It was one of those afternoons that felt just right.
The kind where the sun warms your back, the streets carry a familiar rhythm, and the smell of chai floats in the air like an old song.
Ann and Elly were in their usual spot - a quiet bench outside their favourite corner café. Cups in hand, shoes kicked off , they watched the world go by.
Just across the street, a boutique window glowed with color.
Ann’s ears perked up.
“Elly, look at that scarf! It’s like someone bottled a rainbow and poured it onto fabric.”
Elly smiled, slowly stirring his cup. “It’s lovely,” he said, “but have you ever thought about where it came from?”
Ann squinted across the road. “Umm… the shop?”
Elly laughed. “No, before that. Who made it? What it’s dyed with? What all went into it?”
Ann tilted her head, thinking. “Never really crossed my mind. Clothes are just… clothes, right?”
Elly leaned in, her voice soft but curious. “What if they weren’t just clothes? What if they had stories to tell , about the people who stitched them, the land where the cotton grew, even the rivers that changed color for their sake?”
Ann blinked. “Wait… rivers?”
“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “Some dyes are so harsh they end up in water bodies. And making a single scarf like that might use up more water than we drink in days. The person who made it? Might not even get enough money to buy lunch.”
The scarf still shimmered in the window, but something about it had changed.
At least for Ann.
“That’s kind of sad,” she said, quietly.
“It is,” Elly replied, “but here’s the good part. We don’t have to keep buying these stories. There are better ones out there - where cotton grows without chemicals, where colors come from plants, and the people who make the clothes are treated with care.”
Ann took a slow sip of chai, thoughtful now.
“So, fashion doesn’t just speak through how it looks. It speaks through how it’s made.”
“Exactly,” Elly smiled. “It can feel good on your skin, and still be kind to everything around it.”
They sat a little longer than usual that day.
The chai cooled, the street got louder—but something had quietly shifted.
That afternoon, it wasn’t just tea they finished.
It was the beginning of something different.
Beginning of KORU
A journey, one outfit at a time.
🍃 Try This at Home
Next time you're shopping, ask:
“Who made this? What is it made from? Is there a better version of this?”
You might be surprised by the stories waiting to be worn.
💚 Coming Next:
“The Closet of Forgotten Clothes”
Ann gets buried under a pile of barely-worn clothes—and Elly has a genius idea that’ll turn it into the best fashion show ever.