From Fog Linen to MiiThaaii: Cloth Shaped by Travel

MiiThaaii sits alongside Fog Linen Work as its younger sister brand, shaped by travel, curiosity and time spent with cloth. Founded by Yumiko Sekine in 2016, MiiThaaii emerged gradually during her journeys across India, where encounters with everyday textiles evolved into a collection of clothing and accessories rooted in handwork and human connection. Its name, meaning “sweets” in Hindi, reflects that sense of discovery: something modest, generous and joyful.

Fog Linen Work began much earlier. In 1993, Sekine started her first business importing books and household goods from Europe and the United States to Japan. Unable to find affordable, well-made linens like those she remembered from childhood, she travelled to Lithuania in 1999 and began working directly with flax growers and linen producers. That relationship became the foundation of Fog Linen Work, which remains defined by its Lithuanian linen and belief in materials that improve through daily use.

MiiThaaii Spring Collection

MiiThaaii grew from a different place. While Fog Linen Work remained Sekine’s main practice, India introduced another rhythm. Markets and workshops revealed fabrics designed not for fashion, but for living. Chief among them was cotton lungi — a small-checked cloth worn as everyday dress in South India. Sekine became fascinated by its variations: checks woven without fixed patterns, colours shifting when threads ran out, each length subtly different. What might be inconsistency elsewhere became a kind of freedom, shaping garments that feel relaxed, practical and deeply wearable. The lightness and ease of the cloth still sit at the heart of MiiThaaii.

MiiThaaii Spring Collection

Over time, the collection expanded. Kantha quilts from Bengal, stitched by hand from layers of worn saris and lungis, carry warmth in every line. Jamdani fabrics, woven slowly on handlooms, embed pattern directly into the cloth, each piece taking days to complete. Alongside these are carefully selected Indian cottons, an original silk-cotton developed for MiiThaaii, and a robust, characterful linen particularly suited to warm climates.

MiiThaaii Spring Collection

Today, MiiThaaii clothing is produced by skilled artisans in Jaipur, where making remains closely connected to material knowledge and hand-led processes. While the collections continue to evolve, the emphasis remains on comfort, proportion and movement, with clothes designed for repeat wear.

During the release of Selvedge Issue 128, Routes, we’re delighted to offer a MiiThaaii gift bundle worth £500. Drawn from the spring collection, the prize includes a light-blue gauze cotton shirt, a sage-green cotton dress, botanical-print cotton trousers, an oversized light-beige coat and an off-white linen dress — a quietly beautiful wardrobe to welcome the season ahead.

Head to our Enter A Prize Draw page and fill out the entry form for a chance to win. 

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Further Information:

MiiThaii

@miithaaii

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Fog Linen

@foglinenwork

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Image Credits:

Lead: Overcoat and dress from the MiiThaaii Spring Collection.

All further images as credited in photo captions.