Siyaram's is one of those names almost every Indian man recognises without being able to say why, which is what happens when a house reaches a hundred thousand retail counters. Dharaprasad Poddar started it in Mumbai in 1978, in the Lower Parel textile district, making blended poly-viscose cloth for a domestic market that wanted something decent at a price it could actually pay. It went public in 1980, and Ramesh Poddar has run it since 1982. The book today is a great deal wider than where it started.
Lower Parel, 1978
Siyaram's began as a small operation in Lower Parel, then the centre of the Bombay textile trade, weaving blended poly-viscose fabric. The founding judgement was a commercial one rather than a romantic one: there was a very large Indian market that wanted decent cloth at a reachable price, and almost nobody was serving it properly.
The company was incorporated in 1978 and listed in 1980. Ramesh Poddar joined at the founding and took charge in 1982, and the house has been family-run throughout. Manufacturing today runs out of Boisar, north of Mumbai.
Suiting, shirting and the house brands
Siyaram's covers both suiting and shirting, and carries several distinct labels: Siyaram's itself, J. Hampstead at the finer end, and Oxemberg. For a tailor the useful thing is the breadth. Between those books there is a version of most things a customer asks for, in weights that make sense for the country the cloth is actually sold in.
That last point matters more than it sounds. A book specified for Indian conditions starts from a different place than a European book adapted for them. The lighter poly-viscose and blended constructions here were designed for a climate like ours rather than adjusted for it afterwards.
When we put you in Siyaram's
This is a working book, and we treat it as one. For a wedding sherwani or the suit you will be photographed in for the rest of your life, we will point you at the imported shelf and explain why.
For office suiting worn five days a week, for the second and third trousers, for the uniform-adjacent commissions that a lot of our corporate customers order in quantity, Siyaram's is sensible and we recommend it without hedging. The cloth behaves, the colour holds, and the money saved goes into the cut.
Siyaram's cloth is available to order through us.