To quote Vampire Weekend, those paragons of hipster prep, “No excuse to be so callous/ Dress yourself in bleeding madras."

Link to an excellent article on madras by an American Columbia U. grad now based in Mumbai.

http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/check-republic-madras.

See esp.

There is little to prevent retailers from selling fabrics produced on power looms as handloom madras.

See our Loominous looms in the previously posted pic.

Yeah.... i think we have all got the message, i dont think there is any need to give us almost hourly updates.
Talk about hard sell, what are you trying to do ? Bore us into submission.

Thanks Stan..., much more of this hand looming bombardment and we will have to treat it as spam I'm afraid.

Im confused? Are you selling your cloth to New England Shirt Co? Or are they just making the shirts for you? Because if you are having them made technically you will always have a less costs than a third party using your cloth because obviously you haven't sold yourself the cloth.. so unless you do a bit of profiteering and charge as much as a third party you're always going to price out your opposition who you should actually be appeasing to get the cloth sales up to multiple manufacturers..or have I got that wrong?

Are you just trying to improve your return on the cloth by manufacturering the shirts too...? If so why don't you just do that? At the moment I feel like you covering all bases..are you here as a cloth wholesaler, or a seller of shirts? Or both?

Regards,

Confused

London

P.S Although Vampire Weeked have some rather nice little ditties I'd suggest name checking them, whilst using the the term 'hipster prep' is really not going to turn anyone on to your products on here, daddio.

Last edited by Bop (2015-11-14 23:57:16)

I kind of have to cover all bases. It's a slog. First of all, I have to dye/weave the fabric because no one else does.  "Bleeding" madras has been absent from the marketplace for 45+ years. + There are other manufacturers/retailers which have sullied the marketplace since. I'm like a rat in a maze: When I hit an obstacle, I try to take another path. Manufacturers and retailer are among the greatest.

Since there obviously is consumer demand for them, I've had to find ways to get them in the hands of consumers, which I'm trying my best to do. I hope you can appreciate that.

At the manufacturing and retail levels there has little interest because of the pricing and minimums.They sold out in 4 days when first offered by David Hodgkins/David Wood Clothiers/Portland, Maine in August. David just ordered more based the demand he's seeing for them. By way of imprimatur: Charlie Davidson/Andover Shop is also selling them (he's had a swatch hanging in the shop since April). But, David and Charlie would never buy enough to make this a business.

Japan is starting to come on board. But, there again, I've had to develop the market and have to manufacture the shirts for that market, otherwise the retail prices skyrocket.   

There are NO US shirt manufacturers currently in a position to buy our fabric. Part of the reason is that they would have to buy a minimum of 100 yards per pattern. + Each wants proprietary patterns.

New England Shirt Co. is producing the shirts for Loominous on a CMT (cut, measure, trim) basis. If I sold the fabric to them, it would put the retail price at $250+. We believe as far as price is concerned, we are competitive. Most of the Hill-side's shirts are priced between $175 and $225, for instance. True, the Hill-side has the overhead of a retail location, but our fabric costs are 5x theirs for openers.

http://shop.thehill-side.com/collections/shirts

The shirts are made from 2/80s cotton, and would be suitable for dressier occasions. In the 1960s, entire families were known to wear "bleeding" madras to church. On Access Hollywood Live, Bryan Safi wears madras check shirts all the time. For spring-summer 2016, many of the best designers showed madras check everything at the various fashion weeks for both men and women.

http://www.missoni.com/experience/en/collection/mens-summer-2016/

Last edited by aucociscokid2 (2015-11-15 13:35:11)

Would you mind just explaining how they make the cloth again?

Do you mind going over the prices again ?

How many yards do you need for a shirting ?

Careful you tossers, I'm approaching critical intoxication.  Don't make me ban all of you for derailing this thread!!!

Just try me!

They do indeed look very good...but please for the love of god stop quoting vampire weekend...it's like someone drawing their fingers down a blackboard

In my view the prep thing is dead...2012/13 probably this stuff wouldve been at its height. Now youve only got the die hard trads and ivyists left..and without producing the right shirt..ie a Mercer you're not going to attract the purist crowd..who are probably the only people now interested..in my view that is.

Last edited by Bop (2015-11-18 02:49:07)

Well, if I knew how the cloth was manufactured, and could be sure it came from hand looms using traditional vegetable dyes, I might.

But without that information, I'm in two minds.