Of saris, sherwanis & second chances

Meghna Nayak turns forgotten fabric into fashion gold

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"ANUPCYCLED SARI not only has a charming sense of newness and nostalgia, but also the smallest carbon footprint," says Meghna Nayak, founder, LataSita.

This evocative statement captures the heart of what Meghna set out to do with her sustainable fashion label, LataSita. Reimagining the forgotten, unworn saris lying in closets across the country, she has created a one-of-a-kind, zero-waste fashion brand—deeply rooted in emotion, aesthetics, and environmental consciousness.

“Our grandmums have been turning old saris into kanthas, and the more adventurous into kurtas,” Meghna says, “but design-wise it’s usually the same couple of boring things, for personal use, and it wasn’t groovy, stylish or even seen as worthy to wear to, for instance, a wedding or a fabulous party. I wanted to change this and get people to see upcycling as a serious option.”

From that seed of an idea, LataSita was born—not just as a fashion label, but a cultural and ecological intervention.

A conscious shift

Meghna’s journey to LataSita wasn’t direct. “I studied journalism in Cornwall, with a view to be an environmental journalist. I'd always customised my clothes since I was a teenager—adding pockets, changing shapes, hand-altering pieces, all which gave me great pleasure. However, I thought fashion was at best a frivolous industry and I wished no part in it.”