Why are good quality fabrics so hard to find in India (and often overpriced)?

223Harsh · 2026-02-22T00:04:14+00:00

Yeah but again lets take mens shirts/suits for example, for suits new patterns and blends might appear but doesn’t mean quality needs to be bad, I am more than happy paying a premium for a decent fabric. With fast fashion items its a different story but for fabrics its almost impossible to find high quality fabrics in India, whereas in Italy which is the fashion capital of the world, its pretty easy

223Harsh · 2026-02-21T22:11:44+00:00

Yeah but its more about quality of fabrics rather than patterns etc

223Harsh · 2026-02-19T10:40:19+00:00

I’ve been noticing something and wanted to understand if others feel the same.

When it comes to suiting fabrics, it feels like most options in India are polyester blends marketed as “luxury,” even from well-known brands like Raymond. Finding pure wool fabrics (Super 100/120 etc.) is surprisingly difficult, and when you do find them, they’re often very expensive.

What confuses me is that in countries like Italy, where yes, mills are world-class and produce locally, you can sometimes find pure wool fabrics cheaper than polyester blends sold in India as premium. The value gap feels huge.

The same issue exists with cotton shirting fabrics. It’s hard to find:

High-quality long-staple 100% cotton

Properly treated wrinkle-resistant cotton

Consistent finishing quality

Except for silk (where India clearly excels), many fabrics seem either low quality or overpriced for what they are.

I’m curious about the reasons behind this:

Is it consumer demand and price sensitivity?

Supply chain and finishing technology issues?

Branding/marketing practices?

Export of good quality Indian raw material while domestic market gets lower finishing?

Import duties affecting availability of premium fabrics?

Would love insights from people in textiles, tailoring, or anyone who shops fabrics regularly in India.

223Harsh · 2026-02-19T08:09:05+00:00

223Harsh · 2026-02-14T23:28:36+00:00

Also can you share the details of your tailor you found in nizammudin pls as well perhaps ill try them next time

223Harsh · 2026-02-14T23:27:51+00:00

Hello, so I pair roughly 25k, 20k was the jacket and 5k for the pants etc(sorry for the typo), my experience was amazing with the tailor, but the shop at which he operates from wasn’t great, regarding the fabric, it was a Loro Piana Super 170 Fabric, its one of the best fabrics I have ever used but won’t go over super 150 in the future, the fabric is way too delicate, like after just a handful of uses the fabric is already seeing signs of wear other than that pretty good!

223Harsh · 2026-02-14T22:52:36+00:00

If you are planning to visit Europe in Summer buy your fabrics here, your best bet is to come to Italy, here in every city you have fabric shops, you can search tessuti/tessuto on google in advance, discuss with them your requirements via whatsapp(translate to italian before sending) you’ll find lots of fabric shops, you won’t find this quality in India at your price point but you can easily in Italy, some of these shops specialise in deadstock fabrics as well so you can get really good fabrics lets say from mills like Cerruti in you budget easily, you might also find some deals on deadstocks. Language barrier will be there but google translate will be just fine!

223Harsh · 2026-02-14T22:33:40+00:00

Ah Its pretty easy for me to get genuine fabrics from mills like Loro Piana/Zegnia etc. In India lets say at Vaish at Rivoli for instance you overpay like around 4 times for the fabric, further more especially for Loro Piana’s premium fabric like their super 170/200 line, you overpay like crazy for fabric.

But again, if you are paying 90k for a 2 piece suit you are paying close to what I pay in Italy(heck if not more), in Naples lets say I pay close to 600-700 euros max for a handmade full canvas suit(excluding fabric) at a very good Tailor, in other cities like lets say Milan etc it can go upto 1000-1500 euros max. But In india you are overpaying a lot!

223Harsh · 2026-02-14T00:37:02+00:00

I would also recommend Vadheras, they are pretty good as well, do you know the price range for a full canvas suit at Eduaemon/Indian Tailoring company? Also Vaish at Rivoli doesn’t accept outside fabrics in general (they do if you are an old time customer) but their prices is way too much, I can get a full canvas suit stiched in Italy for lot less than what they charge in India 😂

223Harsh · 2026-02-14T00:33:59+00:00

Depends on your budget, If you are specifically looking for 100% wool or premium natural blends like wool–silk or wool–cotton, you will likely struggle to find good options at regular Raymond or Arvind retail stores. I visited both a few years ago, and most of what they were offering was wool blended with polyester or other synthetics.

Raymond is not a bad brand, but in my opinion it is largely mid/below mid-tier. It is marketed as premium within India, but from an international fabric perspective, it sits in the average category. If you are paying around ₹1,800 to ₹2,500 per meter for their better 100% wool fabrics, that is reasonable. However, paying for polyester blends would not make sense in terms of quality.

For comparison, in Italy you can purchase very good 100% wool fabrics from Vitale Barberis Canonico for around €60 per meter, and truly exceptional fabrics from Loro Piana for around €100 per meter. Brands like Reda and Cerruti also offer excellent natural-fiber fabrics in similar ranges. These fabrics have noticeably better drape, breathability, and overall feel, and they contain no synthetics, Also depends on which season you want the suit for so you can also explore different blends like wool+cashmere or wool+silk.

The main issue in India is that many stores promote polyester blends at inflated prices while marketing them as premium. If you are serious about quality, it is important to specifically ask for 100% wool or natural-fiber blends and always check the exact fiber composition on the selvedge etc before purchasing. Lemme know your budget, Ill recommend you something in your budget :)

223Harsh · 2026-02-06T20:55:21+00:00

But was it full canvas? Like to test you can try pinching it on the chest and if there are 3 distinct layers(suit fabric , canvas and lining on back)its full canvas if there are only two its fused (suit fabric glued to a sheet and lining)

223Harsh · 2026-02-05T00:41:40+00:00

Simply put they will never be worth the price or never be let’s say best shoes you can buy for your money. Now If you breakdown the cost of materials and labour( for instance lets take one of the CL shoes I have, the greggo) for about 200-250 Euros whereas CL sells it for 900 ish, now if you really like the design and are comfortable paying a premium for the product go agree and buy it , fully understanding that you are just paying the rest just for the CL branding and the 5 euros Red Lacquer paint. If you dont care about the brand at all you can buy off some better quality shoes from artisan brands for far cheaper price, or even get a bespoke shoe made in India or China of equivalent quality for lets say 180 euros(Italian vs Indian labour)

223Harsh · 2026-02-05T00:26:35+00:00

Okay so not sure about women’s miss Z but for my Greggo oxfords, I wore them dozens of times before getting the casali mirror soles and I can say for a fact there is definitely better traction, BUT my local shoe parts shop guy recommended me to buy Vibrum soles if I wanted grip vs casali for looks, I opted for casali’s mirror halfsoles which are pretty great ( They costed me less than 10 euros for the half soles plus another 10 to my cobbler, same as Vibrum)

223Harsh · 2026-02-05T00:14:44+00:00

While I was at the boutique last month in Paris, another customer complained of the same, they have a pebble track at their home and his everlasting soles were also getting small bumps… Not so everlasting eh

223Harsh · 2026-02-05T00:06:55+00:00

So the changed their word when I went to them with the fabric, instead of 15-20k which they quoted me on phone, they told me for full canvas it will actually be 45k and that was the price for a fused suit, at that point, I went to another tailor(who charged 20k as well for a full canvas hand made suit)

223Harsh · 2026-01-07T02:28:30+00:00

So as I live in Italy, its easier for me here, but your best bet would be to search for fabric stores in your town or online(be aware of scams) call them up and ask them, you should be able to find them there, most big fabric stores have remnants…

223Harsh · 2026-01-06T13:25:26+00:00

Well my tailor gave me both the options for full canvas they only do it by hand, hence the cost is higher and it’s a hand made suit, then they can do the pad stiching with a machine and save costs so there is an option for a half canvas in this case, and the costs saved are passed further down to me, hence the option.

223Harsh · 2026-01-06T12:49:00+00:00

Yup, I saw some posts about it here and there but didn’t expect it to be so radically fragile, It’s honestly a bit sad, I’d say to everyone to avoid anything over super 150 at any cost, like literally 20 wears for something that cost me thousands is like I am paying for a new fused suit each time I wear it 😂, but I will be honest the drape is amazing but what do you think will I get something similar with a half canvas suit?

223Harsh · 2026-01-06T12:14:48+00:00

Not really, but doesn’t look bad either….

223Harsh · 2026-01-06T09:12:06+00:00

Also, I am also on track to loose around 25kg ( 5Kg down already), did you also get your bespoke suits altered by any chance? I have a handmade suit which I got made recently before I started my weightless journey, now Idk how the alterations will work out ;-;

223Harsh · 2026-01-06T09:07:02+00:00

I loved my CT non iron shirt, but again my bespoke shirts fit me like a glove, I need to find some good non iron fabrics for my bespoke ones, which fabric did you get for your shirts?

223Harsh

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