“The jacket is the first thing people notice and the last thing they forget.” Tom Ford, one of fashion’s most formidable forces, isn’t wrong. In the colder months up north, or as the festive season takes over in the south, outerwear does far more than keep the chill out.
Good coats are conversation starters, punctuation marks of a whole look. While a classic Burberry or Barbour trench may often be touted as a capsule wardrobe essential, in a country as craft-rich as ours, it makes sense to go several steps further and invest in pieces that could one day be classified as heirlooms. After all, you may not want to repeat a shirt every week, but wearing the same jacket through an entire season can still feel striking.
Be it coats that lean into folklore or jackets with woven flowers and lubu beads, here are six fits for the new year.
Boito
The Tara and Tarini Coats
The slow fashion label’s focus on Odisha’s tribal textiles and ikats has quickly established it as a brand to watch closely. Its engagement with mythological narratives is evident in the Tara Tarini Coat, inspired by the fierce sister goddesses of Odia folklore. In Tara, tailored in crimson Sambalpuri ikat silk, white motifs depict the goddess in her mountain abode. A dhokra metal belt, cast using the ancient lost wax technique, adds sculptural strength, echoing ritual armour.
It’s twin, the Tarini, is a long ensemble crafted in organic, handwoven Kotpad cotton, dyed in shades reminiscent of fertile riverbeds. Traditional motifs reference tribal customs and rituals, with the goddess’ eyes offering a protective gaze over extra weft birds, peacocks, temples, and trees. The belt is strung with colourful lubu beads, traditionally worn by women of the Bonda community.
Jodi
Kala Cotton Jackets
Made in Kala cotton, hand dyed and hand embroidered, Jodi, the young brand founded by two magazine stylists, has come into its own. Known for its playful approach to block printing from Jaipur and whimsical embroidery finished in Pune — think local flora, folk dancers, and fantastical creatures — the jackets allow for a lightness of expression without losing craft depth.
The coarser style of cotton makes everyday pieces that need to survive on-the-go days. Pair them with voluminous skirts or matching handloom trousers for a relaxed yet intentional look. Bonus: the brand’s take on beaded scrunchies, playful bags, and mix and match from the brand language’s repertoire.
péro
Kadua Weave Jacket
After years of careful world-building, péro’s pieces carry a signature that feels familiar to long-time followers and new buyers alike. From the quilted pink Hello Kitty coat to its much-loved Kullu weaves, the brand creates garments that feel as good as they look. For this list, we recommend the handwoven chequered silk reversible jacket in a kadua weave from Banaras.
Part of their wildly popular 100 unique jackets edit, the checks are a nod to southern textile traditions, while the kadua extra weft technique create delicate florals that appear as if embroidered. This painstaking weave uses a supplementary weft technique where each motif is hand woven with extra threads with such precision that it leaves no loose threads at the back.
Payal Khandwala
Silk Brocade Jacket
There is something distinct about women designing for women. Khandwala’s minimal chic designs have found admirers among discerning consumers and A-list actors such as Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, and Tabu. Despite the widespread revival of Banarasi brocade over the last two decades, the designer’s work stands apart for its clarity and restraint. This handwoven, longline silk brocade jacket from her Autumn-Winter collection reinterprets the structure of a classic men’s sherwani into a precisely constructed feminine form.
The subtle nod to heritage motifs, the jaal pattern all take from patterns we may have previously seen on saris, but their controlled addition to a jacket makes the interpretation fresh.
Injiri
Micro Bandhani Jacket
Since 2009, Chinar Farooqui’s label has built a loyal following, with wearers collecting her pieces season after season, constructing a wardrobe where they can stack and layer from her old and new pieces. Farooqui is best known for her work with desi wool, contemporary jamdani, and softly structured checks. If you were looking for a forever piece, however, her micro bandhani jacket stands out.
Rendered in vivid hues that are a nod to Rajasthan’s enduring love for bright colours, the placement of the dots are inspired by the skirts of the Halepotra community in Kutch, a region that continues to be her playground and long-term site of textile practice.
Jigmat Couture
Thik-ma Jacket
A well-defined wardrobe would be remiss without the unique Northeastern sensibility. Take thik-ma, the traditional tie-dye technique jacket from Jigmat Couture. The process (practised largely in Zanskar and Changthang in Ladakh) uses resist dyeing with natural threads to create bold circular motifs, long believed to ward off the evil eye. Some of the earliest visual records appear in the 11th-century murals of Tibet’s Alchi Monastery, where the textile was used to veil Thanka painting.
Zanskari artisans use thik-ma to make their traditional stak-ta costumes, bok capes, and pabu shoes. Jigmat Couture draws from this lineage, working with natural vegetable dyes on handspun, handwoven lambswool, cashmere, and yak wool.
Bejewelled by Richa
Bhujodi Shawls
These are one-of-a-kind statement pieces. Known for her hand-finished batwas and purses, Richa’s jackets combine G.I.-tagged Bhujodi shawls, woven locally in Kutch with sheep wool with Kutchi embroidery. No two pieces are alike, as the designer personally mixes and matches different pieces to arrive at a collage that feels true to her singular sensibility. They lend themselves naturally to an Indian boho aesthetic.
The writer is a Mumbai-based fashion stylist.
