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With all our Nazakat and Nafasat, we welcome to this place of culture and heritage where "PAHLE AAP" ( First you please ! ) customary is still ubiquitous. The history of "City of Nawabs" illustrates itself about the glorious rememberance of Lucknow's rich history of 'Culture'. The immortal 'Shayars' of decades recognized the city of Nawab's as the magnificent world of culture, Heritage, Nazakat, Tehzeeb and Nawabi ' Shaan-e-shaukat'.
Another undying spirit of Lucknow resides in it's 'chikankari' that has been it's speciality since historic era. The wonderful embroidery is known world wide for its beauty of intricate work done by hand.
Chikankari is an art passed down since hundreds of years and yet today it continues flourishing. There are two beliefs as to the popularisation of this exquisite art. Some believe that queen noor jahan patronised the art in the late 600ad leading to its development while others believe its an art taught by prophet mohammed. The story goes that prophet taught the art of chikankari to a thirsty traveller so that the traveller would never die of hunger.
Whatever the truth, today chikankari is one the most treasured arts in the heart of the people of lucknow and abroad. We as citizens of lucknow are extremely proud of this sphere of our heritage. We continue delving deeper into it ,everytime emerging with better results!
Chikan embroidery is an art that continues growing gaining more admirers all over the world. Recently designers and bollywood movies have become enthralled with this age old art and are using it for their latest fashion weeks or blockbusters.
However as the trade is triving not all of its tradesmen are.... recently there has been a sharp decline in the numbers of skilled tradesmen or what we fondly call “karigar” literally meaning –‘ the maker of embroidery’. In an industry booming with creativity this sort of decrease of talent could be a big boulder to move but efforts are in full swing to revive what is lost of the art and preven this magnificent skill from vanishing in freont of our eyes.
Chikan garments can take approximately 60 to 90 days to be made since they are done entirely by hand . The chikan industry has five main processes namely cutting, stitching, printing, embroidery, washing, and finishing
Cutting
is carried out in the lots of 75-100 garments. The layouts are done to minimize wastage of materials.
Stitching
of the garments is done by machine.
Printing
is carried out by the use of wooden blocks dipped in dyes like neel and safeda (which are washed out after the embroidery has been done).
Embroidery
After this, the fabric is embroidered by women - It takes an artisan at least 30 to 60 days to embroider a FashionTemptations chikan ensemble (Each piece has to be completed by one artisan as the handiwork of each artisan differs). Only those with artistic and nimble handiwork can master the art of chikan.
Washing and Finishing
which is the last process and includes bleaching, acid treatment, stiffening, and ironing. After all the processes are complete the garment is ready for sale. No two garments in chikan can ever be totally identical because the handiwork differs from hand to hand thus giving infinite permutations and combinations.
The soul of artistic sense of Lucknowi chikan is immense in creativity. The embroidery is delicate, beautiful and 'soothing to eye' .'Herit Indica' provides you with the finest quality of Lucknawi chikan. We export, manufacture and supply all kinds of chikan work.