Traditional footwear still in demand in Lucknow
Traditional footwear, commonly called “naagres or jutis”, continue to be hotsell in Lucknow. This is quite obvious from the fact that the unbranded footwear shops are experiencing an increase in the number of customers.
Despite the existence of a number of branded showrooms likes Woodland, Liberty, Lee Cooper, and Reebok, the footwear from the local shops sells like hot cakes.
“The demand for jutis/naagres has gone up tremendously, mainly due to changing fashion trends, as explored by the television artists these days,” shop-owner Zeeshan Ahmad said. Ahmad, who has been in the business for 40 years, owns a shop in Nazirabad, the hub of such footwear shops.
“There are about 50 such units in this area, and almost all of them have their devoted customers,” he added.
The other popular spots for such footwear are Aminabad, Kaiserbagh and Chowk. Moreover, new shops are coming up in big way.
“The latest jutis to hit the market are the naagres from Pakistan. These are intricately handwoven gents’ jutis using golden thread and zari. These are meant to be worn at parties and the price range is Rs 1,200-3,000,” he said.
The naagres, which used to cost a maximum of Rs 300 till a few years ago, now come in the range Rs 150-1,500 for ladies and even more for gent’s jutis.
The shopkeeper further informed that he manages to sell about 50 pieces monthly, which is further increased during sahalag (in marriage season).
“There has been an increase of about 25 per cent in the demand of jutis since last few years. The jutis mostly wore with traditional Indian dresses have caught the attention of people as the craze for lehnga and sherwanis have increased. We provide shoes in every possible colour to suit the colour of the bride’s or groom’s attire,” said Ismail Khan of Kolhapuri centre, Janpath.
Although with times these shoes have transformed its shape and design and have become more fancy and colourful.
“The traditional jutis were used to be simple as only coloured threads were used for embroidery whereas now a whole lot of fancy items are used in making them. Now you can have jutis with the use of coloured and golden threads, zari, sequence, pearls, mirrors and beads,” he added.
As a result the prices have also seen increase; however they fail to dampen the customers’ interest.
Moreover the popularity of jutis has been so that now even the branded shoe companies like mochi, authentique and Mojari have incorporated them in their range. However they still have to go a long way to capture the market as these local players tend to do.
“The kind of variety and price range we provide cannot be displayed by them. The designs and intricacy of work we give, you won’t find anywhere.