We had the good fortune of connecting with Sugandh Agrawal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sugandh, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
As a fashion and animal lover myself, I found a huge gap in the market when it came to high quality, luxury animal friendly handbags. Having a background in Industrial design and experience working with brands such as Victoria’s Secret, KitchenAid, JennAir I started on a journey to solve this problem and developed my first collection of vegan handbags in the heart of Manhattan’s Fashion district. A lot of time, resources and energy were spent of researching the right fabrics to work with, finding factories that would work with non leather materials and understanding who was my target audience. I knew there had to be more people like me out there who had not made the connection that their personal ethics and fashion habits were so misaligned. How could I wear leather products when I wasn’t eating any animals as a vegetarian. GUNAS was my effort to bridge that gap and start a line of durable, o0n trend yet classic fashion pieces that would allow my Gunas Girls to choose their ethics without compromising on style.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
A piece of art only has a commercial value when someone is willing to buy it. That was the thought process with which I started GUNAS. Each bag is a piece of art which I create keeping my consumers in mind. I design for my muse, the GUNAS Girl. She is kind, funny, loving, well travelled, worldly, loves animals and wants to shop for thoughtfully created products that speak to her personal values and who she wants to be. It was quite a long journey to really figure out who she was and what were her needs. I met a lot of girls who loved what I was doing. I heard all their feedbacks, really spent time learning about their lifestyle, evolving my own and turning from vegetarian to vegan during the process. I went from manufacturing in New York city, to China and then starting my own production facility in India to moving back to the United states and focusing once again on the brand and outsourcing the manufacturing. It’s been such a journey of trial and error and carving my own path in an industry that was practically non existent. Sustainable fashion wasn’t much spoken of when I initially started. What I’m most proud of, is being one of the first few designers that really brought awareness in the industry about the importance of transparency in the supply chain and avoiding using animal by products in the name of fashion. I’ve always followed the slow and steady path of doing what I do as I believe that anything that grows too quickly is bound to fall. I’m happy that my brand prevailed through the pandemic and continues to grow.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There are so many places in NYC that I’d go to! From sipping cocktails at the rooftop bar at 230 5th Ave, to walking the streets in Soho and karaokeing in Korea town; these are some of my favorite things to do in the city. A stroll in Central park and people watching or going to the MET and checking out art are also things I love to do.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to give a shoutout to so many people within the vegan community and all my shoppers who really helped build this brand and give hope to my dream of creative a kind fashion brand. In particular I’d like to thank animal welfare organizations such as PETA, Catskills animal Sanctuary and Woodstock Animal Sanctuary for really being my early adopters and supporters for the brand. Also the team at Macy’s for really recognizing a vegan brand as the best in the sustainable fashion category during the handbag awards in New York City. Last but not the least, I’d love to give a shoutout to Emily Blumenthal of the Handbag Awards who saw so much potential in me and my brand.

Website: www.gunasthebrand.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gunas_newyork/

Image Credits
GUNAS USA Inc.

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