Most jeans start in a mill. These start in a field in Kutch, with a seed that waits for rain.
11.11 / eleven eleven is a small label from New Delhi. It spins its own yarn by hand, dyes it in fermented indigo, and weaves it on handlooms. Then it stitches each piece in its own workshop, one garment at a time. The brand calls the whole chain seed to stitch.
The result is an 11.5 oz khadi denim with an ecru selvedge, and a brass coin for a button. It takes longer to make than any pair of jeans in a mall. That is the point.
This is No. 2 in Small Brands You Should Know, a series on small makers with a real story. The farm, the mill, the machines, the people. Nothing in the series is sponsored.
Two founders and a chain called seed to stitch
Shani Himanshu and Mia Morikawa run 11.11 under their company, CellDSGN. Himanshu started the label in 2009, per Open Magazine. He grew up in Gujarat, studied at NIFT Gandhinagar and Domus Academy in Milan, and worked at Diesel. Morikawa studied graphic design at Central Saint Martins in London and joined as partner and co-founder.
The brand works with indigenous cotton and 100 percent natural dyes. The techniques are hand spinning, handloom weaving, hand painting, miniature tie-dyeing and quilting. Everything is made in small batches with artisan groups across India.
Over 15 years the label built a supply chain of artisan cooperatives, khadi organisations and producer companies. Many of those makers work from home. The spinning wheel, the loom and the kitchen share one room, or spill onto the porch. The brand says these craft communities have some of the smallest carbon footprints on the planet.
“Clothes have to be made in the purest way possible.” Shani Himanshu, to Open Magazine, 2026.
Cotton that waits for rain
The fiber is kala cotton. It is native to Kachchh, on the west coast of India. The brand calls it one of the oldest recorded strains of cotton. It is a non GMO seed. The farmers use no pesticides and no synthetic fertilizer. There is no irrigation. The crop takes only what the sky gives it.
Himanshu told FashionUnited in 2018 how it grows. Farmers sow after the first rain, and the plant needs two more rains to mature. The yield is a short staple fiber. That makes an uneven yarn, but a strong, coarse and stretchy one. The brand says it takes colour beautifully.
India once had more than 100 native cotton varieties. The brand says around 10 to 12 survive, and it uses a few of them. Kala cotton goes into the denim. Ponduru, a red cotton, goes into fine 80s count summer shirts.
The farmers the brand works with have owned and worked their land for generations. The brand also works with Kala Khoj in Kachchh, a producer owned organisation with 250 artisan members. Textiles there are made slowly, often inside artisan homes.
The spinning wheel in Gondal
The cotton goes to Saurashtra to be spun. The brand’s handspun denim post shows Puniben at Udyog Bharti in Gondal. She works an amber charkha, a semi mechanised spinning wheel. Yarn spun this way and then handwoven is what India calls khadi.
The low twist of hand spun yarn leaves tiny air pockets in the thread. The brand says this is why the cloth breathes so well and insulates when it cools. It also says handspun, handwoven cotton uses a hundred times less water than mill cotton. Take that as the brand’s own figure.
Indigo, cold and alive
After spinning, the yarn is dyed in natural indigo. Indigo is the only natural dye that works without heat. The pigment does not dissolve in water, so dyers reduce it first. In the vat it turns a golden green. When the yarn comes out and meets the air, it turns blue.
The brand describes fermentation as a collaboration with microbes. It compares the process to making yoghurt, wine, kombucha or pickle. Its dyeing partner has kept this knowledge alive for more than 30 years. Byproducts become nitrogen rich fertilizer, and the used water goes to local crops.
In 2018 FashionUnited traced the route of the early khadi denim. The yarn went from Saurashtra to Auroville in Puducherry for indigo, then back to Saurashtra for weaving. The brand has since started growing indigo itself. It planted a 20,000 square foot plot in Hapur, 50 km from Delhi, where indigo grew 60 years ago. The team hand sowed each seed one foot apart. The brand reports 185 percent more pigment than the usual 4 kg per acre.
The loom and the ecru edge
Back in Saurashtra, the dyed yarn goes onto a handloom. The brand’s post shows Jagdishbhai weaving khadi denim with a beam of indigo warp in front of him. Denim is a twill, so the diagonal line comes from the weave, not the colour.
The finished cloth weighs 11.5 oz. The selvedge is ecru, the unbleached white of the raw cotton, which the brand calls its signature. The cloth has no chemical content and is fully biodegradable, according to the brand. It claims 93 percent lower carbon emissions than mill made cotton. Again, that is the brand’s number.
Delhi, the stitching and the coin buttons
Everything comes together at the workshop in Okhla, New Delhi. In 2018 the brand told FashionUnited that tailors train for three to four months before they build a garment. Each piece then takes about 7 to 10 days to stitch. The brand says most of its value chain is led by women, and many artisans are under 35.
The buttons are old brass coins. FashionUnited reported they come from 1, 5 and 20 paisa pieces. On the brand’s Button Down Shirt in Purple Red, a one paisa coin sits at the collar. The brand calls it the signature coin button.
Each garment also carries a crochet button with an NFC chip inside. Tap it with your phone and a page opens. It shows the artisan clusters and the people who spun, dyed, wove and stitched that piece. Every garment has its own number, so the record is for your garment, not the style. Artisans also stitch a small emblem, called a pehchaan, as a maker’s mark.
What to buy and where
The brand’s handspun denim is the obvious first piece. The Kala Cotton Breathable Jacket is a blazer cut in the same handspun, handwoven cloth, overdyed a warm brown. The Tangaliya shirts are the other signature. Weavers wrap extra yarn around the warp as they go, leaving raised dots called danas. That craft is about 700 years old and comes from a shepherd community in Gujarat. One of those shirts, in natural indigo, appears on Brad Pitt in the F1 film.
If you want one:
- Blue in Green at 8 Greene Street in Soho, New York, stocks the brand.
- La Garconne is on the brand’s US stockist list, with more than 20 other US shops.
- 11-11.us ships direct by FedEx in 7 to 8 business days.
Read the duties line before you order. The site banner says prices include tariffs and duties, while the shipping policy puts any duty on the buyer. Check what the checkout page shows you.
Pieces are made to order, and the brand does not take returns on made to order pieces. Wash cold, wash separately, and keep it out of direct sun. Some bleeding in the first washes is normal with natural dye.
The lesson
Every step here is slower than the industry standard. The cotton waits for rain. The yarn is spun by one woman at one wheel. The indigo has to ferment before it will take. The stitching takes a week or more.
Slow is only worth it if you can see what it bought you. 11.11 lets you see it. The chip in the button names the people. The coin on the collar tells you nothing was wasted. That is the kind of story this series is for.
Frequently asked questions
What is khadi denim?
Khadi is cloth made from hand spun yarn that is then woven on a handloom. Khadi denim uses that yarn in a twill weave, the same structure as any denim. 11.11 calls its version the first Indian denim made from handspun yarn. The brand’s cloth is 11.5 oz, dyed in natural indigo, with an ecru selvedge.
Where is 11.11 made?
All of it is made in India. The kala cotton grows in Kachchh, Gujarat. Spinning and weaving happen in Saurashtra, including at Udyog Bharti in Gondal. The garments are cut and sewn at the brand’s workshop in Okhla, New Delhi. The company behind the label is CellDSGN Pvt. Ltd.
Is 11.11 sold in the US?
Yes. The brand’s stockist page lists about 25 US shops, including Blue in Green in New York and La Garconne. It also runs a US site at 11-11.us. Orders ship by FedEx or equivalent in 7 to 8 business days.
What are the buttons made of?
The signature button is an old brass coin. FashionUnited reported in 2018 that the brand uses 1, 5 and 20 paisa coins. Each garment also has a crochet button with an NFC chip inside, which links to the makers of that piece.
Sources: Brand journal: Handspun denim artisans; Indigenous organic cotton; Artisan stories, NFC button; White Gold cotton. Brand journal, indigo and craft: Natural indigo; Art and Science of Indigo; Indigo in Hapur; Tangaliya shirt; Pehchaan. Brand pages: About us; Our Stockists; FAQ. Product and store pages: Button Down Shirt in Purple Red; Kala Cotton Breathable Jacket; 11-11.us shipping policy. Stockist: Blue in Green Soho. Press: FashionUnited, March 2018; Open Magazine, May 2026; Selvedge, April 2025; Homegrown, April 2026. Facts checked November 3, 2026.
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