A piece of silk can have a life long before it becomes a dress.
At L'ete Indien The Label, we begin with something that has already been loved: a vintage silk sari, sourced in India and selected for its beauty, character and possibility. Rather than beginning with newly produced fabric, we give an existing textile another life, transforming it into a contemporary piece designed to be worn and treasured for years to come.
This is what we mean by upcycled silk.
Our approach is rooted in slow fashion: creating in small quantities, working closely with skilled artisans, using existing materials wherever possible, and designing each garment around the fabric we find rather than asking the fabric to fit a predetermined production plan.
What does upcycled silk mean?
Upcycling means taking an existing product or material and transforming it into something new without reducing it to its basic fibres first.
This is different from textile recycling. In recycling, a textile can be mechanically or chemically processed back into fibres or yarns that are then used to create another material. With upcycling or remaking, the original textile itself remains largely intact and is given a new purpose. Textile Exchange defines upcycling as modifying discarded products to create new quality items, while the Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes remaking as creating a new product from an existing product or component.
For us, the distinction is important.
We are not taking silk fibres apart and turning them into new silk. We are taking a beautiful textile that already exists — a vintage silk sari — and designing something new around it.
The original fabric remains the heart of the piece.
Why vintage Indian silk saris?
Our story with vintage saris began in India.
In 2018, Asia, the founder of L'été Indien, travelled to India with an interest in understanding how fashion was being made and discovering more about the people and processes behind it. What began as research became something much bigger. She fell in love with the incredible talent, craftsmanship and textiles she encountered, and the journey never stopped.
Today, we source vintage silk saris from India, looking specifically for 100% silk crepe saris with the character and beauty that make each one special.
These are not new saris produced for us to turn into garments. They are pre-loved textiles that have already existed in another life. Many have been worn and treasured before they reach us, carrying with them the subtle signs of time, use and history that make vintage textiles so compelling.
The beauty is not only in the silk itself. It is in the individuality.
No two vintage saris are quite the same.
And that means our process cannot begin with a catalogue of colours and prints from which we simply choose what we want.
We have to search for them.
Why sourcing vintage silk takes time
One of the misconceptions about upcycled fashion is that finding old fabric is easy.
For us, it is quite the opposite.
Because we work with existing textiles, we cannot simply order a particular print or colour whenever we need it. We often need to source in bulk, sometimes purchasing hundreds of saris, and then carefully inspect and sort them individually.
Every sari is different.
Some may have holes or damage that cannot be repaired sufficiently for a new garment. Others may have areas of wear that make them unsuitable for certain designs.
We select only the pieces that are good enough to become part of a new garment.
And the pieces that cannot become a dress or kimono do not simply have to become waste. We look for other ways to use them, including incorporating smaller or mixed pieces into designs such as our Tulsi Kimono.
This process is slower than conventional fashion production, but that is precisely the point.
Designing around the sari
Once we have selected the textiles, the creative process begins.
A sari is not treated like an ordinary roll of fabric.
We first lay the approximately five-metre length out on the cutting table and study it carefully. We look at the pattern, the colours, the borders, the placement of embroidery and the overall character of the textile.
Only then do we decide what the fabric wants to become.
The design is created around the sari rather than the sari being forced into a standard design.
Once the design has been decided, the pattern pieces are placed carefully onto the existing textile. Each section is individually cut to make the best possible use of the fabric while highlighting its original beauty.
The number of garments that can be created from one sari depends on the design and the characteristics of that particular textile. There is no fixed formula.
Our aim is to use as much of every sari as possible. On average, we use around 95% of the original fabric, with smaller remaining pieces finding their way into other creations whenever possible.
Every piece of fabric tells us something about what it can become.
From vintage sari to wearable art
We often describe our pieces as wearable art because the starting point is already a work of textile art in its own right.
The original pattern is not something we want to hide.
We want to preserve it.
A border may determine where a sleeve falls. A particular section of embroidery may become the centre of a garment. A print may dictate the way a kimono is cut.
This means that the design process is different every time.
The finished garment is contemporary, but traces of the original sari remain visible. You can still see the textile's history in the colour, pattern, texture and small irregularities that make vintage silk so beautiful.
In a world where fashion can be produced in identical quantities, we love the fact that our materials don't allow us to do that.
Made slowly, in India
Once the fabric has been selected and the design created, each garment is made in our family-run workshop in India.
We have worked with this family since 2018, and that relationship has become one of the most important parts of our story.
It is a small workshop rather than a large-scale mass-production facility. Local tailors and artisans are involved in the making of our garments, and the slower pace of the workshop is one of the reasons we produce only around three drops each year.
The process is hands-on from beginning to end: from sourcing and sorting the vintage textiles, to designing, cutting and sewing, right through to preparing each piece for its journey to its new owner.
We believe that making fewer pieces, more thoughtfully, allows us to stay close to the people and processes behind them.
It also allows us to focus on quality rather than quantity.
Is upcycled silk sustainable?
There is no single material that makes a garment automatically sustainable.
That is something we believe is important to say honestly.
Upcycling is one part of a broader approach to making fashion more circular. Organisations such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation advocate for fashion systems in which products and materials remain in use for longer and are designed to be used again, rather than following a simple take-make-waste model.
Using an existing textile means that we are giving that material another life rather than beginning with a newly produced piece of fabric for every garment.
But our approach goes beyond the material.
We produce in small quantities. We work with a small family workshop. We design around what already exists. We aim to use approximately 95% of each sari. And we make pieces intended to be worn repeatedly and kept for years rather than replaced with every new trend.
For us, sustainability is therefore not a claim printed on a label. It is a series of decisions made throughout the process.
Why we choose vintage over new silk
The simple answer is that vintage silk is extraordinarily beautiful.
But beauty is only part of the reason.
We started L'ete Indien with a commitment to reuse existing materials wherever we could and to create fashion more thoughtfully.
The vintage saris we discover already have their own character. They don't need to be made uniform. They don't need to follow a seasonal colour card. Their differences are what make them valuable to us.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's work on circular fashion similarly emphasises keeping products and materials in use at their highest value and exploring models such as repair, resale and remaking.
Our role is simply to give these textiles another chapter.
A sari with another life
The sari itself has a long history as a form of Indian dress and textile artistry. Museum collections around the world hold historic Indian silk saris, including examples dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example, has silk saris from India in its collection dating to the 18th century and numerous examples from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
But the saris we work with don't need to be hundreds of years old to have a story.
Their value comes from the fact that they have already been part of someone's life.
They have been worn.
They have been kept.
They have been passed on.
And now, through L'ete Indien, they can be worn again in an entirely different form.
That is what upcycling means to us.
Not simply taking something old and making it new.
But recognising the beauty that is already there — and giving it another life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is upcycled silk the same as recycled silk?
No. Upcycled silk generally means an existing silk textile is transformed into a new product while retaining the original material. Recycled silk involves breaking down textile material and processing it into fibres or yarn that can be used again.
Is vintage silk sustainable?
Vintage silk can be part of a more circular approach to fashion because an existing textile is being kept in use rather than requiring a newly produced textile for the new garment. However, sustainability depends on the entire lifecycle and production process, not simply whether a fabric is vintage.
Where does L'ete Indien source its vintage silk?
We source our vintage silk saris from India, selecting specifically for vintage 100% silk crepe saris with the quality and condition needed to create our garments.
How much of a vintage sari do you use?
We aim to use as much of the original sari as possible. On average, approximately 95% of the sari can be incorporated into our designs, while smaller remaining pieces may be used in other creations.
Are L'ete Indien garments handmade?
Our garments are created through a hands-on process in our family-run workshop in India. The process includes sourcing, sorting, designing, cutting and sewing, with local tailors and artisans involved in the making of the pieces.
Why is every L'ete Indien piece different?
Because we begin with existing vintage saris rather than newly produced fabric, every textile has its own pattern, colour, wear and character. The design is developed around the individual sari, meaning the finished piece reflects the original textile rather than being reproduced from identical fabric.
Why does L'ete Indien only release a few collections each year?
We work with a small family workshop and produce slowly and in limited quantities. Our production schedule reflects the time required to source the vintage textiles, design around them and craft each garment carefully.
What happens to saris that cannot be used for a dress or kimono?
We try to find another purpose for the textiles rather than simply discarding them. Smaller or mixed pieces can be incorporated into other designs, including our Tulsi Kimonos, helping us make use of more of each sari.
The story continues
Every L'ete Indien piece begins with something that already existed.
A vintage sari.
A piece of silk with its own colour, pattern and history.
Our work is to listen to the fabric, understand what it can become and give it another life — slowly, thoughtfully and by hand.
Because we don't believe beautiful things should be made only once.
They can be made, worn, loved and made again.
Sources: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion's Future; Ellen MacArthur Foundation, The Fashion ReModel; Textile Exchange, Upcycling and Recycling glossaries; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Indian sari collection records.