There is something reassuring about a fabric business that has been around for more than 90 years. Trends change, technologies evolve and the way people buy textiles keeps moving forward, but the fundamentals of good fabric remain remarkably consistent.
We know this because we have spent four generations learning them.
Our legacy began in 1932, when Tahilram Tulsidas Mulchandani established himself in the textile trade in Karachi and simultaneously opened an office in Bombay, now Mumbai, for trading Indian and imported textiles. That office at M. J. Market continues to house our shirt-piece division today.
Much has changed since then. The textile industry has become more sophisticated, international supply chains have grown more complex and digital technology has altered how businesses source products.
Yet our understanding of fabric still comes from the same place: years of looking at it, handling it, studying it and understanding what makes one fabric work better than another.
For us, bringing traditional textile expertise into the digital age does not mean leaving that knowledge behind. It means finding better ways to put it to work.
A Heritage Built On Understanding Fabric
Our history has never followed a single straight line.
Across four generations, our business has moved through different categories, markets and manufacturing relationships. From the early trading days in Bombay to working with established textile mills, expanding our shirting business and introducing new fabric constructions, each generation brought something different to the table.
The third generation, led by Vijay, brought a more scientific approach to the business. His understanding of textiles helped us develop a stronger focus on men’s shirting, eventually leading to our partnership with Morarjee Mill in 1993.
The fourth generation brought another kind of expertise.
Karan joined the business in 2011 after working in technology consulting, business development and client management. His background in IT introduced a different way of thinking about a business that had traditionally depended heavily on relationships, product knowledge and physical fabric sampling.
That combination has become increasingly important to us.
We have never believed that technology should replace textile knowledge. Technology should make that knowledge more accessible, useful and efficient.
What Changes When Textile Expertise Meets Technology?
Fabric sourcing has traditionally been a tactile process.
A designer or buyer sees a fabric, feels its surface, studies its colour, looks at the weave and begins thinking about where it could work. That process involves experience that cannot always be reduced to a specification sheet.
At the same time, modern buyers are dealing with enormous amounts of information.
A collection may involve hundreds of fabric references. A business may need to compare colours, textures, constructions and finishes across different requirements. Finding the right option can take time, particularly when the fabric they have in mind already exists somewhere in a large inventory but they do not know its exact reference.
This is where we believe technology can make a genuine difference.
Rather than asking technology to understand textiles without context, we have approached it from the opposite direction. We are bringing our understanding of fabrics into the technology itself.
The result is our AI Fabric Search Tool.
Introducing Our AI Fabric Search Tool
The idea behind our AI Fabric Search Tool is simple: find the fabric you are looking for using an image.
Here is how it works:
- Upload a fabric image
Upload an image of the fabric you want to find. It can be a photograph or a visual reference of the fabric you have in mind.
- Let AIanalysethe fabric
The tool examines the image and analyses key visual characteristics, including colour, texture, pattern and other identifiable fabric attributes.
- Search our fabric inventory
The AI compares these characteristics with the fabrics available in our collection and identifies relevant matches from our inventory.
- Review matching fabric options
You receive fabric options that closely correspond to the image you uploaded, making it easier to shortlist suitable materials without manually searching through our entire collection.
- Find the fabric you canactually source
The results are connected to our available Cirocco inventory. This means the search is not simply about identifying what a fabric resembles. It helps you find relevant fabric options that are available through us.
For designers, garment manufacturers, retailers and other textile professionals, this makes fabric sourcing more intuitive. Instead of starting with a fabric name, reference number or technical specification, you can start with an image and let the search lead you towards the right possibilities.
For us, this is where technology becomes genuinely useful. It does not replace the knowledge required to understand fabric. It makes that knowledge easier to access.
Technology Is Only As Useful As The Knowledge Behind It
AI is becoming increasingly accessible across industries. The more interesting question, in our view, is what happens when it is combined with genuine industry expertise.
We have spent decades building relationships with manufacturers, studying different constructions and understanding how fabrics behave. Our range includes everything from everyday shirting to highly refined fabrics made with Egyptian cotton, as well as premium linen fabric and specialised blends.
That knowledge gives technology a meaningful context.
An image may show colour and texture, but fabric selection involves much more than appearance. Fibre, weave, construction, finish and intended use all influence whether a fabric is suitable for a particular garment.
This is why we see the digital development of our business as an extension of our textile expertise rather than a departure from it.
The screen may be digital. The knowledge behind the recommendation remains deeply rooted in textiles.
From Fabric Books To Digital Search
For decades, fabric sourcing has relied on physical interaction.
Fabric books, folders, swatches and sample lengths remain valuable because textiles are physical materials. They need to be seen and handled.
We continue to believe in that.
Our Never-Out-of-Stock collection, for instance, gives customers access to more than 1,000 core designs throughout the year. Our broader range includes more than 3,000 ready designs, with over 200 new designs added each month.
That scale gives our customers choice. It also creates a practical challenge: how do you find exactly what you need within such a wide range?
Digital tools can help answer that question.
Our AI Fabric Search Tool does not make the physical fabric obsolete. It helps users reach the right part of the collection faster.
That is the kind of technology we find valuable: technology that removes friction without removing the character of the industry.
Keeping The Craft While Changing The Process
There is sometimes an assumption that tradition and technology sit at opposite ends of the spectrum.
We do not see it that way.
Our history has always involved adaptation.
We moved from trading fabrics to developing deeper relationships with mills. We expanded our shirting collections. We introduced high-count fabrics, jacquards, melanges, cotton-silk blends and other specialised constructions. We brought international fabric brands to the Indian market and developed new performance-based fabrics as customer requirements changed.
The business has evolved because textiles evolve.
The same principle applies today.
The modern fabric buyer expects quality, but also speed. They want choice, but they also want clarity. They may need a specific shirting fabric for a collection, a premium linen fabric for a summer range or other luxury shirting fabric for a refined menswear line.
Our role as a fabric supplier is therefore changing too.
We still need to understand the material. We also need to make finding that material easier.
Why Our History Still Matters
Our 90-plus-year history is not valuable simply because it is long.
It matters because it has given us perspective.
We have seen textile businesses change across generations. We have worked through changing consumer preferences, evolving manufacturing practices and new approaches to design and distribution. We have learnt that a fabric supplier earns trust through consistency, not through novelty alone.
That is particularly important as digital tools become part of the sourcing process.
A sophisticated interface is useful. A clever search function is useful. AI can save time.
But none of these things can replace the importance of having the right fabrics, dependable supply and people who understand what they are selling.
For us, technology has to strengthen those fundamentals.
The Future Of Fabric Sourcing Will Be Both Physical And Digital
We believe the future of textiles will combine the best of both worlds.
The physical qualities of fabric will always matter. Texture, drape, weave, weight and finish cannot be fully separated from the material itself.
At the same time, digital tools can make the process of finding and comparing fabrics faster and more intelligent.
Our AI Fabric Search Tool is one step in that direction.
It reflects something that has been part of our business for generations: the willingness to adapt while keeping our standards intact.
We began in 1932 with a trading office and a growing understanding of textiles. More than nine decades later, we are using artificial intelligence to help customers find fabrics within our own collection.
The technology may be new. The principle is not.
We have always believed that knowing fabric well is the foundation of serving customers well.
Today, we are simply finding smarter ways to put that knowledge at their fingertips.
From 1932 To The Digital Age
Looking back at our history, the most interesting part is not how much has changed. It is how often the business has had to rethink what comes next.
Four generations have contributed to that process.
Our first generation established the foundation. The generations that followed expanded our expertise, strengthened our manufacturing relationships, introduced new categories and brought fresh ways of thinking into the business.
Today, we are continuing that progression.
As one of the established fabric suppliers in India, our responsibility is not simply to preserve what we know. It is to make that knowledge more useful for the businesses we serve.
The AI Fabric Search Tool is a reflection of that philosophy.
It brings together something very old and something very new: the trained eye of a textile specialist and the processing ability of artificial intelligence.
For us, the digital age should enhance accessibility to the craft without replacing it.
FAQ
1. Do you supply fabrics across India?
Yes. We supply fabrics to customers across India through our established distribution and customer service network. Our ready-stock collections and multiple ordering channels make it easier for businesses in different locations to source fabrics efficiently.
2. How does the AI Fabric Search Tool work?
Our AI Fabric Search Tool allows you to upload an image of a fabric you want to find. It analyses visual characteristics such as colour, texture and pattern, then identifies similar fabric options available in our inventory.
3. Is Egyptian cotton fabric available throughout the year?
Availability depends on the specific fabric, construction and collection. Our core and Never-Out-of-Stock ranges are maintained for year-round availability, while other Egyptian cotton fabrics may be available in limited quantities.
4. Can I order smaller quantities of fabric from Cirocco?
Yes. Our Bespoke Service allows customers to purchase smaller lengths from selected designs in our NOS collection. We also offer single shirt-length pieces through our dedicated shirt-piece division.