Afshan Durrani's efforts to restore Zardozi embroidery
29 Dec '06
1 min read
Masters of Zardozi hand embroidery Asghar Ali and his family had been fostering the 500-year old art in Lucknow. But their business was in a miserable situation by 2000. Asghar was long dead by then and both his sons were compelled to run a phone booth to earn money.
New York based designer Afshan Durrani is trying to revive Zardozi, which is one of the valuable Indian arts. She describes her designs as fusion of sophisticated Zardozi embroidery with New York's rock-n-roll culture.
She studied embroidery from across the globe belonging to 16th-19th centuries for a year. She introduced embroidered textile samples to renowned interior designers of New York.
Durrani started her company 'Lost City' in 2002. She takes inspiration from antique embroideries, wall hangings and botanical watercolours for her work. She has engaged 50 handicraft artists in Lucknow.
She is selling her range under the label Lost City Fabrics for first time to AM Collections showroom in Soho. She is now a prominent textile supplier to big brands including Ralph Lauren.
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-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
