Ranjit Shah emigrated from Madras to New York City in 1973 with a suitcase full of fabric swatches and founded the Original Madras Trading Company from an office in the garment district, with a view of the Empire State Building the company still keeps today. He became a key supplier of authentic, hand-loomed madras fabric and finished garments to American menswear names including Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren and Gant, linking his New York office directly to a bespoke factory and mill in Chennai. The company still works in single-weaver cloth (fabric woven start to finish by one person), and its yellow selvage label nods to both turmeric and the yellow taxis of Chennai and New York.