Family madras-cloth house founded 1973 in NYC's Garment District by Ranjit Shah, an emigre from Chennai; long supplied Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, J.Press and others, and still weaves madras on traditional Chennai handlooms today.
Best for Madras shirts
The Original Madras Trading Company was founded in 1973 by Ranjit Shah, who emigrated from Madras (now Chennai) to New York with a suitcase of fabric swatches. Within a few years he had established OMTC on West 38th Street in Manhattan's Garment District and secured supply contracts with major American menswear houses including Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, Gant, J.Crew, J.Press, Tommy Hilfiger, and L.L. Bean. Madras is a cotton fabric hand-woven in checks and plaids, traditionally associated with the city of its origin; it entered American Ivy League style in the 18th century after Elihu Yale, then governor of British Madras, donated bolts of it to the university that took his name. Now run by Shah's grandson, Prasan, the company remains based in the same Garment District headquarters and still produces madras cloth on traditional handlooms in Chennai before finishing it into clothing.
David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore build their New Delhi design house on Indian handloom textiles cut into spare, modern silhouettes of kurtas, saris, shirts and dresses. The label extends into a home collection of dinnerware, candles and cloth, and has shown at the V&A and Liberty London.
Best for Handloom textiles and minimalist Indian fashion
Vaish at Rivoli is a bespoke tailoring house at Regal Building, next to PVR Rivoli Cinema, Connaught Place, New Delhi. Founded in 1940 by O.P. Vaish, it is now run by his son Ashok and grandson Sachin, making custom suits and formal menswear only.
Best for Third-generation bespoke suits, shirts, tuxedos, overcoats, and Indian formalwear
Vaish at Rivoli is a bespoke tailoring house in Connaught Place, New Delhi, founded in 1940 by O.P. Vaish. Business listings describe Mr. Vaish beginning his tailoring career serving Connaught Place's clientele during the 1940s, a period when the area also hosted Allied military officers stationed in Delhi during the Second World War. The business has stayed in family hands for three generations and is now run by his son, Ashok Vaish, and grandson, Sachin.
The shop is located at 25, Regal Building, next to the former PVR Rivoli Cinema in Connaught Place, and specializes exclusively in made-to-measure tailoring — sources are consistent that it does not stock ready-made suits.
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