Rediscovering Karunganni Cotton and Jada Paruthi through a systems lens.
It has been years since I last wrote about textiles in depth. Looking back, I realise that as my roles evolved—from designer to product developer, product owner, and later work with fabrics and regenerative product thinking—one question stayed with me throughout my career:
What impact do the products we create leave behind?
Long before sustainability became a mainstream conversation, I found myself questioning materials, manufacturing, longevity, waste and the responsibility we carry as creators. At the time, I didn't yet have the vocabulary or the scientific frameworks to explain it. I only knew that good design should do more than look beautiful—it should create value while respecting people and the planet.
Over time, that curiosity became more deliberate. I have spent more time understanding how materials, manufacturing systems and environmental impact intersect—not only from a design perspective, but also through the lens of sustainability frameworks and evidence-based decision making. The more I learn, the more I realise that meaningful change begins with asking better questions.
As part of this exploration, I have been looking more closely at native fibres that may have a role in the future of sustainable textiles. Two fibres that particularly caught my attention are Karunganni cotton and Jada Paruthi—native fibres that may support more resilient textile systems.
This article is a personal reflection that brings together published literature, agricultural studies and sustainability frameworks, alongside reflections from my experience in product development and textile manufacturing. It is not intended to present original scientific research, but rather to explore how traditional materials like Karunganni cotton and Jada Paruthi might contribute to more resilient textile systems.
Why Karunganni Cotton and Jada Paruthi?
Most conversations around sustainable textiles focus on innovation—new fibres, new technologies and new materials.
But sometimes the answers may already exist within traditional agricultural systems.
Karunganni cotton and Jada Paruthi have long been cultivated in parts of South India and are drawing renewed attention for characteristics that may be valuable in a changing climate.
Published agricultural literature suggests that native cotton varieties such as Karunganni and Jada Paruthi may offer several advantages when compared with intensive commercial cotton systems, including:
Climate resilience: Better adaptation to drought-prone regions
Water efficiency: Potentially lower irrigation requirements
Rain-fed cultivation: Greater resilience under rain-fed farming conditions
Ecological compatibility: Compatibility with biodiversity-friendly farming systems
Genetic diversity: Preservation of indigenous agricultural diversity
These characteristics raise an important question:
Could indigenous cotton varieties contribute to more resilient and environmentally responsible textile supply chains?
Looking Beyond the Fibre
Throughout my journey of learning, building knowledge, and applying it in my work, I have learned that sustainability is rarely about a single material.
No fibre is sustainable in isolation.
Its environmental performance depends on the system around it:
- agricultural practices
- soil health
- water use
- energy inputs
- transportation
- processing
- dyeing
- manufacturing
- product longevity
- and end-of-life recovery
This systems perspective is precisely why methodologies such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) have become so important.
Rather than asking whether one material is inherently “better” than another, LCA helps us evaluate environmental impacts across the complete product lifecycle using measurable indicators.
For me, this shift—from intuition to evidence—is one of the most valuable lessons in my sustainability journey.
From Design Thinking to Systems Thinking
Throughout my career, design has taught me to ask:
“Can we make this product better?”
Sustainability encourages a different question:
“Can we make the entire system better?”
That subtle difference changes everything.
Instead of looking only at aesthetics or functionality, we begin considering resource efficiency, climate resilience, circularity and long-term environmental impact.
The designer becomes part of a much larger conversation involving agriculture, manufacturing, supply chains, policy and consumer behaviour.
Why This Matters
Globally, there are extraordinarily diverse indigenous fibres and traditional knowledge systems, including manufacturing expertise. Over time, we moved away from manual work toward industrialisation, and now we are slowly moving back toward manual approaches while industrialisation still exists. The real balance lies in understanding where manual work is needed and where industrialisation is appropriate. Because we must understand not just mindful consumption, but also mindful production.
As climate challenges become more complex, I believe there is immense value in revisiting these resources—not through nostalgia, but through rigorous scientific evaluation and modern sustainability frameworks.
If future Life Cycle Assessments, field trials and collaborative research demonstrate measurable environmental advantages, fibres such as Karunganni cotton and Jada Paruthi could play an important role in building more resilient textile systems.
The opportunity lies not in making assumptions, but in asking better questions and validating them with evidence.
A Question for Readers
If you work in textiles, agriculture, sustainability or product development, how are you thinking about the role of indigenous fibres in building more resilient supply chains?
I would love to hear your perspective.
Looking Ahead
One of the ideas quietly evolving alongside my exploration is Materia Insight—an initiative through which I hope to better understand and eventually communicate the relationships between materials, products, manufacturing systems and environmental impact.
It is still an idea in development, shaped by curiosity, learning and continuous validation.
This article is one small step in that journey.
I look forward to continuing these conversations as I learn, question, explore and hopefully contribute to building products—and systems—that are both meaningful and responsible.
A Note to Readers
This article reflects my personal learning journey and synthesises insights from published literature, sustainability frameworks and industry experience. It is not intended to present original scientific research or completed field studies. Any discussion of environmental performance should be interpreted within the context of the cited literature and would require further empirical validation through future research.
Dipika Alagamperumal Chandrasekaran
Creative & Product Development Professional | Exploring Material Systems, Circular Design & Sustainability
Founder, Materia Insight (In Development)
