Choice Couture

“The fashionable Lucknow lady is not looking at the price tag and if a unique attire is what she wants,we make sure she gets ample choice,” says Shalini,displaying a range of panels for her clients to choose from.

“These panels carry a variety of patterns and innumerable styles of embroidery and artwork on different types of fabric. It is a great help in deciding the look of one’s attire,especially if someone is discerning and yearning for something absolutely unique,” says the designer. The exhaustive collection panels help their clients visualise a costume’s final look and even have their say in the design.

“From Victorian prints/patterns to Rajasthani razzmatazz and from use of crystals to a touch or more than of chikan and zardozi,we offer the entire gamut to indulge in,besides your choice of fabrics,” says Imran,drawing your attention to a saree panel made with fish net. “An entire saree or lehenga can be made with this material…it is actually what fishermen use! And you bet,it is a rage in the big cities,while orders are trickling in from the Lucknow clients too,” he says.

The duo was earlier supplying ready costumes to the designers in Delhi and Mumbai,who would bring a change and sell it with their label.

“Many people in the trade saw our work and suggested that we should stop supplying and get into full-fledged design and retail,so we launched ourselves as ‘Twelve Roises’. Besides,it was time to return to our hometown Lucknow,where people have good taste and are even shelling out the right price for the right dress. Clients from places like Ballia and Mau have amazed us with their choice and there are clients in Lucknow ready to pay anything for something never-before for even a ‘mundan’ ceremony,” says Shalini. Besides a trousseau that weighs a good 8 kilos studded with Swarovski crystals and other precious stones and a shervani for the groom that is a welcome break from the usual garish stuff for the sheer masculinity it exudes,there is also party wear,cocktail dresses and evening gowns to choose from. A new style trousers called palazzos,shorts,tops,etc in the pret a porter section at their Janpath market studio offer more than a glimpse of the latest fashion and how fashioistas of the city are gearing up to the latest trends.