A discerning shopper’s guide to Lucknow

The first time I walked into Saman’s flagship store in Lucknow, I was greeted with an adab, non-ironically, instead of the usual smile and a nod you get in a metro-city store. Here, you can walk into one of the million tiny stores with gadda seating in the old Chowk area and see embroideries that look straight out of Paola Manfredi’s Chikankari: A Lucknawi Tradition, the seminal book on white-on-white embroidery. Like an archive of their own, new textiles sit alongside framed old ones, precious artefacts acquired from old Lucknow families by brands trying to preserve and advance this work. Meanwhile social enterprises like SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association) continue to uphold classic designs at completely affordable prices. For all the talk of craft going extinct, Lucknow cannot complain of people losing interest in its most famous export: chikankari.

In a culture-steeped city like Lucknow, even famous locals, like the chief patty maker at Sharma’s Chaat Corner (one of its most famous spots for chaat), wear minimally embroidered chikan kurtas to work and encourage you to wear yours every day. Here, accessible historical sites, food, and clothing still carry the imprint of its Mughal past, so a day of shopping can feel like your brain is straddling two centuries at once. In the same day you might pick up a classic ek taar or do taar embroidered kurta or a more contemporary tunic or a fit-and-flare dress but one of the several brands that are translating these historic, delicately hand-embroidered stitches onto modern silhouettes. It can be confusing, but consider this guide your starting point to navigate the city of tehzeeb. If you can pull yourself away from the kebabs and sheermal to shop, focus on chikankari, mukaish (beaten metal work), daraz (decorative seamwork), and chatapatti (also known as tukdi ka kaam) as crafts that you can add to your wardrobe.

Saman

While areas like Janpath and Chowk continue to offer off-brand pieces from individual craft aggregator stores that often sell wholesale for white labelling, Saman forms that bridge between traditional craft and everyday dressing at prices that do not feel exorbitant. Think high-quality, hand-done chikan and mukaish in wearable, minimalist styles.

Go here for everyday pastels: easy kurtas with matching bottoms that work particularly well as workwear. For men, the classic white chikan kurtas are a must, as are pieces in daraz, an age-old appliqué craft from Lucknow. Pro tip: Saman also has a Mumbai outlet in Colaba.

Address: Saman, B-83, Mahanagar, Channilal Circle, Lucknow - 226006

Anai Clothing

The genesis of the brand goes back over 35 years, when founder Raghav Manocha’s mother, Usha, started one of the city’s earliest at-home boutiques in the ’80s. Manocha eventually took over the family business and transformed it with his young, modern, and colour-forward sensibility. Here, traditional Lucknawi crafts get a playful update. Think ingenious mukaish patterns on three-piece kurta-pyjama sets, farshi salwars, and chikan-organza saris with unexpected motifs like butterflies and birds. There’s a sense of freedom in the way Manocha approaches traditional dressing—the rules do not apply.

Address: Anai Clothing, 19 Wazir Hasan Road, Lucknow - 2216001

Bhairvi

Even with so many chikan artisans and labels based in Lucknow, Mamta Varma’s Bhairvi is for the client who is looking for investment pieces at the highest echelons of the craft. Varma is a deeply respected craft supporter and authority on chikankari, and Bhairvi maintains a physical presence inside Lucknow’s quaint Saraca hotel. Apart from dupattas, kurtas, and saris, their home range is really the one to invest in—doilies, XL pillow covers, table mats and more, mostly white and featuring floral and historical Mughal-inspired embroidery. Some are so intricate you could frame them as wall art. Go here for the home decor and the kind of personal pieces you intend to pass down to your granddaughters.

Address: 19, Sarva Palli, Saraca Estate, The Mall Avenue, Lucknow - 226001

Fragrantor’s Aroma

Given Awadh’s perfume traditions, Lucknow and its surrounding towns are the perfect place to understand and buy oudh of the desi variety. At Fragrantor’s Aroma, run by the Vijayvergiya family, which has been involved in the perfume and attar business for generations, you can choose from traditional ittars, original perfumes, and home fragrances. It’s a useful reminder that in Lucknow, fragrance is as much a part of the city’s cultural vocabulary as embroidery and kebabs.

Address: 92/134, Gautam Buddha Marg, Aminabad, Lucknow - 226001

Jalaluddin Bone Carving

A tradition native to Lucknow, bone carving is one of those rare collectible crafts that deserve more attention. Jalaluddin Akhtar, a master artisan who was conferred the National Award in 2019, still hand-carves discarded bones—cutting, chiselling and polishing them into intricately carved lamps, tables, and boxes to store your most precious heirlooms, sandooks, and even jewellery. Some of his one-of-a-kind pieces are displayed at the newly opened Lucknow Museum of Heritage & Art. It’s a truly unique piece to gift someone, particularly if your idea of a souvenir is something they definitely won’t already own.

Address: 456/556 Sajjad Bagh, Colony 2 Daulat Ganj Chowk, Lucknow – 226003. Call: +91 98071 33198

Sangraha

Founded by Dr Jaspal Kalra along with Danish Siddiqui and Susan Kolady, Sangraha works with women from economically challenged families. The label regularly showcases at Dastkar and other craft pop-ups and focuses on deconstruction of older design patterns instead of all-over jali embroidery, picking up unique elements and adding them sparsely through pieces stitched in contemporary styles. When the brand recently lost its stock to an unfortunate fire at Dastkar, Kalra regrouped and modelled his next collection on the phoenix—the mythological bird that rises from the ashes. If you lean towards contemporary silhouettes such as dresses, shirts, and oversized blouses, Sangraha is a good place to look for chikan that feels very much of now without losing the handwork that brought you there in the first place.

Address: Sangraha Atleier, 19/370 Indira Nagar, Lucknow - 226016

Nandini Agarwal

An absolute social media star, Nandini Agarwal started the brand with her mother, Aarti, and has built a willing and engaged audience both online and offline. The custom 400-count cotton chikan and mukaish kurtas, saris, and dupattas are feminine and will make you feel like a Mughal princess. But it is her more joyful interpretations of traditional dressing that are the real signatures: pastel three-pieces, corset suit sets, and pussy-bow blouses that showcase traditional craft through a 2026 lens.

Address: Nandini Agarwal Chikankari, Unit 2, Le Press Complex, 29 Naval Kishore Road, Hazratganj, Lucknow - 226001

Dhaaga & Co.

On the more opulent side of the spectrum, Savnit Gurnani’s Dhaaga & Co is for brides looking for something more craft-focused as opposed to regular sequins for their pre-wedding functions or a day wedding. The label’s heavily embroidered pieces are often accented with pearls and cutdana, while interesting motifs—including shikargah scenes populated with deer and other animals—give the traditional technique a contemporary, couture-level edge. Their offering spans anarkalis, lehengas, saris, gilets, and sharara sets, alongside embroidered clutches and potlis.

Address: Dhaaga & Co., 4 A, Rana Pratap Marg, opposite National PG College, Hazratganj, Lucknow - 226001

Good Earth

Good Earth loyalists shop here because the quality and trust are unmatched, and the home decor carries its own recognisable signature. What’s particularly unique about the Lucknow store is how closely it is rooted in the city. Designed in collaboration with Lucknow-based architect and icon Adil Ahmad, the space draws from the Lucknow’s architectural and cultural heritage, with references to the Rumi Darwaza, the iconic imambaras, its distinctive Mughal garden greens, and chikankari—all interpreted through Good Earth’s design language.

Ahmad also continues to be closely involved with the store and its community, hosting intimate events, pop-ups, and small gatherings relevant to Lucknow’s very discerning customers. It is as much a social spot as a shopping one.

Address: Good Earth Design Studio, Ground Floor, Sapphire Suites Metro City Centre Nishat Ganj, Lucknow - 226006