We’ve all had a friend we’ve shared a common interest with—to the point where we’ve daydreamed about starting a business together because of it. Most of these never see the light of day, but for Prakruthi Rao and Akshara Mehta, it led them to create their upcycling textile label Juhu Beach Studio. As batchmates at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, the duo discovered their joy for collecting waste and fashioning something stylish with it. “Both our rooms used to be packed with scraps and odds and ends,” recalls Mehta, explaining, “It wasn’t limited to fabric and threads. Even a single key from a keyboard would be refashioned into an elegant piece of jewellery.”