ABOUT
Nicobar is a modern, mindful, design-led lifestyle brand from India. Since the inception of the brand, they’ve been focussed on creating a modern Indian way of living, dressing, and looking at the world. This is at the heart of everything Nicobar does. Their clothing and homeware has a distinct and contemporary Indian design signature. With this, they intend to bring joy into everyday living. Nicobar is guided by conscious design and constant improvement, and want to create beautiful, functional pieces for customers who seek connection with the brands they choose.
IMPACT
People
Nicobar works with ethical factories and partners only with people who look after their people. From their relationships with their factory partners to carefully-considered social and environmental factors during sourcing and production, Nicobar has always demonstrated transparency. Although not perfect, they constantly take small steps towards ensuring that mindfulness remains a core value at Nicobar.
Product
Nicobar aims to create a line that champions easy, effortless style; clothing that can be worn for years and homeware that’s with you for life–that’s where quality & mindful fabrics come into play. Their Core range is almost entirely organic cotton and the rest of their range includes, Tencel, sustainable linen, cupro modal, recycled wool, and indigo denim. Additionally, their homeware is made of recycled wood, paper mache, bamboo fabric, recycled glass, and banana fiber.
Packaging
On their third birthday, Nicobar made a big and meaningful change: an 85% reduction in plastic packaging. They now use crumpled paper, egg trays, shredded paper and corrugated sheets instead of air pouches and foam pouches. For one collection they even used seed and elephant dung paper instead of paper from trees for product tags. Still not yet 100% plastic-free, Nicobar is always actively working on innovative packaging ideas.
Planet
Nicobar has been taking small steps towards making responsible choices from process to finished product. They use their platform as a way to nudge modern, young Indians into a more conscious way of living. They don’t use polyester and mainly use organic cotton and other sustainable materials. Nicobar makes their woollies of recycled wool, while they make their denim using minimal water and energy (they call it ‘green denim’). What’s more, their kidswear line, Little Nico, is made entirely of leftover fabric. These little bits from produced collections are then cut, dyed, detailed and sewn. Similarly, Nicobar’s home products include wooden serveware made of discarded teak tree roots, banana fibre table runners, and bamboo baskets.
Principles
Nicobar’s philosophy is simple: make products that are designed to last, not trend-driven, inspired by natural design and materials, and influenced by the culture they grew up in. Mindfulness is a core value: “being aware with kindness and compassion of the impact of [their] actions and choices.” They’re committed to building a great brand, and to offering customers products that let them feel great about their purchases.
