In the 1960s, an ordinary Indian textile transformed into a symbol of luxury in the USA.
The vibrant plaid cotton material has been a staple in the fashion world, popularized by brands like Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers for years. It's best known for featuring in light summer dresses, shirts, and shorts worn at country clubs or during luxurious holidays in the Bahamas when paired with leather boat shoes.
However, this classic piece of preppy clothing has humble beginnings far from the prestigious universities and country clubs. It can be traced back to Chennai, India, formerly known as Madras, where it was initially used by Indian laborers. Back in the late 1950s, the material almost caused a corporate scandal for an American textile importer named William Jacobson due to its tendency to bleed when subjected to strong detergents in high-powered washing machines.
In a video interview with CNN, Bachi Karkaria, the author of "Capture the Dream: The Many Lives of Captain C.P. Krishnan Nair," a biography of the Indian textile magnate, discussed Jacobson's fascination with the fabric. Apparently, the cloth's unique trait of bleeding with each wash fascinated Jacobson, as the colors blended together in a "design" way.
The biography shares the story of how Jacobson and Nair met, with Nair expounding on the cloth's unique features - it was woven with lightweight 60-count yarn for the warp (the thread held in place on the loom) and slightly heavier 40-count yarn for the weft (the thread woven horizontally through the warp), which was then dyed using natural dyes derived from local materials like laterites, indigo blue, turmeric, and sesame seed oil. This gave madras its distinctive scent. The fabric was already well-liked in West Africa, where it was used to create elaborate wedding gowns and other celebratory attire.
A Weakness Pitched as a Strength
While the weakness of the fabric to bleed was its most prominent quality, Nair was the one who pitched it to Jacobson as a strength. They struck a deal of a dollar per yard (equivalent to $10 per yard today), and immediately sent 10,000 yards to Brooks Brothers. The entire shipment was bought by the company and tailored into eye-catching jackets, shirts, and shorts.
Karkaria recalls that these trends were flying off the shelves within a week, and it was only then that Brooks Brothers realized the fabric bled, and sent complaints and lawsuits their way. Without proper care instructions provided by the label, customers were unhappy.
To salvage the situation, one of New York's "Mad Men" - British advertising tycoon David Ogilvy - was called in. He took this "flaw" and turned it into a unique selling point with the catchy slogan "Guaranteed to Bleed." This helped turn madras garments into a must-have for America's stylish and well-to-do travelers.
Ogilvy's marketing efforts saw an eight-page advertorial in Seventeen magazine professing the miraculous Indian handwoven fabric from India, featuring an interview with Nair. Soon after, other fashion labels jumped on the bandwagon and incorporated the print into their summer collections, transforming madras garments from a PR nightmare into a fashion statement.
Ivy League Connection and Fame
While Ogilvy, Nair, and Jacobson popularized madras in the US during the 1960s, its connection to the Ivy League is much older, dating back to the late 1600s. Yale, the colonial administrator of the East India Company’s Fort St. George outpost in Chennai and the primary benefactor of Yale College (now Yale University), played a part in this connection.
An advertisement created by Ogilvy for Hathaway, an American men's shirt brand, in 1961 claims that the college was established after "three trunks of India Madras" were donated by Yale. It goes on to say that Yale, who amassed a fortune through the East India Company's diamond and textile trades, sent "unusual cotton fabrics that the Indian cottagers made" to be sold or "otherwise improved" to benefit the college.
This fabric donation led to the funding of the new college, which the grateful trustees then named after Eli Yale. However, there may have been some creative license taken since the ad also claims that the name "Yale" was chosen following Yale's donation of "the proceeds from the sale of nine bales of goods together with 417 books and a portrait of King George I."
Despite Yale's questionable history as a Rhode Island colonial administrator and his ties to the violent diamond and textile trades, madras' association with American prep lingers.
While Jacobson and his associates elevated madras to iconic status during the 1960s, it was actually the connection with Yale University and India that made it synonymous with American preppy fashion for decades to come. Jacobson's business deal with Nair and its successful launch in the US left a lasting impact that still endures today.
In the history of fashion, constant reinvention is the key to staying relevant. And, as we look back on the story of madras, we see that being willing to embrace 'flaws' as unique selling points can lead to unexpected success. Indeed, the message is clear - bleed into the checks!
When Yale stumbled upon this fabric, it was already rich in history. Although it resembles Scottish tartans in some ways, there are significant differences: madras features no black lines or two-by-two weave, and it's made from cotton instead of wool. Evidence found by Kai Toussaint Marcel, a researcher at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, suggests that Portuguese merchants traded this Indian fabric in North Africa and the Middle East as early as the 13th century. It was utilized by the Kalabari people of Nigeria for clothing and during spiritual ceremonies. As African slaves were transported to America, they likely carried these customs and the fabric with them.
The British set up Fort St. George in the 1630s, securing their grip on the highly profitable Indian textile industry. Afterward, the Dutch and French began trading cotton and madras alongside enslaved Africans, leading to the arrival of this fabric on Caribbean shores. In the 18th century, England and France put a ban on selling madras within their countries; their trade with Caribbean colonies was the only exception. Research from the London School of Economics implies that Indian cotton textiles accounted for 30% of the total export value in 18th-century Anglo-African commerce, and often exchanged for slaves.
This fabric was embraced by both free and enslaved Black individuals, notably women, who used brightly-colored madras headdresses to challenge the dress codes that promoted modest appearance as a sign of inequality. With its vibrant colors, it represented the opposite.
The Caribbean became the place where madras established its connection with the prep lifestyle. Aided by tourism and Ivy League rugby tournaments in the mid-1930s, students from universities such as Yale and Princeton would visit Bermuda to participate in sports events and also "sunbathe, swim, join volleyball tournaments, and select a Miss College Week." These students would flock to local stores to buy "devalued-pound bargains," which included "cashmere and Shetland sweaters, madras Bermuda shorts and blazers."
Consequently, benjamin This garment became identified with Ivy League schools, vacations, the Caribbean, and later domestic locations such as Long Island (Hamptons), Rhode Island (Newport), and South Florida (Palm Beach and Fisher Island).
Madras was transformed into various items like shirts, trousers, shorts, and blazers. Additionally, it served as the material for accessories like watchbands, ties, and other embellishments.
Though less popular today due to the "quiet luxury" fashion trend, brands move away from its use. Birnbach's renewed guide to preppy living, "True Prep: It's a whole new old world," even replaced its madras border with another pattern: stripes.
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The unique trait of the madras fabric, its tendency to bleed during washing, was initially a weakness for American textile importer William Jacobson. However, Indian textile magnate C.P. Krishnan Nair saw it as an opportunity and pitched it as a strength to Jacobson.
The successful marketing campaign by British advertising tycoon David Ogilvy, which highlighted the bleeding feature of the madras fabric with the slogan "Guaranteed to Bleed," transformed the fabric into a must-have for fashion-conscious Americans.
