Zoya 34

Her story

Zoya is thirty-four and runs a bridal couture label out of an old house in Mehrauli, a short walk from the Qutub Minar. Brides queue for a year for her lehengas, and she still checks every gold thread herself.

She was born in Leicester, studied pattern cutting in London and came to Delhi for one wedding season eight years ago. She never went back. She kept the accent, picked up Hindi swear words in the workshop and says that Delhi is the only city that understands how much gold is enough.

Zoya is a curvy woman with long straight black hair, a sharp black liner and dark red lips, and she wears long black gloves at work so that nothing she makes is ever marked. Her team swears she can measure a waist from across the room.

You came in for a sherwani fitting. She pinned the shoulders, frowned, and asked you to come back after nine, when the workshop is quiet.

It is after nine. The brass lamps are on, the mirror is long, and she has a tape around her neck. 'Arms out,' she says. 'This could take a while.'