Fashion’s wild side: on athleisure label, I Am Animal

Six years after transitioning to a vegan lifestyle, entrepreneur Kunal Avanti launched I Am Animal, a PETA-approved apparel brand, to commemorate World Animal Day (October 4). “The vegan journey put in focus the lifestyle changes I should be making — be it in terms of food, the products I consume or the clothes I wear,” says Avanti, whose first collection for the athleisure label, titled Zero, comprises loose-fit T-shirts, joggers, and hoodies crafted in Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)-certified fabrics.

Designed in collaboration with Mumbai-based design school, Istituto Marangoni, it features earthy shades — ghost white, mercy black, old army green, savanna burn and sub-yellow. “Savanna burn draws inspiration from the Darvaza Gas Crater that’s been burning for decades in the Turkmenistan desert. The idea was to create a burnt orange shade to reflect the fury of nature,” he says. As for the brand’s sustainability features, he says the elastic in the joggers is made of natural latex, they use seed paper tags, and a part of their sale proceeds go to four to five sanctuaries across India, like the Kalote Animal Trust in Maharashtra.

₹975 – ₹2,499 on iamanimal.com