Pakistani suits in vogue this Ramzan

Hyderabad: Preference for Pakistani dresses has grown amongst Muslim women in the city in the recent years. Thanks to the TV serials aired by Zee Zindagi earlier, that has brought to notice the elegance of embroidery work mostly hand knitted to the shoppers in India.

For this Ramzan, traders from Delhi, UP and from Kashmir are busy selling the neighbouring country’s suits to women whose preferences changed in the recent years. Mohammed Younus, a trader from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk who generally sells all kinds of dress material at his shop is a regular visitor here with Pakistani dress materials. One of the oldest of the traders not only does business during Ramzan, but also puts up stall at Nampally Industrial Exhibition each year. 

While many traders are facing hardships, he expressed satisfaction as he was able to sell 40-50 dress materials per day at his stall in Minar Garden, near Salarjung Museum. “There is a good response this Ramzan and more and more women appear to prefer our dress material,” he said.

There are about 10-15 shops in the Minar Garden which are exclusively selling Pakistani dress material. Younus explains that various factors including the refined embroidery work on 'lawn cotton' makes women feel comfortable with the dress they wear. The visiting traders procured the material from wholesalers in Delhi and other locations who import it via Kashmir. The imported dress materials reflect Sindh or Punjabi (Pakistan) culture. 

The price for each suit ranges from Rs 1,000 to Rs 8,000 depending upon the design and embroidery work. “Designer suits from across the Pakistan, particularly from Karachi is preferred, as it is not found in India and the lawn cotton cloth made there is favoured across the globe,” he adds.

With Eid-ul-Fitr likely to be celebrated on Friday, the women from parts of Old City try to get the best in their budget. “After I watched the actors wearing suits with embroidery work and the way their graceful appearance on the TV screen in the serials made me interested in buying the suit. Since the price is little higher than normal Indian suits, I will be buying only one piece,” said Farhana Begum, a housewife.

 Meanwhile, the Kashmiris selling dress materials at the same location blamed various factors including GST affecting their business. The tax regime has badly affected the textile business. With GST the cost of each suit has nearly doubled impacting the sales. “If Rs 400 was being spent earlier, now we have to spend Rs 650 on the material,” said Hashim Punjabi, a regular visitor to Nampally Exhibition for the last 25 years.

Other factors he pointed out that Kashmiri dress material with its simple embroidery may not be preferred by women for Ramzan, hence Pakistani suits which are more fancier are selling like hot cakes.

BY Md Nizamuddin