Upcycling from India

An important part of the mission statement of Solid is to ensure a sustainable process from fabric to product. For all of our own collection ‘Tales by Solid’ this starts with the search for qualitative raw materials. In India we have chosen to use discarded sarees as the basis for our poufs, rugs, sari bags, kantha plaids and jackets. A logical choice as it is widely available, local, and of course a fabric crammed with personality as well as colourful. Reusing materials makes the homeware and fashion collection sustainable, more because by choosing local products we are minimising transport emissions.

 Why is there so much deadstock?

Deadstock is mainly the result of overproduction. In the first decades of the 21st century the production of fabrics has doubled. This is a staggering amount of clothes, part of which are never sold or used because overproduction has become the new normal. Using deadstock like these sarees is an important way to cut down waste and emissions in the fashion industry. Millions of tons of deadstock wind up in landfills or are incinerated. An uncounted number of items gets turned away because of its chemical composition and inability to biodegrade. Unfortunately, these items usually end up polluting natural spaces. What ends up in the trash, is never gone. It’s just moving. 

At Solid and with our brand Tales by Solid we are dedicated to save some of these fashion items going to waste. In our efforts to become more sustainable we decided to start sourcing deadstock fabrics in local Indian markets and warehouses. We also believe that this is just the start of what needs to be done. The problem of overproduction needs to be addressed by the whole fashion industry. Intentional overproduction has become a known and problematic part of the fast fashion business model. They rely on the fact that deadstock has become in demand for the ‘zero waste’ fashion industry and purposely produce too much because they know it will be sold. 

 Still, using virgin material and recycling fabrics to turn them into stunning homeware or fashion items is a great way to reduce a little bit of the 20% of the world’s trash generated by fast fashion.

Can you imagine what breathtakingly beautiful products can be made from all these items, once labelled as garbage? Come and look at our Comeback Collection and spice up your interior with an upcycled pouf or a rug straight from India. Turn some heads at the beach or in the park with your gorgeous sari bag or our original kantha jackets.