Handmade and flawlessly crafted to suit every wedding ANNA’S BRIDAL BOUTIQUE OFFERS TRADITIONAL WEAR WITH A TWIST

REBYNA RANA
GANGTOK, 06 Dec: For those looking for bridal wear or traditional wear designed to suit your individual taste with some exquisite embellishments, Anna’s Bridal Boutique is the place to go. If you want to spice up your traditional wear wardrobe or want your wedding dress to have that extra pizazz, this boutique located in the Shopping Complex, Old Children Park, Gangtok gives you the option that was not there some years ago.
Anna Lama started this boutique in 2010 with the view to promote fusion wear, blending the traditional with the modern. The idea was also to offer people here the option to make or alter wedding dresses instead of going outside the state. “Most people had to get such dresses made from outside since there was no one who could do it here which is why I thought of setting up this boutique”, says Lama.
A simple dress takes around 2-3 days to complete while a bridal dress will take more than a week, she informs. However, it also depends upon the design, length and type of fabric. The boutique designs Bhutia, Lepcha, Christian, Nepali [Mangar, Gurung, Subba, Rai, Newar] dresses. Interestingly, they can also design Korean, Japanese and Singaporean dresses. “We are the only ones making such dresses in Sikkim and we don’t have any branches”.
The price of a Bhutia dress ‘Bakhu’ or ‘Kho’ ranges from Rs 6000 to Rs 15000 while a Nepali dress ‘Chaubandi Cholo’ costs around Rs. 4,000-Rs. 6,000. The price, however, also varies from dress to dress, Lama mentions.
Bridal dresses are the best selling items here in the boutique with Christian, Bhutia, Lepcha wedding dresses selling the most. A Christian wedding dress will cost Rs. 13,000 and if pearls are part of the design then it can go up to a lakh. Bhutia wedding dresses start at Rs 10,000 going upto Rs. 30,000 while Lepcha wedding dresses will cost Rs 10,000 to Rs30,000.
“We also have the exclusive Bhutia wedding scarf [khati] which is a part of Bhutia bridal wear. It is completely handmade and is not available in any boutique or shop in Sikkim or outside. This scarf is available in China but those are made by machine and are not handmade,” she adds.
All the dresses are handmade by around 15 workers that the boutique employs. While some of them are locals some have been brought from outside the state as well.
One of the workers, MD Sarfaraz from Arithang, who had done a two-year course in Zari designing in Delhi says he feels happy to work in the boutique. “Initially it was a bit tough but with time I gained experience. It is my source of income”, says Sarfaraz.
Another worker, Mohammad Ismail who hails from Bihar has also trained in boutique design for four years in Delhi.
On how her business is doing, Lama shares that it is yet to gain a foothold but is optimistic about the future. There is still a lot of room for improvement in terms of infrastructure, she adds. She hopes to take school dropouts under her wings and to enable them to make a living through designing. “I am looking forward to train such youth in bridal and traditional wear design so that one day they can open their own shop”, she shares.
Lama went to Korea to undertake a diploma course on handmade bridal design but could not complete the whole course. She says that she learnt a lot in whatever time she spent there and adds that Korea is the perfect place for such training.
Lama set up the boutique all by herself and is proud of the fact as well. “I opened this boutique with no financial aid from the government or anyone else. It is because of my own willpower and today am very happy”, she asserts.