Mumbai’s Oldest Tailor Shop to Close Down

The city’s oldest tailoring shop ‘Smart and Hollywood tailors’ will have to shut down because of a notice issued to them by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The notice says that they can occupy the store but will not be allowed to conduct any form of trade activities as it endangers lives. And do you know why this particular shop matters a lot to us? Because it catered to renowned celebrities like Sunil Dutt, Shobhaa De and Alaque Padamsee and also styled Miss India fashion show’s from 1950-1960.

This shop is situated in Fort’s Esplanade Mansion, a building that’s ranked among the world’s top 100 endangered monuments. It pre-dates independence and has been serving customers for over 70 years now.

We spoke to the owners of the shop, Mumtaz Ahmed and Imtiaz Ahmed, both of them said that they were quite shocked when they received the notice from the BMC because they believe that the building only requires a little repair work and nothing more as it is quite a strong building and can continue functioning.

When asked about the BMC notice, another employee of the shop said,

The main initiative that should be taken is to how to repair the building. The heritage committee should also understand that the building needs to be repaired. The court should also understand this.

Parimal, Readymade Department Partner at Smart and Hollywood Tailoring

A regular customer of Smart and Hollywood Tailors expressed concern regarding the situation,

I really hope that there is a solution for this and there is a place that is given to them in return if they are asked to leave, since this building has been declared unfit.

Devika Vaid

The employees at Smart and Hollywood tailors have responded to the notice and said that they have taken action against the same and are waiting for their case hearing which will happen on April 1st.

Producer: Vishnu Venugopalan
Camera: Gautam Sharma
Editor: Veeru Krishan Mohan