Empress Embroideries

We are situated in the Raghuvanshi Mill Compound, right off Senapati Bapat Marg in Lower Parel. Being in an old mill compound gives the place a certain feel, though it can be a bit of a maze if you aren't used to it. Empress Embroideries is where we do all our detailed thread work. The machines take up a lot of the room, and they make a steady humming sound all day long. It's a busy area of Mumbai, so there's always something happening just outside the gate. We aren't one of those high-end boutiques with white walls and fancy carpets. Our floor is concrete and our desks are covered in designs and loose threads. We spend a lot of time looking closely at the patterns to make sure nothing is skipping. It can be hard on the eyes after a few hours. Lower Parel has changed a lot since we started, with big towers going up everywhere, but inside the compound, it still feels a bit like the old days. We just focus on the embroidery work that comes our way. Sometimes it’s for clothes, sometimes for other things. We don't have a big sales team out there looking for work. We just do what we do and the work seems to find us. It’s a steady life, even if the traffic on Senapati Bapat Marg is a nightmare most days. We stay until the shift is done and everything is turned off properly.