Tailors in hardship

Delivery-ready clothes hang behind salespersons at a tailoring shop at Ramna Bhaban on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka yesterday. Political violence takes a toll on tailors, insiders say. A slacker blockade, however, allowed for some customer presence yesterday. Photo:Amran Hossain

Tailors are in a fix these days with dwindling work orders due to frequent strikes and blockades.
“We are in real hardship. Very few customers are making dresses due to the ongoing political unrest,” said Abul Kalam Azad, president of Bangladesh Dress Makers' Association.
November-January is one of the peak seasons for tailors as a large number of customers place orders for winter clothes, such as suits and blazers, he said.
Tailoring shops have registered a drop in such orders by more than 70 percent in the last two months, Azad added.
“A chunk of our revenue comes in the winter. But we are not even getting a single order on some days,” said Sirajul Islam, a former president of the association.
Some 35,000 tailoring stores earn nearly Tk 1,000 crore a year in 'cutting and making' charges across Bangladesh; half of this revenue is generated during winter, he said.
The sector incurred a loss of around Tk 300 crore in the last three months due to political unrest, he added.    
Islam, also the proprietor of Orient Tailors and Fabrics, said his shop usually receives 15-20 orders a day to stitch suits and blazers in the winter season. “But the number has plummeted to only 3-4 pieces a day now.”
“Customers are not coming to the stores for security reasons,” said Mintu Miah, general manager of Sunmoon Tailors (Pvt) Ltd that has 10 outlets across the country.
Sunmoon Tailors, which makes a number of clothing items, such as suits, prince coats, sherwanis, overcoats and Mujib coats, has recorded an 80 percent drop in orders in recent times, he said.
Customers are not interested in spending money on clothes, as people's purchasing power, especially for the fixed income groups, has been on the decline for the ongoing unrest, Mintu Miah said.
Another side of the incessant strikes is that people, who placed orders previously, are not coming to collect their garments by paying the rest of the dues, said industry insiders. This is taking a toll on the business, as cash flow is being restricted, they added.
Fit Elegance, a leading suit, blazer and trouser maker, is also experiencing a decline in orders.
“Our orders have fallen by 30-40 percent recently,” said Shahroom Ali Sikder, manager of its Tejgaon showroom. Fit Elegance has five outlets in Dhaka and one in Chittagong.
“Consumers' confidence has eroded amid uncertainty and political turbulence. So people are placing fewer orders.”
Fit Elegance takes about three weeks to deliver orders; it charges Tk 6,000 to tailor suits and Tk 5,300 for blazers, he said.
Around two lakh people are directly and indirectly employed in the tailoring stores across the country, according to Azad, the president of Bangladesh Dress Makers' Association.
Of the total stores, there are some 1,500 popular tailoring shops that are making high quality attires and maintaining standards, Azad said.

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