Keebee Organics is a sustainable, ethical, and organic clothing brand for children of ages 0-10 years. It offers 100% organic clothing certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) that confirms the organic status of the raw material and guarantees a socially and environmentally responsible manufacturing process. Devoid of harmful chemicals, their products are hypoallergenic and safe for both, your child and the environment.
The brand creates products keeping in mind the comfort of kids, along with the ease of dressing for the parents.
Keebee Organics was founded in 2016 by Vandana Kalagara from Hyderabad who realised that there were no baby skin-friendly organic clothing brands in India. Being a Fashion Design graduate from NIFT, Hyderabad, and FIDM, Los Angeles, she wanted to start a brand to fill this gap in the kidswear market.
Despite being the largest producer of organic cotton, Indian markets lacked awareness about organic cotton and its products. Vandana started the brand with 10 products and later expanded the collection and the brand with Smruti Rao from 2018.
Inspired by a child
Speaking about the inspiration behind Keebee Organics, Vandana says, “I always loved designing for little ones. After my daughter was born, I took a break from my profession to take care of my little one. I only did occasional freelance designing. When my daughter started Nursery school, I once asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her response shocked me – she told me that she will also be staying at home like her grandmother and me!”
She recalls, “This gave me a big kick to restart my career. I saw that there were not many skin-friendly and eco-friendly clothing options available in the Indian kidswear market. I did a lot of research and Keebee was born. Our brand vision is to convert as many consumers into buying sustainable and eco-friendly products as possible.”
But the journey was not without challenges. It almost took Vandana a year to do all the groundwork to start the brand. Government registrations, finding organic suppliers, GOTS certified manufacturers, etc., were hard doing all alone. No one in her family or friends came from this background. “I did everything, learning and falling along the way. The main obstacle was finding GOTS suppliers and manufacturers. Back in 2016, not many GOTS manufacturers did domestic orders. Even among them, very few did small quantities, which restricted my designs and styles,” she points out.
GOTS certified
Keebee’s premium organic collection includes basics and ethnic wear for boys and girls in soft, breathable cotton. The basics range from onesies, jablas, dresses, swaddles, towels, to undergarments, whereas ethnic wear includes kurta sets for boys and lehenga sets for girls. The brand has collections in both knitwear and wovens.
The brand buys all its fabrics from GOTS certified suppliers which ensures the quality of the materials and the traceability of the raw materials.
Vandana adds, “All our knit styles are manufactured in GOTS-certified manufacturing units. Some of our woven styles are also manufactured in GOTS certified manufacturing units. All these styles carry the GOTS certification of the manufacturer.”
Keebee recently started its own manufacturing unit. She buys GOTS certified fabrics and manufactures a few styles and customised orders in this new facility. Vandana shares, “These products don’t carry the GOTS logo on the tags as our unit is not yet certified. We are still learning the production process. We are working to get our unit GOTS certified.”
Has Covid-19 changed the scenario in organic clothing?
Vandana observes, “From the day I started till now, I noticed that there is a lot more awareness in consumers about organic clothing, certification, etc. As for Covid-19, I think people have started thinking before buying, which is a good thing. Buying a few good quality eco-friendly and sustainable products is better than buying a lot of cheap products which are made with non-degradable materials. And people have also started encouraging local (Indian) brands which is a great thing for the organic apparel market in India.”
As for exports, the company does occasionally get orders from other countries. They outsource Keebee’s products and sell in their country. So far the brand has exported to Singapore, Australia and USA.
Outlining her future plans, Vandana says, “We are trying to expand our product line so that the customers don’t feel that there are only a few options in organic clothing. We are planning to take our brand to international customers too. Once the Covid-19 pandemic is settled we are planning to expand offline too.”
You can get your hands on these organic, healthy, super cute kidswear on https://www.keebee.in and on other e-commerce websites including Firstcry, Myntra, LittleMuffet, Amazon and more.
Also read: Shruti Malhotra: From pearly whites to microgreens
