Vie is founded by sisters born into a family of “Button makers”. The founder & designer Vibitha Ida Edward and partner Vijaytha Edward grew up breathing, styling and constantly learning about the subtle art of button making. Although buttons were discovered as a basic fastener for garments, Vibitha soon found herself wondering if this beautiful piece of accessory could be put into more fashionable use. This curiosity grew and sparked the idea of designing contemporary fashion accessories by upcycling natural buttons that are produced in India and Italy. Using Vibitha’s creative acumen, natural penchant for world fashion and street style, she delved into illustrating, designing and experimenting with different kinds of buttons from her factory whilst Vijaytha took charge of the business development of Vie. Founded in India in 2018, Vie aims to expand its awareness globally on the usage of factory rejected or wasted natural buttons into timeless fashion accessories. Vie, meaning life in French, stands true to its name as it gives life and story to conventional discarded buttons.

Vie sisters : Vijaytha and Vibitha at their showroom in Chennai, India

Vie’s ethos lies in Redesign & Upcycle. Instead of discarding the already manufactured buttons as dead stock, Vie repurposes the buttons, targeting the brand to conscious consumers. Upcycling “deadstock” buttons makes 85% of Vie designs.  Using verified old, leftover, and rejected buttons from their own collection and other certified button factories; allowing Vie to reuse and repurpose these materials from being deposited in landfill and ocean; also the usage of machinery to produce raw materials is eliminated. Vie uses only natural buttons and not mass-produced, synthetic, polyester and plastic buttons that are harmful to animals & the environment. Some of the shell buttons used are more than 3 decades old and still look lustrous. During production some buttons are rejected due to a minute error in size or colour spotting. By structuring the designs around the excess or rejected buttons from production, Vie focuses on reducing the use of machinery keeping the wastage to a minimum. All designs are handmade in limited edition since the buttons are natural. One may notice distinct differences from one button to another and that makes Vie one of a kind. Additionally there is a lot of scrap after the button is made that goes as waste. These scraps are used as embellishments on the jewellery pieces. This way recycling the waste using a machine is avoided. Vie uses recycled corrugated boards as product tags, and secure their jewellery in a recycled cotton drawstring pouch that can be reused. The entire packaging gives a raw, earthy feel complimenting the jewellery.
Welcome to Life beyond Buttons!