Sandhya Garg — Inside the Studio
Let Them Eat Cake: Hand-Making a Versailles Print
Scrollwork · Bronze Statues · Peacock Feathers · 12 Pieces · XS–3XL
Quick Answer
The Let Them Eat Cake collection takes its motifs from the Palace of Versailles — Rococo scrollwork, bronze statuary, peacock feathers and garden florals — and every print began as a drawing by hand. It has a fitting ancestor: from 1760, printed cotton was being made by hand at Jouy-en-Josas, a short distance from Versailles, the birthplace of Toile de Jouy. And the collection's name carries a confession of its own — Marie Antoinette almost certainly never said "let them eat cake."
First, She Never Said It
The line is almost certainly not hers. It appears in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions, attributed only to "a great princess" — in a passage describing events from when Marie Antoinette was a child, still living in Austria and years away from France. Historians have long regarded the attribution as a myth that attached itself to her later, when she had become a convenient symbol of everything the Revolution opposed.
I named the collection after it anyway, because the phrase is a perfect description of the mood I wanted: sweetness, excess, pastel, pleasure — and the sense of a story that is prettier than the truth. The prints, though, I wanted to be completely honest. So every one of them started on paper.
The collection is named after a line she never said. The prints are the opposite — every one of them is exactly what it claims to be: drawn by hand.
Hand-Printed Cloth, a Few Miles From Versailles
In 1760 a German-born printer named Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf set up a cotton-printing works at Jouy-en-Josas, a village a short ride from the palace. Its cloth — printed by hand, first with carved wooden blocks and later with engraved copper plates — became so admired that it gave its name to a whole genre: Toile de Jouy, the pastoral scenes and florals in a single colour on pale ground that still decorate walls and upholstery today.
So the most celebrated hand-printed textiles of Marie Antoinette's France were being made almost next door to her. That felt like permission. The techniques are different now — my drawings are translated to fabric digitally rather than stamped by block — but the order of operations has not changed in two hundred and sixty years. Somebody draws it first. By hand. Then it becomes cloth.
1760 · The block
A drawing is carved in reverse into a wooden block, one block per colour, and stamped onto cotton by hand. Slow, and every colour adds a block.
Later · The copper plate
Engraved plates allowed far finer lines — the delicate pastoral scenes Toile de Jouy is known for — but still one colour at a time.
Now · The file
Digital printing removes the colour limit, which is why these prints can hold a full pastel palette at once. The drawing still comes first — how that works.
How These Prints Were Made
The collection draws on four families of motif, each taken from somewhere specific at Versailles.
| Motif | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Rococo scrollwork | The C- and S-curves carved and gilded around mirrors, panelling and ceilings. Rococo loved asymmetry and ornament that seems to grow rather than be placed. |
| Bronze statuary | The classical figures that stand throughout the gardens and fountains. Drawn as motifs rather than portraits, they give a print weight and a story. |
| Peacock feathers | A long-standing emblem of beauty and display, used through the collection in print and in embroidery. |
| Garden florals | The formal parterres and Marie Antoinette's own gardens at the Petit Trianon, drawn large and in pastel rather than as small repeats. |
[SANDHYA — SLOT 1 · THE DRAWING: This is the heart of the page, and only you can write it. What did you draw on, and with what — gouache, ink, pencil? Did you visit Versailles, or work from books and photographs? Which room or object started it? Two or three honest paragraphs in your own voice, ideally with a photo of an original drawing. Delete this box when done.]
[SANDHYA — SLOT 2 · FROM PAPER TO CLOTH: How did the drawings become repeats? How many versions did the scrollwork go through? Did anything change once you saw it on viscose linen satin? If there is a making-of video, embed it here — with text around it, Google can finally see what the page is about. Delete this box when done.]
[SANDHYA — SLOT 3 · THE EMBROIDERY: The Marie mini and the Marquis maxi carry hand embroidery. Who works it, where, and how long does a piece take? One specific detail — a stitch count, a number of hours, a name — is worth more than a paragraph of adjectives. Delete this box when done.]
One scrollwork drawing, three garments — diagonal stripes on the Carolina, vertical panels on the Antonia, four colourways side by side on the Sophie. Owning the drawing is what makes that possible.
The Collection · Twelve Pieces · Verified Today
Let Them Eat Cake
Printed dresses, hand-embroidered pieces and statement jackets — every print drawn by hand before it became a file.
The Scrollwork — One Drawing, Many Dresses
Ornament & Heritage — The Bolder Prints
Embroidery & Statement Jackets
2 Reviews · S and M Only
Allie Black Blazer with Embroidery
Tailoring with artisanal embroidery — a black blazer that turns a plain dress into something with a point of view. Two remaining.
$258
SHOP THE ALLIE →Limited edition · XS–3XL where stocked · Made to measure if your size has gone
If You Go
The Palace of Versailles is the obvious pilgrimage, but for this collection the place to spend time is the Petit Trianon and the Queen's Hamlet beyond it — the smaller, more private world Marie Antoinette made for herself, and far closer in spirit to these prints than the Hall of Mirrors. And if you can, make the short trip to Jouy-en-Josas, where the Musée de la Toile de Jouy shows what was being printed by hand nearby while she was queen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Marie Antoinette really say "let them eat cake"?
Almost certainly not. The line appears in Rousseau's Confessions, attributed to "a great princess", in a passage describing a time when Marie Antoinette was still a child in Austria. It became attached to her later, when she had become a symbol of royal excess.
What is Toile de Jouy?
A style of printed cotton named after Jouy-en-Josas, near Versailles, where Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf opened a printing works in 1760. Its cloth was printed by hand with woodblocks and later engraved copper plates, typically in a single colour on a pale ground, often showing pastoral scenes.
What is Rococo?
The ornate eighteenth-century French style of asymmetric scrollwork, shell-like curves, pastel colour and gilding. It dominated French interiors through much of the century and is the source of the scrollwork in this collection's prints.
Are the prints in this collection original?
Yes. Every print was drawn by hand before being translated to fabric. The motifs — scrollwork, bronze statuary, peacock feathers and garden florals — are drawn from Versailles, but the artwork itself is ours. More on the process in how a drawing becomes a dress.
How is hand embroidery different from printed decoration?
Embroidery is stitched into the cloth, so it has physical relief that catches light from the side and can be repaired if a thread pulls. A print is flat. The Marie and Marquis carry hand embroidery; most of the dresses carry hand-drawn prints.
Will the collection be restocked?
It is a limited edition, so sizes are not reordered once they sell. If yours has gone, made to measure is available.
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About the Writer
Sandhya Garg is a Project Runway Season 13 designer who won two challenges on the show and presented her collection at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. She studied womenswear and textile design at London College of Fashion and worked at Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Liberty London, and Alice Temperley. She draws every print in the collection by hand — featured in Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Vogue online, in sizes XS–3XL with made to measure available.
Project Runway · Vogue · Marie Claire · XS–3XL
Let them wear something drawn by hand.
Sandhya Garg is a Los Angeles boutique creating limited-edition artisanal dresses in original hand-drawn prints, hand embroidery and heritage textiles. Sizes XS–3XL, shipped from Scottsdale within 1–3 days.
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