Bhopal: 'Zari-Zardozi' Work Turns Sports Shoes Into Stylish, Glamorous Footwear

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Mumtaz Khan, a well-known fashion designer in the city has made sports shoes a part of bridal attire and also party wear for women by embellishing them with Zari-zardozi embroidery - a traditional craft of Bhopal. The idea, Khan says, is to help preserve this traditional art by marrying it with modernity.

Generally, Zari-Zardozi embroidery work is done on garments, bags and batuas (female purse). In the olden times, it was also done on Peshawari (royal) sandals or jutis which were used by the royals.

Khan has told the Free Press Journal that one of his female clients felt comfortable only in sports shoes. “She was to get married and wanted to wear sports shoes at her wedding. Now, no one had seen a bride wearing sports shoes. Then, an idea struck me. Why not turn sports shoes into glamorous and stylish footwear, I thought and decided to go for Zari-zardozi work on a pair of sports shoes.” The client loved it and ordered more pairs. Khan says that the embroidered shoes can also be worn by females to parties and other social events.

About the process, Khan said that preparing a pair of zari-zardozi sports shoes takes around one week. “We first peel off the upper covering of the shoes and do embroidery work on it. Then the cover is stitched back using golden zari. And the shoe is ready,” he said.

Zari-zardozi is a traditional art and craft of Bhopal. In fact, the state government has declared the craft as One District One Product (ODOP) for Bhopal.

This and other similar innovations can help preserve the craft and can generate more work to the artisans, says Khan. He said that he plans to persuade models to walk the ramp wearing these shoes in fashion shows to promote the concept.

“In the future, I will experiment with using Bagh print as a base for doing zari-zardozi work on sports shoes,” Khan said.