how we value the planet, and how we treat the people who make our clothes.”