Izzath Uroosa is making frantic calls to her lace suppliers. “Gold lace, half inch width. White embroidered lace for borders,” she instructs her errand boy, gives him money and returns to her calls with her suppliers clearly, not willing to compromise on the order a bride placed. Banjara Hills resident, 58-year-old Izzath Uroosa is the person to turn to for traditional Hyderabadi wedding trousseau. She doesn’t call herself a designer, she prefers “traditional trousseau maker”. Izzat says, “It is not very difficult to bring out modern styles. Designers do a very good job of it. But to find a traditional trousseau maker isn’t an easy task,” she says.
What makes Izzath popular with her clients is she takes pains to give exactly what her customers want. “Every bride knows what she wants. They want to look their best and also wear the most unique clothes in terms of design and cuts so I wouldn’t want to disappoint them even the slightest,” says Izzath whose traditional Hyderabadi clothes like garara , sharara , khada dupatta are unmatched.
Izzath began her boutique initially taking orders from friends and family. She learnt quite a lot of work like embroidery from her mother. “I learnt it for myself. As it happens in a family, if you oblige one relative, you cannot say no to another. Soon, almost everyone in our family started coming to me with orders for traditional wear,” says Izzath.
So most wedding orders where the bride wants to dress up traditionally in the khada dupatta with khada pants and kurta come to Izzath’s little boutique.
Observing how younger women were ready to experiment with blouses of different kind, Izzat was ready to introduce them to the traditional ones. “ Khada dupatta was earlier worn with kurtani and choli by the women of the house. Seeing the style come back, women (other than brides) started to order for special occasions. To make them affordable, I introduced cotton khada dupatta sets and the customers are more than happy,” she confirms.
Izzath takes orders for embroidery, apart from making peshwas and angarakha , which, one can say, she has revived. “The angarakha style was forgotten. I started pushing it by assuring the brides-to-be that it would be a hit. Because I have made a commitment, I would meet that at any cost. The brides and the families love it now,” she says.
Running a successful venture is all about meeting the deadlines too.“My team is committed to deadlines and I am glad over the years I am able to make them understand what I want without having to visit their units every single time,” she says.
Izzath also shares with pride about reviving the abrakh work. “ Abrakh is a kind of crush style with glitter and starch. Abrakh is mica that is used with starch as a dying process. Because of the tedious process, we don’t see them in the market. I didn’t want the tradition to die. After I introduced it, orders from young women started pouring in,” she says happily.
