So glad you landed here.

An honest answer is that even with a lot of hard work and dedication, no brand can truly be 'sustainable' and ethics are very personal. In addition to providing you with full disclosure of how each of our pieces came to be, we follow a ‘design each step’ method to minimise environmental impact and help create positive change in the fashion industry. 

From inception, we only design clothes that will safely biodegrade or that can be recycled at the end of their life. We seek out suppliers and partners that share our values and keep researching on innovative raw materials to use. Not only do we reveal our entire supply chain from fibre to finish, we also help customers extend the life of their clothes via educatory steps to care and repair garments.

The lotus fabrics are extracted in Myanmar and procured from the southern parts of India and are later twisted and woven by hand in Himachal Pradesh, India
Calotropis fibers are extracted in Auroville and is dyed in our workspace in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
Kala Cotton is procured from the Kutch farmers and weavers and is dyed in our workspace in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India.

We source our fibers from different states within India because those capabilities and industries simply don’t exist in Himachal Pradesh. That said, the Gaddi wool still exists here if you know where to look, so we will continue to use that in our winter designs.

Kala Cotton of Kutch is the original pure Old World cotton of India. This crop is organic, rain-fed, has a high tolerance for both disease and pests and requires minimal investment. It is both resilient and resurgent in the face of stressful land conditions, which in turn helps it form a strong, coarse, stretchable fiber that is often used in denim. BT cotton, on the other hand, is a genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically modified pest-resistant plant cotton variety, which produces an insecticide to combat bollworm. It disrupts the natural process of gene flow. The pests become resistant to the toxins produced by these crops resulting in a decline of crop production.

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Our patterns, test fits and final garments are made in and dispatched from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.

For a garment to be sustainable, every tiny detail has to be taken care of. Even seemingly invisible components like buttons, labels, threads, interlining and dyes must meet our lifecycle criteria.

• We get our buttons handmade in Uttar Pradesh, India from coconut shells.
• The dyes that we work with are completely plant based and are sourced from Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India.

The vegetable dye that we use is made from:

• Yellow, Marigold
• Pink, Sappan
• Galnut, Beige
• Blue, Indigo
• Green, Indigo + Marigold
• Eco print with Guava leaves
• Myrobalan Eco Print with Olive dye
• Brown, Walnut Shells

We request certificates from each supplier that claims organic status, and keep each shipment certificate on file. The Lotus fiber is certified from EPFC, a certifying body in Myanmar for Lotus Fibers particularly.

We request certificates from each supplier that claims organic status, and keep each shipment certificate on file. The Lotus fiber is certified from EPFC, a certifying body in Myanmar for Lotus Fibers particularly.

The idea that the way we create and consume is fundamentally flawed and that there is a better way, is exactly why Whakato exists. We will not create any product that doesn't have a clear life trajectory. Each item we produce must first have a lifecycle assessment to determine its overall impact, and every Whakato piece must be able to be recycled or composted safely back into the earth.

Over the years, we have had our manufacturing in-house to directly employ our garment workers and ensure their wages were meeting living wage standards. We pay wages well above the base pay rate of India, 2024. We believe that all people should be paid a living wage in accordance with Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code and the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Four Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

Yes. We've heard a lot of chatter that organic cotton can use the same amount of water as the plain old, soil degrading, pesticide consuming kind can. That may be true, but only for the first 1-2 crop rotations. After that, the soil becomes much better at retaining water (using around 30% less water than conventional) and is generally in better condition due to its superior ability to store carbon. In fact, of all the organic cotton farms in the world, 70-80% of those farms rely on rainwater alone. So organic cotton (or any other fiber for that matter) really makes a difference.

Lotus is grown in waterbodies in Myanmar. The stems hold a lot of water in them even after cutting, which is why it uses very minimal amount of water in the fiber making process. After harvesting, Lotus stems are wrapped with water soaked towel all the time to prevent from drying. Two to three pieces of stems are put together on a small table and rolled with hand to get threads. The fibers are washed with water after spinning.

We are not on very friendly terms with plastic at Whakato. It’s mostly avoided. Our packaging involved used denims, cottons and canvas. And some hand drawn doodles, ofcourse.

We are based in Sheela Chowk, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.

Return & Shipping policy

If you really don’t want that cutie anymore, then yes! 99.9% of every Whakato garment is bio-degradable and compostable due to the organic nature of the fabrics, chemical free dyes, buttons, buckles and component composition. And finally, this garment will not biodegrade easily in landfill which is toxic and oxygen-starved. Bio-degradability requires oxygen! So, bury that shirt out in the garden, or cut it up and place in your compost, don't just chuck it in the bin.