Why Handmade Matters: The Story Behind Our Clothes

Most of the clothes we buy in the UK are made by machine, fast and identical. The pieces on our shelves are different. They come off handlooms and out of the hands of stitchers in Bangladesh, and we think that difference is worth explaining.

A loom, two people and a lot of time

On a jamdani loom, the weaver and an apprentice sit side by side. The pattern is not printed on afterwards. Each motif is built into the cloth as it is woven, by passing extra threads through the warp by hand, one small section at a time. A simple saree can take a week or two. A densely patterned one can take months.

A Tangail tant saree, a panjabi's embroidered placket and a nakshi kantha follow the same rule. Each is shaped by a person making hundreds of small decisions.

Why the "imperfections" matter

Look closely at a handwoven saree and you may see a motif that sits a thread higher than its neighbour, or a border that breathes a little wider in one place. These are not faults. They are the marks of a hand at work, and they are how you can tell handloom from powerloom at a glance. No two of our pieces are exactly alike.

Who it supports

Handloom weaving has been part of Bangladeshi life for centuries, from Dhakai muslin to today's jamdani. It is also a craft under pressure from cheaper machine-made cloth. Every handwoven piece that is bought and worn keeps a loom working and gives younger weavers a reason to learn.

Buying handmade, well

• Expect small variations in colour and pattern between our photos and your piece.
• Care for it gently. Most handwoven cotton prefers a cold hand wash or dry cleaning, and zari should never be wrung.
• Store it folded in cotton or muslin, away from plastic, and refold it along new lines now and then so creases do not set.

Handmade clothes ask a little more of us. In return they last for years, and they carry a story from a loom in Bangladesh to a wardrobe in England.