Abu Dhabi tailors working flat out with Eid orders

Thousands of kanduras will be delivered this week to those who ordered in time.

Tailors have been busy throughout the capital as residents prepare for Eid Al Fitr. Ravindranath K / The National

ABU DHABI // If you have not placed an order already, getting a tailor to make you clothes for Eid Al Fitr is going to be almost impossible.

Tailors in the capital say they are at full tilt trying to fulfil orders for what is their busiest time of the year.

“We stopped taking orders a few days after Ramadan started,” said Reda Khunji, 26, a manager at Abdullah Hussein Khunji store in Khalidiya.

The company has 20 branches across the country and two factories in Abu Dhabi, where staff are working flat out to meet the Eid orders.

Each tailor can make about three to six kanduras a day depending on the work or embroidery required.

“We’ve got tailors that are preparing thousands of kanduras to be delivered all of this week leading up to Eid,” said Mr Khunji.

He said many of the Eid orders had been completed but there was still a lot of work to do before the holidays – as they await with great eagerness the announcement of what the official start date of Eid will be.

“We’re in anticipation of the announcement because it might give us one less day to finish orders,” he said.

“Usually if someone would like to make a big order we’d deliver three kanduras for each of the three nights of Eid and they can pick up the rest a few days after. We’d like to give everyone a chance but we do our best to have all of the orders ready,” said Mr Khunji.

He said the rush during Eid Al Fitr was partly because people were also ordering clothes for the next Eid festival – Eid Al Adha, which this year will start about September 22.

“Eid Al Adha comes only two months after so that’s a short period to go to the tailor twice,” said Mr Khunji. “I think that’s why people opt for getting their clothes done all at once.

“There are exceptions, obviously. Some people’s weight fluctuates significantly and they like their clothes fitted perfectly so they would visit the tailor on more than one occasion a year – but for the majority of our customers, Eid is the time to go,” he said.

Many tailors in the capital have closed shop to focus on just delivering Eid orders on the last night of Ramadan.

Some stores rely on the influx of orders during the festive time to help get them through quieter times of year when business is not thriving.

Shawkat Ali, of Dubai-based Al Najm Al Markazi tailors shop, employs five tailors, each of whom is producing five kanduras per day.

“That’s 25 kanduras a day,” he said. While at slower times of the year “I call it a good day if I have 10 orders. Usually orders are limited during non-Eid periods”.

Mohamed Ahmed, 33, an Emirati, missed out on placing an order on time for Eid.

“This happens every year,” he said. “You know that if you’re late to order you won’t be able to get your clothes on time.

“My tailor was kind enough to remind me to place an order but I got busy and didn’t place one until the third week of Ramadan.”

Luckily, Mr Ahmed’s tailor has said that he might be able to sew him one, possibly two kanduras, if he finds time.

“Everyone knows, you have to plan ahead,” said Mr Ahmed.