Meet The Brady Scrunch

Like many of us, when the UK’s national coronavirus lockdown was announced, in March 2020, 22-year-old India Pine became furloughed from her full-time job, doing finance and travel digital marketing for a magazine, and was desperate to start up a new hobby to keep her busy during her masses of newfound free time. Some turned to the kitchen, baking loaf after loaf of banana bread, sourdough starters and whipping up batches of the Korean dalgona coffee, after it trended on TikTok. However, when others got crafty, India joined in and found a new vocation and career: scrunchie designer. “I had a bunch of old clothes just lying around and I thought a fun way to repurpose them would be to make scrunchies to send to my friends to cheer them up over lockdown” India explains. She initially taught herself how to make these scrunchies through the help of a YouTube tutorial. Although it’s a niche skill, she revealed that there were many scrunchie making tutorials that showed how to make them in “a surprising amount of different ways”. India’s preference is the most expert, seamless variety which she admits “is a bit more fiddly! Mainly it’s a lot of fabric cutting, folding and sewing up very small holes!”.

The path to success hasn’t been easy and India admits: “the first batch of scrunchies were pretty bad but my friends appreciated them anyway!”. However, the creative juices began to flow and once she really got into it, realised “I could design my own fabric and could make scrunchies of my friend’s favourite film or TV Show or Band”. It was then, on June 21st 2020, she braved the internet and put a few up online, and so ‘The Brady Scrunch’ was born.

The Brady Scrunch is India’s new independent business, creating bespoke duchess satin scrunchies, a fabric “typically used in bridalwear”, featuring delicate illustrations of pop culture iconography, from Grecian goddesses, to characters in critically acclaimed movies like Midsommar (2019), to themed imagery from new albums like Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’. And the great thing about these super-scrunchies don’t just look amazing, they are positively wonderful for your hair. India explains: “not only does satin act as a barrier against moisture-absorbing fabrics to help prevent split ends caused by your hair drying out but they reduce also any unwanted friction which helps stop breakage – satin scrunchies not only look good but do good!”.  

Like most young designers, India has a green consciousness and won’t make anything that is bad for the planet. Responsible fashion is at the heart of what she does and reveals “the fabric is vegan and the printing process is done with water-free manufacturing and eco-friendly inks. Annoyingly, most biodegradable fabrics aren’t suitable for hair use but that might change in the future!”. India hopes to make her brand even more sustainable as it grows. “I definitely want my packaging to be 100% sustainable! I think I’m about 90% of the way there (cardboard boxes, recyclable tissue paper and cards, reusable bags, etc.) but it is important to me that when customers get their scrunchies, there’s no waste” she says, “I think I’d like to make a sustainability report as transparency is really important to me and as I run everything from home with very little energy usage, I think we’re doing pretty well!”. 

 She often takes suggestions from her loyal customer base by posting polls on her Instagram stories. So far in her story highlights there’s everything from Harry Styles to Euphoria to Donnie Darko. She then creates a “vision board of images to help me recognise any significant imagery and so I can pick out a colour palette”. 

After she likes to watch the films, show or music video to look for details to incorporate into her work as “little easter eggs that hardcore fans would recognise and appreciate”. With these fresh ideas and features, India begins to draw and “just sees where it takes her”. Surprisingly to anyone who has seen her designs, India admits that she was “never taught to draw nor was she exceptionally good at art in school!”. As well as her scrunchies, India says she used lockdown to improve on her illustrative skills, practicing for the first time in a while on a graphics tablet, that she got as a gift for her 16th birthday: “It’s always been best for me to just learn by trial and error – I was just drawing things all the time, no real technique or anything, it was just a lot of practice…its crazy how quickly you improve when you keep at things!”.  

When it comes to branding, India says that as she initially inspired by the nostalgia that 90s and 2000s films brings her, and so she tries to “tap into that sort of comforting nostalgia and untainted enthusiasm” that her and many of her customers felt growing up. “Chick flicks from the 90s/00s are definitely my favourites! Honestly, it’s the worst ones that are my comfort films” she says, “movies like ‘Sleepover’, ‘She’s the Man’ and ‘New York Minute’ are probably not great objectively but there is something so comforting in watching a film that is so fun and simple”. India admits that watching these movies make her feel like she’s “eight years old and watching it for the first time again because you don’t really need to use your brain. Aesthetically these kinds of movies just seem so bright and colourful and bursting with the type of hyper-femininity that was meant to appeal to us as young girls. They just look and feel fun”. She goes on to say that her ultimate favourites are ‘10 Things I Hate About You’, ‘Bring It On’, ‘The Princess Diaries’, ’13 Going on 30’ and ‘Legally Blonde’: “they are all genuinely excellent films from a technical standpoint. I think they’re such comfort films for a lot of women because, not only did we watch them as kids, but they’re also the last portrayal of girlhood in media that we had before social media became a ‘thing’ and I think there’s something so enduring about seeing a time that is so similar to ours but feels much simpler”. 

In the past few years, scrunchies have rose massively in popularity, but are usually mass produced by big companies. High-end designer brands have also been putting their own spin on the trend, including Prada, Fendi and Burberry. India notices that there were not many people creating bespoke scrunchies “and even less custom designed pop culture themed ones! I was so confused thinking ‘why has no one done this yet?’ so I guess I took it upon myself to do it”. 

Photography wise India tends “to gravitate towards cottagecore style photos a lot. As a style it represents a very harmonious, romantic type life. It’s very calming and a nostalgic genre for people and I think that’s why I am drawn to it…it’s very much a ‘comfort aesthetic’ that reminds people of a simpler time”. As well as choosing this specific aesthetic to draw in customers, India creates TikTok’s for her 20.1K followers. “All of my customers have come from social media – mainly TikTok!” she says “I think a draw of small businesses on platforms like TikTok is they are very personable. You see the individual behind it all and I think that really humanises a business in comparison to larger corporations. I think I like to have a mix of marketing my products and also just posting videos that I would have put up on one of my old fan accounts. I do like to have fun with it and keep things personal (I try to never post any negative content though!) and kind of chuck traditional marketing rules out the window”.

As well as TikTok, she also posts photos onto Instagram, editing them to echo “old 90s magazines and catalogues and chaotic scrapbooks – I think I like to edit my posts in the way that my bedroom would have looked if I was a teenager in the 90s”. Like with drawing and sewing, India is also a self-made editor, after she spent time just playing around on photoshop, figuring out her own style, again, through “trial and error!”. She says that her editing is in a style that is “traditionally ‘girly’ and I just love it! I think young girls are shamed out of liking the things they like and I really want to bring back that youthful sense of just loving something wholeheartedly with my style”. Unlike many established companies, who often “opt for the strict colour palette and minimalist product flat lay shots”, India wanted her Instagram to be “fun and interesting and mildly chaotic and full of personality” which she hopes is reflected through her editing.  

Running an independent business on your own is quite a challenging ordeal, with the biggest issues for India being “time management, being a people pleaser and taking time off”. India has ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and says that this means that “using time efficiently is never something I’ve really done before but when you’re trying to work a full-time job and then keep your own business running, you either have to learn to manage your time or you just have to cry!” Sometimes it is hard and India admits that she does just have a cry, but she definitely feels herself improving: “I still get a bit chaotic with things and end up working at 4am but I think I’m getting better at keeping things strictly to their designated times”. Being a self-proclaimed “massive people pleaser”, India says that she always feels the need to help customers even if she physically cannot. knows the importance of looking after and putting herself first: 

She is working on this though and now “I think there’s always ways to help without putting yourself out”. Similar to this, India admits that she does struggle with taking time off: “when you’re the only person running the show it’s hard to stop because then the whole show stops too - but I’ve realised it’s really important to rest and recharge otherwise you’re going to be running on empty and nothing every good comes out of that”.  

There is a silver lining though. The best thing about this whole process for India is how much creative freedom she has: “I can do whatever I want and no one is there to tell me no or change it – its 100% my vision and ideas and when that gets a good response it’s amazing and has been a massive confidence boost!”. Her aforementioned online community is also a huge positive for India: “I love the sense of community and support that I feel from everyone. I’m very lucky to have such kind customers, and as someone who works a lot and is alone most of the time, popping onto Instagram and Tik Tok and seeing everyone just be so loving and excited is such a massive motivator and source of happiness for me”. She loves all the messages she gets from her customers but ones that really get to her are “ones from parents of younger kids who have seen me on TikTok and shown their parents my videos!”. Another follower messaged India to say how proud she and her friend was of The Brady Scrunch’s growth: “this was the most exciting thing ever because that was the first time I was like ‘oh my god there’s real people watching and actually invested in stuff I’m putting out’”. India then said that a different follower messaged her to let her know that her grandma was now India’s “biggest fan”. She then added “I’ll be honest, that nearly made me cry”. As well as this, having this coterie is a huge everyday drive for her, “I also love just having something to get out of bed for that I’m passionate about! With my ADHD I feel that constant need to be doing something so just having this business as something to focus on has been great for me”. 

Like for many of us, coping with the pandemic has meant that mental health issues have been exacerbated. For some, everyday in lockdown has felt like a never-ending mission to get through, but India shows us that with passion, determination, self-care and kindness, we can all try to find a glimmer of hope in tough situations. 

As her business grows, India cannot be blamed for looking to the future. Her ultimate dream for The Brady Scrunch is for the business to grow large enough so that she and her best friend can “get a loft office with loads of natural light and plants and a neon sign!”, although she says that right now that feels like “a very ambitious dream!”. India has also been working towards some of her more attainable goals, such as planning on creating “a newsletter or blog or YouTube videos or just something else to make people feel included – I want to make it almost like a very positive little online club!”. Although she still loves her scrunchies, she also has plans to expand her product line to include things like prints and tote bags and has even thought about one day working for herself. “Not right now though” she adds “I still have a lot to learn!”.

After a year of running her business, she has a lot of sage advice for others wanting to do something creative too and says: “Don’t start a business just to start a business, do it if you’re really passionate about the thing you’re selling”. It is pointless without passion: “There are tough days and long hours and panics and if you don’t feel a genuine excitement for what you’re doing then you’re not going to feel motivated to continue”. She goes on to say that, with small businesses, “the personability factor of it all is a fantastic quality that big businesses just don’t have” but stresses the importance of being careful how you present yourself and your business online: “Complaining, negativity and guilt tripping have become a bit of trend with small businesses online to get customer sympathy but in the end, it just reflects badly on your business so I would avoid it”. Her final piece of advice is “support those who support you and make sure you show appreciation to customers who have helped you. You wouldn’t be anywhere without them!”.

And now to all her followers, old and new, excited to hear what’s coming up next, India reveals: “I’m hoping to have both my Final Girls Horror Movie collection and my music collection out for the summer!”

Follow India on Instagram @bradyscrunch and TikTok @thebradyscrunch