Plate No. 033 · fabric

Madras

Madras is a lightweight handloom cotton from the region around Chennai, woven in bright multicolor checks and plaids from yarn dyed before weaving. The cloth traveled with trade and empire to West Africa, the Caribbean, and eventually the American resort wardrobe. Its mid-century fame rests on a flaw turned feature: authentic madras dyed with fugitive vegetable colors bled when washed, and in the 1960s 'bleeding madras' was marketed on the promise that no two washes left the same plaid.