Prosus-backed Virgio pivots from fast fashion to sustainable clothing
Virgio—which raised $37 million in funding last year–aims to make fashion pro-planet while maintaining the essence of trends.
Less than a year after raising $37 million in Series A funding, fashion brand has moved away from fast fashion to establishing a more eco-friendly and sustainable brand.
The Bengaluru-based company will unveil a new version of the brand this week. It will focus on circularity and innovation in order to change the ecological impact of fashion, the company said in a statement on Monday.
On October 7, a LinkedIn post by Virgio’s Co-founder and CEO Amar Nagaram suggested that the brand has shut down. “Never thought that we’d come to these crossroads in exactly a year of launch of Virgio. We are overwhelmed with gratitude as we reflect on the incredible journey we've shared with you over the past year,” the post said.
“With over 100,000 passionate individuals like you, we've forged a vibrant community that has supported us at every step. Your enthusiasm, feedback, and loyalty have been instrumental in our journey, and we cannot thank you enough. However, today marks a significant turning point. Thank you for being a part of our community, we loved being a part of your wardrobe,” it added.
However, Nagaram clarified on Monday that Virgio—backed by investment companies Alpha Wave and Accel—will not shut down but simply change its model to focus on circular fashion.
“As one of the fastest-growing fashion startups, Virgio’s customer base grew over a lakh within the first year of its launch. This year marks a renewed commitment from Virgio to build fashion better,” the company statement said.
Co-founded by Nagaram (former Myntra CEO) in 2022, Virgio said that it has always catered to the ever-changing contemporary fashion needs of consumers, and will continue to address its sophistication and modernity. However, it will now use natural fabrics to ensure they last longer, are good for the community, and can be recycled after their usage, as per the statement.
“While fast fashion is agile, trendy, and caters to the growing needs of the young blood in India, it also promotes over-production and over-consumption. Fast fashion companies use harmful fabrics and exploit labour to cut corners on pricing and quality fuelling the market with what will be sent to landfills. It’s a global crisis and we all are witnessing it. That’s why we’ve made a conscious choice to move our entire efforts to build a circular fashion brand,” Nagaram said in a statement.
Virgio earlier used technology throughout the design, manufacturing, and purchasing process in an effort to streamline the entire fashion lifecycle with a focus on Gen Z and late millennials.
Edited by Kanishk Singh
