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Tailors face slump in Eid orders

Gazi Towhid Ahmed
Tailors this year did not sec the usual rush of clients ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr thanks to the escalating cost of living, with orders falling by around 20 percent from last year.
“People look for new outfits when they have enough money. But the middle-class does no get any chance to save after paying off their basic expenses,” said Jahangir Hossain, secretary of Dhaka Mahanagar Tailors and Readymade ShopsUnion.
And it is the same story for branded tailoring stores according to Hossain, whose orders too experienced a marked decline from last year.
“We are getting fewer orders this year than last,” said Anwar Ahmed, an employee of Bangkok Tailors and Fabrics at the city's Elephant Road, citing peoples' low incomes as the reason for the drop.
Aktaruzzaman, proprietor of
The Bashir Tailors and Fabrics at Nilkhet in Dhaka, blamed the rise of readymade garment shops and boutiques for their slack business.
“I have so far received around 800 orders for this Eid, down from the 1,000 orders of last year,” he said.
Most of the tailors at Nilkhet were sitting idle, an unlikely scenario in the lead-up to Eid, Aktarruzzaman said.
“It seems 1 have to continue taking orders until the last day of Ramadan to make up for the sluggish business.”
The New Market, Nilkhet and Elephant Road area of the city have a total of 350 active tailors, the data from Dhaka Mahanagar Tailors and Readymade Shops Union suggest.
Cheap readymade garments from China along with high of fabrics arc to blame for the drop in orders, said Nahida Arefin Nitu, proprietor of Moon Tailors and
Fabrics in Mothijheel.
So dismal is the situation that many owners are struggling to pay their employees, according to Hossain.
“We pay our tailors as per their production, and that depends on the clients' orders. But people are spending less on clothes this Eid,” he said.
The tailors, naturally, are not disheartened by the low income, with many saying theirs will be an unhappy Eid.
“My target is to earn Tk 20,000 this month to go to my village,” said Md Kaiser, who works on subcontract at Elephant Road.
“Usually during Ramadan I work at night as well to meet the orders. But this year, the day is enough to fulfill the clients' orders.”
Most of the tailors who work on subcontract are now looking for second jobs to make ends meet.
gazitowhid@gmail.com