With Deepavali on its way, we're already thinking of how to ace the Festival of Lights in style and comfort! Founder of Nimbu, Singapore's first circular fashion brand, shares her top tips for festive dressing in the hot hot heat
We love slow fashion, and going preloved for our kids’ clothes is a particularly fantastic choice – kids outgrow their clothes so quickly, so they don’t get as much wear out of them before having to buy new clothes in a bigger size. Here’s where Nimbu comes in – mompreneur Kriti Gupta started the brand to encourage parents to return the clothes their kids can no longer wear, and exchange them for kidswear in bigger sizes!
Keep reading as we chat with Kriti about her amazing brand, and her expert tried-and-tested tips for getting the kids dressed for Deepavali in our Singapore heat!
What’s your favourite thing about the clothes you offer on Nimbu?
My favourite thing has to be our unique prints and the breezy comfy fabric they come in! All our clothes are made of premium cotton that is perfect for Singapore’s hot and humid weather. When my son was born, I had a hard time looking for light cotton clothing in fun vibrant prints but could not find many options. That was the inspiration behind Nimbu’s first collection – gorgeous designs and prints that are unique and in the comfiest softest cotton from India. Last and probably most importantly, each piece is handcrafted with love! From printing the fabric using traditional hand printing techniques to stitching to quality checks, it is all a manual labour of love that goes into making our pieces.
We love that Nimbu offers customers the option to return their clothes after they’ve outgrown them! How exactly does this work?
Nimbu is Singapore’s first circular fashion brand focusing on kids! Kids outgrow clothing at a rocket pace adding to millions of tons of waste each year. I faced this problem personally when my son turned one and I could not find an avenue to reuse the whopping 50kg worth of outgrown clothes. That’s when I knew I wanted to be part of the solution, not the problem.
Any item purchased from Nimbu can be returned once kids outgrow in exchange for credits that offset the next purchase. Returned items go into our preloved collection. Customers can return their kids’ preloved clothing, toys, shoes or books by shipping to us or dropping off in our bin at The Green Collective in Funan. Once we receive, customers get instant credits to purchase anything on www.nimbu.sg.
The best part is, we are not brand specific but condition specific. This means that parents can drop off brands including H&M, Zara, Uniqlo and even boutique, tailor-made, non-branded clothing as long as it is in good condition for another family to love. Our condition requirements are simple and straightforward.
How does Nimbu quality check preloved items before putting them up on the preloved page? What happens to clothes that don’t make the cut?
We carefully curate all submissions for quality control. We also have a dry cleaning partner on-board to take care of those beautiful pieces that need a little refresh. We do not care about the brand but we are strict on the condition of the items. Once items meet our QC standard, they go from ‘bin to rack’ but if an item does not meet our expectations, we allow for customers to get the items picked up within seven days after which we proceed to donate them or send them for recycling.
You have the prettiest pieces for kids! Can us mums and dads get them in our sizes too?
We love twinning and seeing families dressed in matching Nimbu wear. We have recently added mums and dads’ matching ethnic wear as well as casual shirts, dresses and even PJs to match with the kiddos, all in comfy breathable cotton!
What are your top tips for getting the family decked out in style for Deepavali?
I can share my top three ways to look great this season without spending a lot!
1. Shop your own wardrobe, swap with friends or buy preloved to save the planet and the wallet! I love mixing and matching styles from my own wardrobe to look different each year, like pairing a plain tank top with a fun vibrant skirt with a heavy necklace and you’ve got a completely new look from that old lehenga set that had been sitting in your wardrobe for five years.
2. Plan matching outfits or colours to get some memorable family portraits. We have an annual tradition of having a home photoshoot each Diwali so it is a MUST in our household to don similar colours/outfits. That was also one of the reasons why Nimbu has so many options for family twinning!
3. Always pick comfort over style, especially for kids. I have attended way too many parties where after an hour one could hear little kids screaming to get out of the uncomfortable clothing. Cotton is best for sweaty playful kids, especially for a hot and humid country like Singapore. We have always prioritised comfort in all our collections, to make sure kids find our festive wear so soft they can even sleep in it!
What are your favourite kid-friendly accessories for Deepavali?
Simple bangles, a little colourful bindi on the forehead for little girls is more than enough to highlight their smiling faces in festive wear. I prefer to keep jewellery to a minimum, so no earrings or necklaces as those are difficult for little ones to carry. For hair, we have some lovely fabric based crochet hair clips and danglers that will surely complement the whole look, again without compromising comfort. We also stock our own collection of accessories at Nimbu.
Ok – we’re sold! Besides the website, where can we find Nimbu in stores?
The website definitely has the largest variety of both casual and ethnic wear. We have some lovely partners who stock our products. Select pieces from our latest Festive Edit are available at Design Orchard and The Green Collective at Funan. We also have some pieces from our previous collections available at OG Albert and People’s Park at great prices!
Congrats on launching your gift boxes! What does each one include?
Our gift boxes are so close to my heart. They were hand drawn by my very dear friend Anjali who is an amazing illustrator by night! Each of the little lemons (‘Nimbu’ means ‘lemon’ in Hindi) is wearing our festive designs. We have recently launched two Diwali gift hampers for all the multicultural kids out there – a Classic hamper and a Luxe hamper. Both come with our signature ethnic wear, a crochet Ganesha for good luck & prosperity and cute handcrafted accessories for little girls. The Luxe hamper has additional goodies like a travel passport game for our little global citizens to be busy during the holiday and a book explaining the traditions and meaning of Diwali.
These gift hampers are thoughtfully curated, perfect for Deepavali gifting for friends and family and they come beautifully packed in our gift box! Beyond Diwali, we also have the most unique newborn gift hampers for new mums and dads and a Christmas gift hamperwith cute block printed organic cotton PJs, a crochet Santa and Christmas hanging ornaments to delight!
What else can we expect from Nimbu in the future?
This year has been remarkable in terms of our offline footprint. From being an online only store in 2023 to having four retail locations, we have significantly grown! We have expanded our product range and continue to bring in relevant kids products like everyday casual wear from unisex shirts and coord sets to cute dresses and kaftans for girls and women, accessories, handcrafted toys, clever games, engaging activity kits, baby essentials like bamboo onesies, sleepwear and more to delight our customers with superior quality sustainable kids products, all with our signature circular promise! You won’t find these unique outfits in certified organic cotton and wonderful block prints anywhere else and we are so proud of our artisans and partners for having created some of the most beautiful designs without compromising on comfort. These make for everyday or party wear as well as unique birthday presents or Christmas gifts!
In the near future, we plan to raise our very first angel round to be able to grow our team, our operational footprint and develop the technology to power our circular operations better. We are in talks with several angel investors to find the best fit. Our main target for 2024 is to go international! We are exploring a few locations and hopefully our overseas customers would be able to shop Nimbu in their own country very soon.