Kathputli Oversized Tee

KATHPUTLI

Somewhere behind the curtain, the strings are still moving.

Every KATHPUTLI piece begins the way the puppet does — carved first, animated after. In the courts and village squares of Rajasthan, a block of wood becomes a marionette that outlives the hands that carved it, strung and dressed to carry stories no one wrote down. This tee borrows that same patience. The figure on the chest isn't a photograph of a Kathputli doll — it's engineered, panel by panel, into a print that holds the carved angularity and painted colour of the real marionettes, set onto heavyweight cotton built to move the way the puppet moves on its strings.

The name is literal, not decorative — kath, wood, and putli, doll, are all that's needed to describe an art form over a thousand years old. What survives on this tee is the same economy: a wooden face, a painted expression, a body built to entertain and to carry something heavier underneath the entertainment. Folk tales and social messages, wrapped in strings and cotton.

This is where an art form that predates the printed word meets an oversized silhouette built for right now. No two puppeteers tell the story the same way twice — the tee carries that same restless energy.

The Craft

• Engineered Kathputli print, built panel by panel to hold the carved detail of a real marionette
• Placed across the chest for scale and presence, not shrunk to fit a logo box
• Heavyweight oversized cotton base, cut for drape and structure
• Finished, trimmed, and quality-checked entirely in-house
• Small-batch construction — each piece takes real hours, not seconds

How To Style

Let the oversized cut lead. Pair with wide denim and worn-in sneakers for an easy day, or layer under an open shirt with cargos for something with more structure. The print carries enough colour and detail to stand alone — keep everything else quiet.

The Fine Print

Because the print is engineered for depth and colour density, minor variation in placement between pieces is normal — that's craft, not a flaw. Machine wash cold, inside out, on a gentle cycle to protect the print. No bleach. Tumble dry low, or better, air dry. Wash less, wear more.