D’ziners: Three generations of Master Tailors

With two of his outlets of D’ziners, already catering to clients in Margao and Panaji, Andrew David Fernandes has now opened his third spacious tailoring showroom at Porvorim devoting independent floors for gents and ladies

| OCTOBER 01, 2018, 03:21 AM IST

BHARATI PAWASKAR


A tailor’s son Andrew David Fernandes takes pride in his family profession of tailoring and is not ashamed to call himself a tailor instead of a fashion designer. Equipped with best of the skills in cutting and stitching, he has not only embraced the tailoring profession of his father late John Fernandes, but also groomed his daughters to follow his footsteps. Carving a niche for himself in the competitive business of tailoring, first in Mumbai for 11 years and now in Goa for the past 21 years, Andrew has succeeded in expanding. After Margao and Panaji, the third, spacious outlet of D’ziners that has just opened at Porvorim on September 30 has independent floors reserved for men and women to cater to Western and Indian bridal wear and wedding attires.   

Armed with wife Sally Fernandes and three daughters - Drewsall, Lyan and Ansa, Andrew has expanded his empire in the state, capturing South as well as North Goa with his brand D’ziners emerging as a popular one-stop destination for apparels for special occasions for all communities in Goa - Christian weddings, Hindu marriages and Muslim Nikaah ceremonies. Add to this celebration parties on various occasions and successes, festivals, christenings, birthdays, award/reward or thread ceremonies, engagements, anniversaries or corporate happenings - all of these seem to be incomplete without D’ziners’ clothing. And this is not only in Goa but also outside Goa as Andrew has his clients spread across India and abroad too. And yes, walking with time, he takes bookings online too. When he kick started in Goa he offered a scheme - ‘a suit for Rs 1999’ which became very popular then. Today his suits begin at Rs 3499. He offers three trousers for Rs 2299 and three shirts for Rs 2299.   

Ask him what’s so special about D’ziners and Andrew smiles, “We offer a wide range of variety in designs laced with perfection and punctuality in our service. We deliver in 24 hours, albeit depending upon the season and are reasonably priced. Barring peak season in wedding, festivals (Christmas, Diwali, Eid) and occasions like New Year, rest of the time we need 24 hours to deliver after the order is accepted. Sally offers expertise in handling bridal wear, accessories for weddings and evening gowns. We have material available in all our shops for making instant choice. What more is required?”   

Apart from Western and Indian bridals D’ziners offers customised clothing for teenagers that include shirts, trousers and party-wear for occasions. “I started this section because with readymade garments, there are chances that more than two persons in the same hall are wearing the same shirt or trousers. When I stitch, it’ll be only you in the crowd, who’s wearing it and not two or more persons,” he explains.  

With his innovative concept of ‘Bespoke Tailoring’ which Andrew boasts first to have introduced in Goa, D’ziners offer special service at client’s doorstep. “We have named it ‘Royalty at your doorstep’ and it’s for those who do not have time to come to us for various reasons - be it time constraint or parking issue, we have come up with Bespoke Tailoring where we offer complete service for the grooms and the brides. We visit you according to appointment, show our samples (swatches) and designs on our laptops, take the measurements, accept advance on credit cards, give the trial and if required give it for the second time too and ultimately deliver the final products at your doorstep. You don’t even have to come to us,” explains Andrew.  

His second daughter Lyan, a BBA in business, will be looking after Andrew’s new outlet in Porvorim. Andrew’s eldest daughter Drewsall, a fashion designer, has opened her own fashion designing institute - D’Ziners Institute of Fashion this July in Margao. “The youngest, Ansa, is still studying,” quips Andrew who himself, as a teenager had witnessed a turning point in his life when he had to take charge of his father’s tailoring shop in South Mumbai after his sudden demise.  

Andrew recalls, “Inclined towards art, I was studying at J J School of Arts in Mumbai when my father expired when I was 18, and I had to leave my education halfway to take care of the family business.” Continuing in Mumbai as a tailor for over a decade Andrew returned to Goa, to his ancestral home in Benaulim to start his own brand, D’ziners, in Margao. “It’s been over two decades now that I am in my home state and I am happy that our third generation is also into tailoring,” admits Andrew.  

Work keeps him busy. For men, he makes suits for Christian grooms, taxido suits, sherwanis, jodhpuris, Indian ethnic dress, Indo western, Bandi, waistcoat etc while for the ladies, D’ziners offer Christian wedding gowns, evening gowns, Indian ethnic gowns, ghagras, shararas, lehengas, salwar among other things and for children there are christening dresses, wedding entourage, flower girls, page boys, best man and bride’s maids etc. Apart from this there are special occasions like Christmas, New Year, Dussehra, Diwali, Eid etc when he is extremely busy. He also takes bulk orders for casinos, car showrooms, hotels and corporate clients.  

Spelling his future plans, Andrew discloses, “I want to make my ‘Andrew David’ brand international. I want to take it across the globe. This is for my loyal clients who are spread in other countries. D’ziners has also started online shopping / booking. We send the dress by courier service or post office. One has to adopt and upgrade the services. People want customised dresses and the demand to have personalised attires will never cease.”   

Share this