Original Madras Trading Co.

The Original Madras Trading Company was founded in 1973 by Ranjit Shah, who emigrated from Madras (now Chennai) to New York with a suitcase of fabric swatches. Within a few years he had established OMTC on West 38th Street in Manhattan's Garment District and secured supply contracts with major American menswear houses including Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, Gant, J.Crew, J.Press, Tommy Hilfiger, and L.L. Bean. Madras is a cotton fabric hand-woven in checks and plaids, traditionally associated with the city of its origin; it entered American Ivy League style in the 18th century after Elihu Yale, then governor of British Madras, donated bolts of it to the university that took his name. Now run by Shah's grandson, Prasan, the company remains based in the same Garment District headquarters and still produces madras cloth on traditional handlooms in Chennai before finishing it into clothing.