[Alumni of the Month / March 2023] Saba ALVI

Q: What led you to choose France as your study destination? 

A:For my bachelor’s degree, I pursued textile design at NIFT in India, hence Paris being one of the top five fashion capitals of the world was a no-brainer as a choice for a master’s degree in Luxury and Fashion Business Management. Besides the geographical placement of France, the ease of movement within the Schengen area, and the 2 years APS definitely played a role as well. Also, going to school at ESMOD Paris, which is one of the oldest and most reputed French design schools, didn’t hurt either ;)

Q: What was your experience like in France?

A: Well, being in France has been a great learning curve for me. While acting as a starting point of my entrepreneurial journey, France has also presented me with several opportunities to step out of my comfort zone and to work towards realizing my full potential. Now be it launching and growing my own startup Fix That Shirt in the heart of Paris, or the intellectual growth that comes from being a part of another rich philosophical culture, the whole France experience has no doubt been rewardingly pivotal in my journey as an individual.

Q: What will be your advice to a student who wants to come to France for their higher studies?

A: So, I have got three:

1- Learn the language. A good level of French would open so many doors for you be it in professional life or your personal growth.

2- Be agile in your approach. The key idea is to be open to new things or situations and willingness to adapt accordingly.

3- Have a mental roadmap. Know what you want to accomplish, put a timeline, set a budget and then stay true to it.

Q: What is ‘Fix That Shirt’ ? How do you relate it to the idea of sustainability and circular fashion?

A: Fix That Shirt or Fits for short, is a platform that is simplifying fashion repairs and resizing. The core value behind the startup is to make fashion more environmentally sustainable and socially responsible by acting as a facilitator in changing our present day fashion consumption habits.

For context, 80 billion pieces of clothing are produced each year and 73% of those are discarded in landfills amounting up to 50 million tons of textile waste. Now just by extending the lifespan of our existing fashion wardrobes, we have the potential to bring down the annual fashion carbon emission by 25% and also lower the textile waste in landfills. 

Fits was incorporated in Paris during the first lockdown in 2020 where we started to create upcycled facemasks as a solidarity project with Secours Populaire Paris. We have come a long way since and currently we are based at Station F, accelerated by Incubateur HEC. We have recently received the BPI France grant and also won the title of the top fashion tech startup with an impact under the European Union’s Fashion For Change Program.

Q: What do you expect from the France Alumni network in India?

A: I believe that France Alumni could be a great tool in helping young international students to navigate their way into the French ecosystem by acting as a commonplace platform to build a network and exchange ideas.

For more information regarding Fix That Shirt, you can connect with Saba here and you can follow Fits’ insta or Linkedin page @fixthatshirt.