Grown to order
This pioneering seed-to-sew system sets the standard for a new luxury. It goes without saying that the materials and craftsmanship are of the highest quality, but there is quality at every level of the process from the selection of long staple cotton seeds, to the nurturing of indigenous farming practices, the care invested in ensuring that the farmers are protected whatever the yield that season, the attention to detail at every step of the way. This is a new system of growing and crafting clothes designed to ensure carbon is captured in the soil, and that nature is central to the process. The Ōshadi Collective’s new crop of clothing is about cultivating a respect for time, skills, people, craft and nature.
About the Tamil Calendar
We are building this journal around the Tamil Calendar so we will follow the local seasons according to the climate and the cycles of the moon and how they correspond to the activities on the farm. Just like summer, winter, autumn and spring, Tamil Nadu has six seasons based on the Tamil calendar. Each season has two months:
Kaar Kaalam: Rainy season
Aani (June 15 - July 15)This is the month for boll maturation, then bursting.
Time for the cotton harvest
Kulir Kaalam: Cold, windy season
Puratasi (September 15 - October 14)The sowing of seeds is done in amavaasai (new moon) or valar pirai (first quarter) and it increases the germination rate.
Plant growth, bud formation
Munpani Kaalam: Fog and mist during the night
Karthigai (November 15 - December 14)The cotton flowers change from white to pink to dark pink
The month for boll formation
Pinpani Kaalam: Fog and mist during the morning
Thai (January 15 - February 14)Pongal Festival of Harvest thanking the Sun God and Nature for a prosperous crop yield. Time to plough the fields.
The temperature goes up to 40 degrees. This is the month for cotton seed sowing.
Elavenil Kaalam: Spring season, mild hot weather
Pangani (March 15 - April 14)The cotton plants begin to grow and form buds
Cotton in flower
Mudhuvenil Kaalam: Summer season, extremely hot weather
Vaigasi (May 15 - June 14)The cotton bolls form this month
Cotton bolls mature and burst and it’s time to harvest!