Creativity has always been a driving force in my life. This is largely due to my upbringing, as I come from a family of artists. My dad is a musician, my mom is a hairdresser and my sister is a special effects makeup artist, and the art forms that I have always been drawn to are film and fashion.
Growing up, my grandma showed me many of the classic movies, often telling me that I’d love the costuming before we began the films. Watching these movies in her bedroom allowed me to step outside of myself and live hundred of lives. After each film ended — after I’d lived another life — I was transported back to my grandma’s bedroom with her sitting next to me, the grandfather clock chiming in the next room and the afternoon sun peeking through the blinds. I’ve found that the best films, the best fashion shows and the best works of art possess the ability to change their viewers. This kind of art inspires and alters, leaving its audiences feeling differently than they were found.
I too was left feeling differently after speaking with Shivam Punjya, the founder and creative director of the sustainable and ethical handbag company Behno. Contrary to what his stylish round-framed glasses may suggest, fashion was not always at the forefront of Punjya’s mind, he said. Before starting Behno, he was academically focused on global health, global poverty and women’s health. In grad school, he wrote his thesis on women’s health in India, focused on many of the women who participated in the textile industry.
Shortly after conducting his research, in 2013, the Rana Plaza garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed. According to Grow Ensemble, this tragedy took the lives of over 1,100 people and injured over 2,500. Punjya saw the impacts of this on garment workers after watching “The True Cost,” a 2015 documentary about the social and environmental implications of the fashion industry, which included the Rana Plaza factory collapse. In a way, this documentary changed Punjya, just as films have changed me many times before. The people harmed in the collapse were similar to those Punjya had worked with in India, the victims predominately being female garment workers.
Punjya was deeply disturbed by the way in which factories were run and found his career path altered. He said that he felt the need to find a better way to work with garment workers and artisans. This personal connection to garment workers is at the forefront of Punjya’s brand, which was created with a focus on the artisans who are responsible for creating Behno’s product.
With documentaries like “The True Cost” and factory collapse tragedies, the fashion industry’s impact on the world and its people is no secret, and Punjya notes that these issues are intersectional. The fashion industry uses the planet’s finite resources and spits out pollution in the form of textile waste, greenhouse gases and more. Just as it exploits the environment, the industry also exploits garment workers. These workers are underpaid and overworked, with their safety disregarded in the name of profit, he said.
I’ve grappled with this reality. How could the art form I love so much wreak such havoc on the planet and its people? Through Behno, Punjya proves that it does not have to. For example, Punjya has directly responded to the issues that the fashion industry poses to the environment by creating the Behno standard. The areas of focus are health, garment worker mobility, family planning, women’s rights, worker benefits and eco-consciousness. Amongst the meaningful social initiatives within this standard, the pledge to ensure safe infrastructure stands out. This speaks directly to Punjya’s experience learning about the Rana Plaza collapse and illustrates the genuine action he is taking to prevent a similar tragedy.
The Behno standard also addresses environmental concerns. Notably, the brand has partnered with Canopy to ensure that it does not source any materials from ancient or endangered forests. Using the Behno standard, the brand is able to make beautiful, handcrafted bags that are created by skilled artisans. Like movies, Behno’s bags are works of art.
“The True Cost” changed Punjya, as all impactful works of art do. He took this change and created a global change for each garment worker and artisan at factories that employ the Behno standard. Punjya has made a change for myself as well, as I now know that the art form I love so much does not have to wreak such havoc on the earth and its people. I feel a connection between my family of artists and Behno’s family of artists. By centering the brand around garment workers and the planet, Behno proves that fashion does not have to be a detriment to the world or the people who live in it.
