Burgundy and Mustard Ikat Kaftan

Tall burgundy and mustard flames on a grey-cream ground, the colours overlapping where two dye baths met on the same threads — the overlap is not a fault, it is the only way an ikat gets a third colour. Unlined, open at the front, deep in the armhole so it layers over a jacket.

Product details

• Garment: a long open kaftan, unlined
• Cloth: handwoven cotton ikat
• Worn by women and men — the cut is the same, the size is what changes
• Size: one size, cut generously and worn open — custom lengths and sleeve lengths on request
• Main colours: burgundy, grey, mustard, cream
• Motif: tall flame figures in burgundy and mustard on a pale ground
• Open front, no fastening; deep armholes cut for layering
• Care: gentle machine wash at 30 °C, or hand wash cool. Dry in the shade.
• Cloth handwoven in Margilan; garment cut and sewn in Tashkent

How to wear it

Cut wide and worn open, this one is worn by both women and men — the shape is the same, only the size changes. It goes over jeans and a plain shirt as easily as over a dress. It descends from the chapan, the long coat Uzbeks have worn open over everything else for centuries, but it is cut lighter and unlined for wear indoors and in warm weather. See the robes and chapans, or the cloth itself as ikat fabric by the metre.

How this ikat is made

The pattern is not printed on the cloth and it is not embroidered into it. Every thread of the warp is tied off in bundles and dyed, one colour at a time, before a single row is woven — a process called abrbandi, cloud-binding, for the soft feathered edge it leaves on every motif. The cloth is handwoven in Margilan in the Fergana Valley. The garment is then cut and sewn in our atelier in Tashkent.

Made to order in our Tashkent atelier and dispatched within 18–25 days, by Uzbekiston Pochtasi tracked airmail. One size, cut generously and worn open. For a different length or sleeve, send your measurements through the contact page and the piece is cut to them at no extra cost.