8 Brands Like Rujuta Sheth for Ethical Fashion Choices
The dress you wear every week sold out in your size, and the restock never came. That's the deal you make with a small-batch label. The clothes are made by hand in numbers that run out, and once you've worn the same two pieces all summer, you want somewhere else to look.
Rujuta Sheth is a New York womenswear label selling dresses, tops, trousers and outerwear cut from handloom cotton and hand block print. The designer was born in India and launched her namesake line in 2015, and the clothes are still made there.
Her Naya Kaftan Dress in Midnight Ikat ($225) is a fair summary of the whole idea, which is 100% handloom cotton, side seam pockets, and sizing that runs from XS/S up to 2XL/3XL. These 8 brands sell the same combination of artisan-made natural fabric and clothes you can wear on a Tuesday. We checked every price, fabric and size range on each brand's own site, and quoted full prices rather than whatever happened to be marked down that morning.
Quick comparison:
- Closest match: Passion Lilie and Mata Traders, both fair trade, both block print, both made in India
- Spend more: Ace & Jig for handwoven textiles, Anita Dongre Grassroot for hand embroidery
- For the kantha specifically: Anchal Project
- Print-led picks: Daughters of India, Symbology, and Doodlage if you'll buy from India directly
| Brand | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Passion Lilie | $88 to $128 USD on dresses | Hand block prints under $130 |
| Mata Traders | $124 to $249 USD on dresses | Fair trade in sizes XS to 3X |
| Ace & Jig | $300 to $405 USD on dresses | Handwoven texture you can feel |
| Anita Dongre Grassroot | $129 to $623 USD on clothing | Hand embroidery and kantha |
| Anchal Project | $125 kaftan, $179 to $565 jackets USD | Vintage kantha in one-size cuts |
| Daughters of India | $119 to $239 USD | Jaipur block print shipped from the US |
| Symbology | $140 to $228 USD on dresses | Bold prints in sizes to 3X |
| Doodlage | Rs. 7,500 to Rs. 11,000 INR on dresses | Upcycled fabric, if you'll cover duty |
Passion Lilie
Passion Lilie is a New Orleans fair trade label making organic cotton clothing in India, and it's the closest like-for-like swap on this list. Katie Schmidt founded it in 2013, and the brand is a Fair Trade Federation member working in handwoven ikat and hand block print.
The overlap with Rujuta Sheth is almost exact. Both design in the US, both make in India in small batches, and both build the range around block-printed cotton rather than occasion fabric. The Starlight Organic Wrap Dress ($106) is 100% organic cotton, hand block printed with gold dye, and comes in XS through XXL.
Where it differs is price. Full-price dresses run $88 to $128 here, against $225 for the Naya Kaftan at Rujuta Sheth, so you're paying roughly half for a comparable cotton dress. The catalogue also carries men's shirts and kids' dresses, so it reads less like a designer line and more like a family fair trade shop.
Best for: Hand block-printed organic cotton when $200 for a dress is too much.
Mata Traders
Mata Traders is a Chicago fair trade label that started in 2007 and has been a Fair Trade Federation member ever since. Its clothes are made in India and Nepal, like Rujuta Sheth's, and it beats her on size range.
The range runs XS through 3X, which is the widest span on this list after Rujuta Sheth's own. That matters, because plenty of artisan labels stop at L and leave the promise of inclusive design sitting in the copy rather than the size chart. The Artsy Traveler Sleeveless Midi Dress ($189) is a yarn-dyed linen blend in a pink and red stripe, and it's cut in all eight sizes from XS to 3X rather than stopping at XL like half the catalogue.
Mata Traders publishes more about its factories than most. Its longest partnership, Creative Handicrafts in Mumbai, is a WFTO Guaranteed cooperative founded in 1984 and owned by the 270 women who work there, and it's been weaving ikat for Mata since 2007. If you like knowing whose hands made the dress, that page answers it by name.
Best for: Fair trade dresses in sizes past XL, from $124.
Ace & Jig
Ace & Jig designs its own yarn-dye woven textiles and has them made by Fair Trade Certified partners in India, which puts it closer to Rujuta Sheth's handloom sourcing than anything else at this price. Cary Vaughan and Jenna Wilson founded it in 2009 and run it out of Brooklyn and Portland.
The fabric is the whole point. Rather than printing a pattern onto finished cloth, the two designers work the color into the weave itself, and a single textile can take a year or more to develop. You notice it in the hand of the cloth, which has a slubby, gauzy weight that printed cotton doesn't have.
The Cliff Dress in Palette ($310) is a sleeveless empire-waist midi with side slit pockets, made in India, in sizes xxs through 3x. That's the catch, because full-price dresses run $300 to $405, so you're paying about a third above Rujuta Sheth for a comparable everyday piece.
Best for: Woven texture over print, if the budget stretches past $300.
Anita Dongre Grassroot
Anita Dongre Grassroot is the craft-focused line from one of India's best-known designers, and it sells to American shoppers in dollars from its own US storefront. The clothing runs from $129 to $623, with 69 of its 73 pieces marked ready to ship.
Grassroot works in the same materials Rujuta Sheth does and goes further into hand embroidery. The Haiku Hand-embroidered Kantha Mul Top ($129) uses mul cotton, the Haiku Embroidered Hemp Dress ($223) swaps in hemp, and the Haiku Hand-embroidered Kantha Mul Dress ($295) lands within about $70 of the Naya Kaftan.
The difference is where the clothes are going. Grassroot's cuts lean Indian, with kurta sets and sarees alongside the dresses, so the everyday Western silhouettes are a smaller slice of the range. Pick through it and the kantha and chikankari pieces are the ones that'll sit naturally beside a handloom cotton kaftan.
Best for: Hand embroidery and kantha, bought in dollars.
Shop Anita Dongre Grassroot Now
Anchal Project
Anchal Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit selling kantha apparel made in Rajasthan, founded in 2010 by sisters Colleen and Maggie Clines. If the reclaimed kantha in Rujuta Sheth's range is the part you love, this is the brand built entirely around it.
Kantha is the running-stitch technique used to layer old saris into quilts, and Anchal works it into clothing alongside hand block print and organic cotton. The Block Print Floral Kaftan ($125) is organic cotton, block printed by hand by women artisans, and comes in petite, standard and extended one-size cuts. Quilted jackets run from $179 up to $565.
Two things to know before you shop. The apparel is a small part of a catalogue that's mostly quilts, throws, pillows and bedding, so the clothing edit is thin next to a full womenswear line. And the one-size cuts mean fit is looser and less adjustable than the graded sizing at Rujuta Sheth. The upside is that pieces are made from reclaimed saris, so no two come out alike.
Best for: Vintage kantha, and shopping through a nonprofit.
Daughters of India
Daughters of India sells hand block-printed cotton clothing made by artisans in Jaipur, and it runs a US storefront in dollars that ships from an American warehouse. Prices sit from $119 to $239, right on top of Rujuta Sheth's band.
The fabrics are the familiar ones, which is hand block-printed cotton and double gauze. The Veda Dress in Marmalade ($219) and the Anika Maxi Dress in White Cosmos ($229) cover the midi-and-maxi end, and the Nisha Tie Top ($119) is the cheapest way to test the printing. Everything runs XS through 2XL.
The brand sells direct only, with no wholesale and no department stores, and it says it gives $10,000 a month to two charities working on women's employment. We couldn't find a founding year stated on its own site, so treat the brand's history as unconfirmed. What we could confirm is the sizing, the pricing and the Jaipur printing, all on its own product pages.
Best for: Jaipur block print without waiting on international shipping.
Symbology
Symbology makes block-printed and tie-dyed clothing with women artisans in India, the same production base as Rujuta Sheth, in sizes XS through 3X with full-price dresses from $140 to $228. Marissa Heyl started it after a research trip to India, and the brand works in modal and cotton with small runs of about 25 pieces per style.
Where Rujuta Sheth's prints tend toward stripes and checks, Symbology goes figurative. The Ginkgo Leaf Maxi Wrap Dress ($180) puts copper ginkgo leaves across a white ground, and the Ginkgo Leaf Shirtdress in Peach and Cream ($140) is the same print in a day dress that runs all the way to 3X.
The brand states it pays its artisans a living wage and funds school scholarships for their children, and it lists its block printing, Delhi beadwork, Mexican embroidery and West Bank embroidery partners separately on its own site. Its founding year isn't published anywhere we could find, so we've left it out rather than guess. Worth knowing that the site runs frequent sitewide discounts, so the price you see may not be the list price.
Best for: Statement prints when you need a 2X or 3X.
Doodlage
Doodlage is a Delhi label making clothes from factory waste and deadstock, and it prices in Indian rupees. Dresses and tunics run Rs. 7,500 to Rs. 11,000, and the Arlene Beige Dress sits at Rs. 9,500.
Where Rujuta Sheth reuses old kantha quilts, Doodlage works a step earlier in the chain, catching cotton offcuts and damaged panels before they're thrown out and piecing them into new clothes. The results are visibly patched and panelled, which is the look rather than a flaw.
Sizing is generous in an unusual way. Rather than single sizes, much of the range is cut in bands, so the Susan and Erna dresses come as S-L, XL-3XL and 4XL-6XL. Buying from the US takes more effort, though. Doodlage ships internationally on a delivery duty unpaid basis, which means customs charges land on you at your door and aren't included in what you pay at checkout. Note the domain, too. The brand trades at doodlage.in, and the .com address isn't its store.
Best for: Upcycled fabric, if you'll handle rupees and import duty.
Where to Start If You Only Buy One Thing
Start with what you liked about the original. If it was the block print and the price stung, go to Passion Lilie, where a comparable cotton dress is $106 instead of $225. If it was the handloom cotton and you're willing to pay for it, Ace & Jig weaves its own cloth and charges $310 for the Cliff Dress. If you need a size past XL, Mata Traders and Symbology both go to 3X and neither treats it as an afterthought.
If the reclaimed kantha was the draw, Anchal Project is the only one here built around it, though you're buying from a catalogue that sells more bedding than clothing. And if you want the craft at its most detailed, Anita Dongre Grassroot's hand-embroidered pieces start at $129 in dollars.
One practical note before you order. Seven of these eight sell in US dollars, and the one that doesn't will cost you more than the sticker says once duty lands. Check the shipping page before you fall for a dress. If you want to keep reading, our Elizabeth Suzanne alternatives cover the same slow-made question in linen, brands like ABLE looks at ethical labels that publish more about their factories, and brands like Reformation covers the bigger sustainable names. There's more in our articles.
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Written by
Spencer Lanoue
