Our story

REOL began with a simple frustration: a lehenga that photographs beautifully and fits badly is not a lehenga, it is a costume. We build ours the other way around — fit first, then the surface.

Made to order, on purpose

Nothing here is warehoused. When you place an order, the pattern is cut, the base is assembled, and the karigars begin the surface work. It takes longer than pulling a box off a shelf, and that is the trade we have chosen: a piece that has not been folded flat for eight months, cut and stitched to the person wearing it.

It also means we make very few of anything. When a colourway is gone, it is usually gone.

The people who make them

A bridal piece passes through nine pairs of hands. The zardozi karigars have been laying metal thread for two decades and can tell you by feel when a base fabric will pucker. The finisher checks the fall on a stand, then on a body, and sends more of our own work back than any of us enjoy.

• Pattern cut and toile fitted before any surface work begins
• Hand embroidery — zardozi, gota patti, resham — depending on the piece
• Lining, canvas and boning assembled by the same tailor start to finish
• Final fall check on a body, not a mannequin

What we will not do

We do not photograph a piece we cannot make again. We do not list cloth we do not hold. And we do not show a price that becomes a different price at checkout — what you see includes tax, and shipping is stated before you pay.

Come and see

The studio is at Chandni Chowk, New Delhi 110006, India. Appointments are free and unhurried; write to hello@reolera.com or call +91 90000 00000.