Innovation

The fashion industry produces nearly 20% of global wastewater and contributes to 10% of global carbon emissions due to its long supply chain and energy-intensive production. According to the UN Environment, this industry is the largest polluter in the world – second to oil. McKinsey stated, that clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2004, and the number of garments purchased per capita between 2000 and 2014 increased by about 60 percent. The streamlined production cycles have enabled the consumers to refresh the clothing quickly, yet the life span of these clothing items is about half as long as it does 15 years ago – which implies that these garments are highly disposable, discarded after just seven or eight wears.

As the pioneer of sustainable fashion social enterprise in Indonesia, SETALI is seeking to break the take-make-waste model, turning it into a rather circular loop. It aims to make sustainable living culture, not just a trend. By introducing sustainable fashion to the public, SETALI exhibits that sustainable living can start from your own home, through the simplest form of an unused pile of items that most people just throw as garbage.

SETALI initially started as a foundation named Sumbang. in, which then changed into Salur and later turned into SETALI INDONESIA. Previously, Sumbang. and Salur gathers and accepts donated goods from consumers and funneling them to various charities in need. However, many of these donated clothing are unwearable due to their bad conditions and it does not necessarily reduce the issue of wasted clothes. Providing free goods for the people will not be sustainable as it still works as a one-way concept and the people might not like and hence, might not use them for the long-term after receiving the goods.

Thus, SETALI came up with a different concept. The business process consists of Collecting, Sorting, Charity Sales, and Upcycling. In the Collecting phase, SETALI gathers its materials from public clothes donations via dropbox or drop-in to its warehouse. The company charged IDR. 100.000,- ($7.12 USD) for the donation process. Paying to have the clothes sorted out and accepted by SETALI is intended to filter the consumers who really want to provide the goods and share the same values as SETALI does, otherwise, there will be many cases where the clothes donated are not decent for reuse or upcycle.

The clothes received by SETALI will then go into the Sorting process to determine their usability. It will later branch into two subsequent processes, Charity Sales or Upcycling. Charity Sales is where the decent quality items will be sold via bazaar at a low price, mostly around IDR. 20.000,- to IDR. 30.000,- ($1.5 – $2 USD) The main target consumers for these items are the housewives community in the surrounding warehouse area (Cinere, Depok). Selling the clothes for a low price provides an opportunity for those housewives so that they can buy and resell the clothes to earn additional income for their families. Pre-loved clothing in very good conditions with being sold via garage sales at the appropriate price.

The items that are of bad quality, will then go into the Upcycling process where the employees of SETALI will craft the pieces into a new, reusable product for the consumers that can be sold for a new given price. The company implements the circular economy concept to gradually minimize waste and decrease the consumption of finite resources.

The concept of SETALI ensures that the company will be distributing goods to the people who really need them and will utilize them as to how it should. SETALI opens several channels for its product sales, mainly through bazaar or garage sale events or through its social media.

To fulfill its vision and mission, the company split its direction into several brand houses, which represents each of their values and standard goals. To side with sustainable living and to keep an ecological balance to preserve the quality of life of the society – which goes with the standard number one, Planet – the company implements membership and thrift shop program under the main brand SETALI. The program aimed to reduce the ecological footprint of new clothing production through responsible consumption.

The company always works by balancing the business side and creativity to ensure a good working environment for its workers and also to enable them to explore their creative side, giving them room to grow as an individual and as a community. It also promotes the importance of collaboration, fulfilling standard number two – People – which reflected through its various upcycling collaboration project with artists and communities.

As for standard number three, Profit, is implemented through its other brand house – SIGHT FROM THE EARTH by SETALI, where the upcycled fashion items will be sold. It offers an added value where the clothing piece is only one of its kind, making it feels more special for the consumer since no other people can have the same item. SETALI also offers customized items tailored specifically according to the consumer’s taste by upcycling their own waste at an affordable price under this brand.

The company put their purpose in the center of everything they do, aiming to provide better economic opportunities and sustainable future for all. Hence, the company creates RELUNG by SETALI, a workshop platform to empower and inspire others to follow SETALI's footsteps for a more sustainable lifestyle. This program aligned with the company standard number four, Purpose. SETALI also actively promotes their journey and creates a campaign regarding sustainable living through their social media.

Inspiration

SETALI INDONESIA was built based on its founder’s experience – Andien Aisyah, a well-known Indonesian singer – when she was overwhelmed with her own pile of unused clothing. She saw the issue in fashion waste and started campaigns to donate clothing to those in need and to recycle it for other purposes. SETALI believes that the value of sustainability is to prolong the lifespan of the goods, to give meaning for unused items to be of use again.

Intan Anggita Pratiwie, the Co-founder of SETALI, initially started fusing denim with Ikat, an Indonesian weaving technique under her brand SIGHT FROM THE EAST to raise money about inspirational people in Eastern Indonesia. The brand then evolves into an upcycled clothing line that utilizes fabric waste from local brands, product designers, and clothing donations from people, thus becoming SIGHT FROM THE EARTH, after she joined SETALI in 2019.

She is inspired by a lot of things – her journey of traveling, meditations, movies that she watched – but mainly the inspirations came to her from her own surroundings. A simple case of her home, where she saw the need for decluttering and the potential to give a new purpose for her unused items. Thus, she does a lot of exploration to find ways on how those items can be of function again, turning them into fashion items, textile art, or home goods.

Overall impact

The continuous efforts and initiatives that SETALI has made throughout its journey since its establishment have yielded a significant impact. It managed to grow its communities, able to reach over 20.000 people via its social media alone in promoting sustainable living through circular fashion. In 2020, SETALI worked together with Greenpeace Southeast Asia for its 20th birthday, producing 15 upcycled, limited fashion items for auction. The profit will be given to both Greenpeace and SETALI INDONESIA for environmental protection and sustainable fashion campaign.

The company has also managed to make numerous collaborations with local fashion brands, where SETALI gathers their fashion waste to upcycle it into new products. It has inspired many others on the importance of reducing waste and responsible consumption.

Moreover, SETALI has also opened up opportunities for employment for small individuals. The tailor of the company, for instance, was once a jeans makeover craftsman that goes from one neighborhood to another neighborhood with his sewing machine attached to his bicycle. He was employed by SETALI and later grew together with the company, learning how to sew fashion items proficiently along with the other staff as well.

Currently, the company is preparing a collection themed “Decluttering Our Home” for Paris Fashion Week 2021, utilizing unused home and living goods as its recycling materials to prolong its function.

Business benefit

With its business strategy that employs a circular concept from consumers to consumers, the company managed to cut costs it ought to spend on acquiring materials needed for upcycling. Contrasting to other business concepts where normally the company will have to spend expenses for the cost of materials, SETALI is able to gain profit through donation and sorting fee process from the consumers.

The values and believes that SETALI implemented in its company and its day-to-day operation further opens up opportunities to expand its reach, enabling the company to make domestic and global collaborations with others that shares the same values to promote a better future for all. The company is able to promote its impact and strengthen its role as the pioneer of sustainable fashion in Indonesia.

Social and environmental benefit

SETALI is empowering local businesses, communities, and individuals that it touches with its business operations. It provides a platform for local fashion businesses to be more responsible for their production waste and creates opportunities for its surrounding housewives community to gain additional income by reselling SETALI’s donated goods. It also employs local tailoring community, giving them chances to elevate their economic welfare. SETALI improves the living standards of the people involved, both on the giving ends and receiving ends of the spectrum.

The company also has also reduced the issue of clothing and textile waste, wastewater, and carbon footprint from fashion production through its upcycling program. SETALI is currently in collaboration with Carbon Ethics. For every purchase of SIGHT FROM THE EARTH by SETALI product, the consumer will also be purchasing a mangrove tree, in which the growth can also be monitored by the consumer themselves under the Carbon Offset program.

SETALI INDONESIA aims to bring prosperity in a righteous way, to bring positive impacts for every aspect that it touches along its journey to promote sustainable living through fashion acts.

Interview

Intan Anggita Pratiwie, Co-Founder