No new clothes, but make it 5 years: Faheem Ruhani

Mumbai-based Faheem Ruhani, Managing Editor at The Conscious Empire, has bought no new clothes for over 5 years, now. ‘The last time I went shopping for clothes was in February of 2019,’ he reveals. ‘I bought four shirts at a Zodiac sale. Even as I was buying them, I knew I didn’t really need them.’ Ruhani got home to realise there was no space, in his stuffed-to-the-brim cupboard, for the shirts he’d just bought! ‘That was the day—23^rd Feb ’19—I decided I wasn’t going to buy new clothes for a year,’ he says.

That one year of no new clothes has now become five. And Ruhani has no intention of breaking the chain anytime soon. We spoke to him about how he did it, the demons he fought along the way, what he learnt, and what we can learn from his story.

‘The first year was tough.’

In 2019, Ruhani was the VP of Public Relations at a large film company. ‘Money was no object, making it easy to give in to the temptations offered by the various apps,’ he says. ‘I was also attending a lot of events, so there was always an excuse to buy.’ But Ruhani realised enough was enough. And then, in March 2020, the pandemic hit. ‘Suddenly, there was no need for new clothes,’ he laughs. ‘Where was I going to wear them and go!’ The pandemic years were easy enough. ‘Priorities had changed,’ he says. ‘I could do with less, and I found there was very little I truly needed to live.’

The next two years were a breeze, and before he knew it, Ruhani hadn’t bought any new clothes for three whole years. ‘Then I got this kink in my head: Can I push it one more year,’ he says. ‘And I did!’ Ruhani has now added yet another year to the tally.

‘I started to focus on the water crisis.’

As someone who’d lived many years in a Mumbai locality with plenty of water troubles, Ruhani realized he needed to do something. ‘I read somewhere that it takes tons of water to produce a single shirt,’ he explains. ‘That was a wake-up call.’ Ruhani started paying more attention to the many ways in which our clothes contribute to the water crisis. Including the way we do our laundry. ‘I discovered that handwashing in a bucket (not under running water) is more water-efficient and also makes my clothes last longer,’ he says. ‘I am conscientious about how I separate my laundry and how I dry it—darks in the shade, whites in direct sunlight. And I never use a brush on my clothes, so they don’t wear out easily.’

‘I don’t feel the need to impress anyone, any more.’

As a film journalist—Ruhani worked at Filmfare for many years and was later Editor of Stardust—he’d felt this constant need to ‘keep up’. ‘It was an occupational hazard,’ he says. ‘Every time one of us had to be at an event or meet a celebrity for a cover interview, we’d make a quick dash to the Westside close to our office, or to the mall, if we had time.’

In his first year at Filmfare, Ruhani was nudged into buying a suit for the Filmfare Awards show. ‘I wore the same suit, every year, and that was the only time I’ve worn it,’ he says. When he moved to Stardust, he was given to believe the old suit wasn’t good enough and he should get a new suit. ‘The only time I wore that suit, other than for the Stardust Awards, was for a wedding,’ he confesses. ‘The idea of buying new for an event has seeped into our systems. But who are we trying to impress! Even our best can never match up to celebs being dressed by luxury couture brands and professional stylists. Can my mall-bought outfit ever hold a candle to that?’

‘I’ve learnt to not make unnecessary demands on earth’s resources.’

In July 2020, Ruhani lost his job at the film company to the pandemic, but an NGO, Going To School, offered him a project. He had to create 30 graphic novels for students of govt schools in Bihar, centred around sustainability. ‘It was very interesting work, and I took to it like a fish to water,’ he says. Since schools were shut, the graphic novels were turned into a series for DD Bihar, on which, too, Ruhani worked. ‘The project was an eye-opener,’ he says.

Around the time, Ruhani was also dealing with some health issues, which led him to SHARAN (Sanctuary for Health and Reconnection to Animals and Nature) and THAC (THE HEALTH AWARENESS CENTRE), which are organisations that promote living in accordance with natural laws. He learnt to slow down. ‘For 18 years, I had shopped and shopped, without realising that I had clothes for every conceivable occasion,’ he says. ‘But once I realised the ecological impact of manufacturing, I know longer felt like buying. At SHARAN and THAC, I also learnt that selfcare is healthcare is earthcare. It’s all interlinked, and you can’t have one without the other.’

‘Do I really need this?’

In May 2023, Ruhani took a holiday to the US. This trip was going to be when he finally broke the spell and went and bought new clothes. ‘I had kept a budget for shopping,’ he tells us. ‘But I didn’t buy a thing! There was nothing I liked enough or that wasn’t available in India. And I just didn’t want to buy for the sake of buying!’ So he bought some gifts for friends and family, and that was it. ‘By the time I reached the US, I’d started thinking along the lines of “do I really need this?”, he says.  

Ruhani now looks to rent and borrow instead. In his previous role, at The Yoga Institute, he often needed kurtas, which he didn’t have, but he chose to borrow from a friend. He plans to rent for special occasions and is now looking to explore secondhand shopping, too. ‘I don’t really need clothes. I have 18 years’ worth of shopping in my closet,’ he confesses. ‘I do find myself in need of some shorts and some underwear, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!’

What is the longest that you’ve gone without buying new clothes? Did Ruhani’s story inspire you? Tell us in the comments.