ART OF EMBROIDERY

ARTISANS
Our artisans or karigars are the lifelines of the company. We collaborate with a collective of master embroiderers with time-honored skills and immense knowledge of hand embroidery to create modern masterpieces.

TECHNIQUE
With exacting precision, our karigars embroider with centuries-old Aari and Zardozi techniques. In a rhythmic motion, the colored and metallic threads glide through fabric held taut to a frame until the motifs emerge.

PRESERVING THE CRAFT
At Lost City, we are dedicated to preserving and advancing the craft of hand- embroidery from traditional motifs of 17th-century royal lineage to a modern, new millennium language.  

SUSTAINABILITY
Our commitment to sustainability is paramount and begins with our approach to design. Good design is sustainable design. Most of our fabrics and pillows are made from greige canvas or muslin. We follow traditional 17th century methods to prepare artwork, print on fabric and embroider. Our products are finished and washed by hand with soap and water. Line dried and ironed with a heavy hand held iron, the old-fashioned way. All fabrics and materials are sourced locally in Lucknow. Our shipping boxes for pillows are made from recycled cardboard in a small shop in Lucknow. Fabric yardage is shipped on discarded cardboard rolls. We avoid using plastic for packaging as far as possible. 

LUCKNOW
In Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India, a city steeped in the embroidery traditions of the Mughal empire, expert craftsmen, or karigars, render exquisite hand embroideries that are a hallmark of Lost City. Advancing the craft from traditional motifs of 17th-century royal lineage to a modern, new millennium language.