A bag of memories

Do you love your mom’s wedding sari too much to let it go, even if it’s no longer in good enough shape to be worn?

Do you love your mom’s wedding sari too much to let it go, even if it’s no longer in good enough shape to be worn?

Now, you don’t have to let go of the memories you associate with heirlooms. You can simply hand them to Nitya Amarnath and Juhi Pandey, who convert garments into impeccably crafted bags under their label, Upsykle Cotier.

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Both designers are graduates of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. They started their enterprise as a way to promote recycling — and to turn the logic that recycled goods are inferior on its head.

“We called our label Upsykle because we don’t like to believe that recycling means downgrading,” says Amarnath, a textile designer by training. In keeping with this maxim, they ensure that they use as little new material as possible while making the bags.

“Except the stitching, every part of the bag is made using the original material.” The bags are also largely hand crafted. It’s not just cotton and silk saris and dupattas that make for pretty bags — Amarnath says they have also used men’s shirts to good effect. “A friend’s mother visited and saw her son’s shirt converted into a bag,” she says. “It’s not like something that you pick up in a store just for the sake of it. There are memories attached to it.”

Contact Nitya Amarnath on 98192 12065 and Juhi Pandey on 98200 39110. The bags range from Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,800.