Delhi brides lap up look-alike bridal wear

The bylanes of New Delhi’s Chandni Chowk are proving

to be a respite for to be brides, looking for that perfect designer lehenga or outfit at affordable prices. All they have to do is, carry a magazine copy having bridal design of their favourite designer …From Sabyasachi to JJ Valaya… the craftsmen at the boutiques located there create an exact replica of the designer pieces.

And the best part of this business is the boutique runners are mostly fashion designers or alumni of design school, who often attend couture shows and keep track of the latest trends. What’s more, these shops source their raw materials from the same place where designers get theirs. That’s not all. These boutique owners also have a tie-up with fashion photographers, who get zoomed-in shots during fashion shows else such shots are easily available online, which makes it easier for them while shopping for raw materials.

Once the designs are acquired, these stores have in-house tailors who work on perfecting the replicas. So if a designer piece by Sabyasachi Mukherjee costs around Rs 2.25 to 8 lakh or a Manish Malhotra costs around 5 lakh or more, at these local stores they cost anywhere between Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000.

Of course these collections are never put on display on the racks or mannequins. Most shops even have a separate floor for these bridals or a separate store for them so that only when a customer asks for a specific piece or design, the collection is shown to them. Utmost care is taken to ensure that no pictures are taken to avoid getting the designs distributed and copied further.