Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
Prachala Anupmeya : The concept of cloth upcycling is not new. I have seen my grandmother, my mom and my aunts reusing old clothes or discarded clothes converting into some other useful products. I am just giving the concept a trendy touch.
Now the question is how I got this concept to start my new journey of life. It was one fine day that the idea of "Cloth up-cycling" came to mind. The day on which I was with my 2 friends discussing what to do with clothes which are still good but we don’t use and even don’t want to donate. Everyone loves shopping and buying new trendy and fashionable clothes. We keep on filling our wardrobes with lots of clothes. We all have lots of clothes bought during festivals and many occasions, which we don’t wear or wish not to wear anymore, neither we can throw it away. It's what we call “Love it but can’t wear it”. So, We came up with the idea of making some goods out of it. And that's where I thought of taking the idea of reinventing unused/old/waste fabric. And I initiated a one time upcycling drive at our apartment with my 2 friends.
Our one time up-cycling drive was for a cause and to encourage people to reuse and reduce waste. So we held an exhibition at our apartment on Women’s Day 8th March, 2014 One D-day we had a lot of crowd and appreciation. And we decided to continue and take our one time Upcycling drive to the next level. And we sowed the seed of #Reinvention.
Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Reinvention Motifs
Prachala Anupmeya : Reinvention provides the solution for old/outgrown/unused/discarded clothes and fabrics. From a simple grocery bag to memory blankets/quilts , Reinvention provides you the service to convert your piece of clothes or fabrics to some useful products.
Some of the most ongoing products are :-
Memory Blanket with kids' outgrown clothes - You can donate your kids clothes to some needy person but still there are many clothes which you want to keep as a memory.
Denim Products - Denims have their own charm. Pouches, Backpacks, Slings, Travel Bags, Storage boxes, Rug mats, Dining Mats and many other products we have created with denims.
Saree Quilt and Saree boxes
Return Gifts
And definitely, in this pandemic situation, Reinvention has done lots of fabric masks.
Great Companies: What makes Reinvention Motifs different from hundreds of other Upcycling and Designing firms ?
Prachala Anupmeya : No doubt there are many Upcycleres there who do cloth upcycling. Each upcycling firm is unique with their concept.
Reinvention is stuck to its concept of "Re-Inventing" and "Go Green". We provide our clients with solutions for each type of cloth which are in some way, not in use and discarded. We at Reinvention, try not to waste a piece of fabric. Even with the scrap pieces we create some useful products.
Each and every product we do not sew or produce...... we create them with our love and passion.Especially with the kids' outgrown clothes, we try to create memories forever.
Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face?
Prachala Anupmeya : Like any other new venture, we also have faced a whole lot of challenges. One of our biggest challenges was convincing people to reuse their old clothes, because while some people were enthusiastic about the idea, some were reluctant. Even people who appreciate our idea, do not want to buy end products as those were made from used clothes. People started giving us weird grins while checking our Upcycled products.
So, to convince those people, we decided to let our work speak. We created sample products and exhibited those products. We also arranged some demonstrations and workshops for people to experience our concept of : Reuse and Reinvent.
Another challenge I faced was after 3 years, when my both partners left work for some personal reason. The situation, shook me for some moment with their decision. I accepted this as another challenge of life and till date I am continuing my upcycling firm with the same passion, same dedication and more hard work.
Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Reinvention Motifs?
Prachala Anupmeya : Reinvention was started with a very small amount of capital and with 3 friends. Slowly it started growing. Reinvention is always very supportive to women from weak financial backgrounds. We hire them, train them. Looking forward to the future of
Reinvention, I have never aimed to earn crores of rupees. Our aim is based more on awareness than financial. Reinvention has clients from all the major cities of India. We are looking forward to reaching across the globe with our concept of "Reuse- Recycle- Recreate and Reduce"
Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Prachala Anupmeya : Every new thing that is happening has its own challenges. To shine like gold, you have to pass through many difficult phases. "Never Give up" as "Winners never Quit and Quitters never Win".