Isha Punja: Building an Ethical Clothing Brand in my Dorm Room to Debuting My Designs at NYFW

My second guest is Isha Punja, the 24-year-old founder of Hut Mentality, an ethical clothing brand sourced by Indigenous and rural artisans in India. The brand's clothes are made by hand and natural materials, such as organic cotton being hand printed with vegetable dyes. Isha's designs have been notably featured in British Vogue and at New York Fashion Week. With India still facing the devastating effects of its second COVID-19 wave, I was curious to find out how Isha’s business was doing. And especially because all her artisans are based there, I wanted to learn how she and her team have been weathering this pandemic-related storm. Recently, her business experienced some controversy on the video-sharing app, TikTok, when she defended herself from someone’s comment saying, quote, “why do you put white people in our clothes though?” Before you hear my full chat with Isha, I invite you to grab a drink of your choice, and let’s spend happy hour together. Keep up to date with our show on Instagram at www.instagram.com/haapihourpod Send us your thoughts and any guest recommendations to [email protected] Music from ⁠Epidemic Sound⁠. Like the music? Find my playlist with the music I've used ⁠here⁠. And, if you sign up for Epidemic Sound through the playlist link, you'll get 1 month for free!