Sunday, 11 January 2026
Sunday, 11 January 2026
The concept of reusing sarees isn’t new. Our grandmums have been turning them into kanthas and kurtas, but design-wise it’s usually the same couple of things. It’s not considered stylish or high design or seen as “occasion wear”. I wanted to change this and get people to see upcycling as a serious option, uplifting that unused piece of cloth to a gorgeous piece of bespoke fashion. LataSita is the product of this train of thought.
I’ve always loved textile and have been customising my clothes since I was a teenager – adding pockets, changing shapes, hand-altering pieces, all of which gave me great pleasure. However, I thought of the fashion industry as being frivolous and wasteful, and wished no part in it. I had become uncomfortably aware of the cruel practices the sweatshops supplying so many of my (former) favourite brands were guilty of. In 2010, I was horrified to learn that fashion was one of the largest polluters on Earth, second only to Big Oil, and this really got to me. I came back to Calcutta after almost seven years in England, and realised that I could enter the fashion supply chain and try, firsthand, to do things differently and experience the challenges of running an ethical business.
TT
