{"id":64244,"date":"2026-08-12T13:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T13:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/64244\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T13:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T13:51:11","slug":"lilyeve-turns-vintage-hermes-into-one-of-a-kind-slow-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/64244\/","title":{"rendered":"LilyEve Turns Vintage Herm\u00e8s Into One-of-a-Kind Slow Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated3 min read<\/p>\n

It was the middle of the pandemic, and Lily Clempson was in the Hamptons at her parents\u2019 house. The recent Parsons grad was suddenly struck with an idea: Why not take Grandma\u2019s old Herm\u00e8s beach towels and cut them up into face masks and sell them to raise funds for FoodBank NYC? \u201cI made very, very hot face masks that you couldn\u2019t breathe out of, but they just looked the part,\u201d she said with a laugh. She sold them online through her Instagram and dropped them off to customers locally, and then came the requests for custom pieces all spun out of vintage Herm\u00e8s. \u201cI would honestly just say yes to everything,\u201d she tells us. \u201cI\u2019m actually a very bad sewer, but I was just like, \u2018Yes, yeah, I\u2019ll do it.\u2019\u201d And so, the LilyEve brand<\/a> was born.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

LilyEve and her upcycled jacket.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Today, LilyEve sells blanket coats, cropped trench coats, shearling vests, silk tops, oversize tote bags, and bucket hats, all exclusively upcycled from vintage Herm\u00e8s blankets, scarves, and beach towels. Some pieces are more colorful than others, like a raspberry- and tangerine-hued jacket or the shearling vest series, which is inherently maximalist with its psychedelic prints culled from some of the French label\u2019s most extravagant scarves. Other pieces are more demure, but still packed full of personality, like a blue-and-white blanket trench coat that Kelly Rutherford<\/a> recently wore. The \u201cTerry Towel Series\u201d pieces\u2014cropped jackets rendered from vintage towels\u2014are covered in gloriously stylized seagulls, parrots, and cheetahs. Above all else, each LilyEve garment is one of a kind.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

In the early days of her brand, Clempson was searching for the perfect production partner and came across Michel, a then-89-year-old who previously designed for Jacques Fath and did the Broadway costumes for shows like Funny Girl before running his East Hampton womenswear boutique for 32 years. He was recommended to her by one of her favorite locals at Stuart\u2019s Seafood Market in Amagansett. He has sadly now passed away, but Clempson has honored him by re-creating his original studio in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Clempson sources each and every vintage Herm\u00e8s piece herself, and it\u2019s become one of the most exciting parts of growing her brand. \u201cI\u2019m chronically online, so that obviously helps,\u201d she says. She often stalks The RealReal and auctions for the best gems. Lifelong collectors now also come to her to offer up some of their rarest pieces, and she also repurposes scraps from her own work. \u201cSeeing those little pieces and trying to think of what other product could come out of that, whether it\u2019s tiny pieces of toweling or silk left from the scarves, that\u2019s always a really fun inspiration,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Up next, LilyEve is developing further categories, like an evening clutch bag made from Herm\u00e8s ties. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to see if we can have some sort of weaving element to the bag and then have each one be kind of color-coded based on the tie bundles I can source,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be everywhere or kind of overproduce.\u201d Everything is released in limited batches and is truly one of a kind: a testament to luxury slow fashion in the fast-paced digital age.<\/p>\n