Clothing

Original Madras Trading Company Does Great Things with Cloth

The Indian city has been a producer of madras fabric for centuries.

original madras trading company

There’s an internet rule out there somewhere: if you can think of it, there’s a Reddit discussion feed about it. 

This is especially true for male fashion advice, Reddit’s corner where everyone gets together to discuss the dimensions of ties and how to wear loafers. For the madras shirt – a style of Indian fabric traditionally hand-woven from cotton checks and patterns – Reddit is never far behind.

The madras shirt is named after its city of origin – now known as Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu – and has been associated with fabric since the East India Company arrived in the 1600s, and undoubtedly, earlier since. 

The fabric has come to be associated with Ivy League styles, and the Original Madras Trading Company, a third-gen family business working in both New York and Madras, has been the go-to for premium madras shirts since the 1970s.

Original Madras Trading Company produces and supply hand-loomed Madras fabrics and garments, while remaining committed to the techniques of traditional production.

As Oi Polloi observe, madras shirts are “made from hand-dyed Madras cotton fabric that’s known for its quaver-light, breathable and rapid drying credentials, and traditionally comes decked out in a cacophony of checks ‘n’ stripes. A fair few million Indian folk from where the cloth originates have been using this stuff in garb for donkey’s years, so we think it will just about handle the colossal heights of Manchester’s summer months, don’t you?” 

Damn right. 

Original Madras Trading Company at Oi Polloi.

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