Handloom Menswear · Brands & Buying
Indian Handloom Brands for Men: The Overlooked Half of a Craft Story
Most handloom content in India is written for women. But handloom menswear has its own depth, its own brands, and its own case for existing. Here is where to start.
Search "Indian handloom brands" and you will find sarees. Scroll further and you will find more sarees. Then some kurtas. Then, eventually, if you look carefully, something made for a man that is not a kurta.
This is not a coincidence. The Indian handloom conversation has been shaped almost entirely around women's wear, and specifically around occasion dressing. Sarees, lehengas, dupattas. The assumption embedded in most handloom content is that the buyer is a woman shopping for a wedding or a festival. Men who want to wear handloom in their daily lives have largely been left to figure it out on their own.
That gap is beginning to close. A small number of Indian handloom brands are building seriously for men, not as an afterthought but as a central part of what they do. This is a list of those brands, and a case for why handloom menswear deserves the same attention that handloom women's wear has long received.
Why Handloom Works Particularly Well for Men's Clothing
The case for handloom menswear is partly aesthetic and partly practical. On the practical side, the fabrics that dominate handloom weaving in India — cotton, linen, cotton-linen blends — are among the best materials available for warm-weather men's clothing. They breathe, they soften with wear, and they hold their shape through washing in a way that synthetic fabrics do not.
On the aesthetic side, handloom's natural irregularity is an advantage in menswear precisely because men's clothing tends toward restraint. A plain handloom cotton shirt does not need embellishment. The texture of the cloth, the slight variation in the weave, is its own visual interest. It reads as quality to anyone who knows fabric, without announcing itself to anyone who does not.
Handloom cloth does not need decoration to be interesting. For menswear built on restraint, that is exactly the point.
There is also the durability argument. A well-made handloom shirt worn regularly and washed properly will last years longer than a comparably priced fast fashion equivalent. The economics of a higher upfront cost look different when spread across a decade of wear.
What Handloom Menswear Actually Looks Like
Handloom menswear in India has historically meant either traditional kurtas or formal occasion wear. Both are legitimate. But neither captures what the fabric can do when it is applied to a contemporary wardrobe built around shirts, trousers, shorts, and outerwear.
The most interesting work being done in handloom menswear today is treating the cloth exactly as a Western or Japanese fabric house would treat a high-quality textile, building cuts and silhouettes around what the material does naturally rather than forcing it into forms it was not made for. A Kannur cotton with a dobby weave in a relaxed shirt cut. A linen-cotton blend in a straight-leg trouser. These are not ethnic garments. They are just well-made clothes in good fabric.
This framing matters because it opens the category to men who would not describe themselves as interested in traditional Indian clothing but who are interested in quality fabric, ethical sourcing, and clothes that last. That is a much larger audience than the kurta-buyer alone.
Indian Handloom Brands Building Seriously for Men
01
Kaaro
Kannur, Kerala · Women & Men
Kaaro is one of the very few Indian handloom brands that treats menswear as a core part of its identity rather than an add-on to a women's wear range. Founded by Goutam, who comes from a weaving family in Kannur, Kerala, Kaaro builds its men's collection around the same handwoven fabric that supplies European fashion houses, brought home and given silhouettes designed for contemporary daily wear.
The men's range includes shirt and trouser coordinates, standalone shirts in handwoven cotton and linen blends, and seasonal pieces that work across casual and semi-formal contexts. The cuts are clean and unhurried. The fabric does the work. Weavers are paid upfront through direct weaving society partnerships, with no middlemen in the chain.
For men looking for handloom that does not read as traditional ethnic wear, Kaaro is the clearest answer currently available from an Indian brand rooted in genuine craft.
kaaro.life02
Dressfolk
Bangalore, Karnataka
Dressfolk has built a consistent men's offering alongside its women's range, with handwoven cotton shirts and coordinates that reflect the brand's broader commitment to minimal, wearable design. The brand sources from weaving clusters across southern India and is transparent about its fabric provenance.
Dressfolk's menswear is particularly strong in shirting, where the handloom cotton performs well against the body and improves noticeably after a few washes.
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Wunderhaus Handmade
Pondicherry · Gender-Fluid
Founded by NIFT graduate Kedar Maddula, Wunderhaus Handmade is one of the more distinctive voices in Indian handloom menswear. The brand works with Madras checks, ikats, and tie-dye traditions to produce gender-fluid pieces that feel closer to streetwear than to traditional ethnic clothing.
Wunderhaus works directly with rural weavers and has built a following among younger consumers who want handloom that fits their wardrobe rather than requiring a separate wardrobe context for it.
04
Injiri
Rajasthan & Gujarat
Injiri, founded by designer Chinar Farooqui, produces a considered men's range alongside its women's collections. The brand works with block printing and ikat traditions and applies them to shirt cuts and jacket forms that sit comfortably in a contemporary wardrobe. Injiri's menswear is unhurried and quietly confident, the kind of clothing that rewards closer attention.
05
Fabindia
Pan-India
Fabindia remains the most accessible entry point for handloom menswear in India, with a broad range of kurtas, shirts, and trousers in handwoven cotton and linen available across its national store network. The brand's scale means quality can vary, but at its best, Fabindia's handloom menswear represents good value for the fabric category.
For men new to handloom who want to understand what the fabric feels like before committing to higher price points, Fabindia is a reasonable starting point.
What to Look for in Handloom Menswear
A practical guide before you buy
- Check whether menswear is a core category for the brand or an extension of a women's wear range. Brands that design for men from the start make better men's clothes.
- Look for natural fibres: cotton, linen, and cotton-linen blends are the strongest performers for men's daily wear in Indian conditions.
- Ask about the weave origin. A brand that can name a specific cooperative or cluster is giving you verifiable information. One that cannot is asking you to take the handloom claim on trust.
- Consider fit carefully. Handloom cloth has a different drape and weight from cotton poplin or synthetic fabric. Brands that design cuts specifically for handloom will fit better than those adapting standard patterns to handloom fabric.
- Factor in longevity. A handloom shirt at three times the price of a fast fashion equivalent, worn three times as often and lasting ten times as long, is the cheaper purchase across its lifetime.
- Wash gently for the first few washes. Handloom cotton and linen soften significantly with washing but can shrink slightly on first contact with water. Cold wash, line dry, and the fabric will stabilise.
The Broader Point
Handloom's near-total association with women's wear in India is a market failure, not a reflection of what the fabric can do. The same cloth that makes an exceptional saree makes an exceptional shirt. The same weaving skill that produces a Kanjivaram produces a cotton trouser weight that no mill can replicate at the same price-to-quality ratio.
The brands listed here are working against the assumption that handloom is primarily a women's category. Some are doing it explicitly, like Kaaro, which puts menswear at the centre of its identity. Others are doing it by simply making good men's clothes in handloom fabric and letting the product make the argument.
Either way, the category exists. It is growing. And for men who care about what their clothes are made from, who made them, and whether the fabric will still be worth wearing in five years, Indian handloom menswear is one of the more compelling answers currently available.
The same fabric that dresses Europe in handloom suits dresses Kannur weavers' families. Kaaro is the brand connecting those two facts.
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