The Mill

One district, four steps

Every Kovai Loom piece travels less than forty kilometres from plant to parcel. This is the route.

Cotton bolls open on the plant — The crop — cotton ready for picking

The crop

Kovai cotton begins in the black soils around the district, where the boll opens flat and white. The fibre is short-stapled and honest: it spins into cloth that softens in the wash and holds its colour for years.

Bobbins of spun yarn from a spinning machine — The yarn — bobbins off the spinning frame

The yarn

Coimbatore has been called the Manchester of South India for its spinning mills. We buy ring-spun yarn from a mill we can cycle to, in lots small enough to trace back to the frame.

A power loom weaving coloured cloth — The weave — a power loom at work

The weave

The yarn is woven in the same cluster, on looms that run the width we cut. Yarn-dyed, never printed: the stripe and the check go into the cloth before it comes off the loom.

A tailor's sewing machine — The stitch — the unit's machines

The stitch

Cutting and stitching happen in a unit on Avinashi Road, in runs small enough that a size can sell out and return with the next Friday's drop. Nothing is ordered in from outside the district.

Care

Machine wash cold
Warm iron
No bleach

YarnKovai cotton, ring-spun
WeaveYarn-dyed at the cluster mill
StitchCut and sewn on Avinashi Road
RunsSmall batches, restocked weekly
MiddlemenNone between loom and doorstep

Shop the drop