Click to play videoLucknow: Dame Judi Dench wore a chikankari outfit for the Oscars in 1999 and made it international. Today, this unorgainsed industry is getting a makeover, from seasonal colours to exciting cuts, chikankari has never had it so good.
Designers like Meera and Muzaffar Ali were the first to put chikankari on the ramp and now fashion gurus, Rohit Bal and Rajesh Pratap Singh have also made this traditional Lucknowi embroidery part of their collection. And this has changed the fortunes of this industry.
While the big players are getting better prices, even the karigars (craftsmen), have reason to smile. Where embroidering a shirt can get them Rs 300, an all-over embroidered saree could get them Rs 6,000 and above.
"With Diwali and Id coming together, demand has gone up. Eight months in the year we work for this season, we meet the local demand but we still miss out on all India sales," a craftsman, Arafat Sidduqi said.
It’s no more about white and pastel shades, now designs, too, change every other month to cater to the latest trends.
The 10,000-chikankari shops in the city see the sales doubling during the festive season and it’s not just the domestic market, there is an increasing demand from international markets as well.
According to traders, 40 per cent of the chikankari output from the city is exported to markets like UK, Dubai and Russia.
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