What makes Mumbai’s oldest lingerie store still relevant today

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  The legendary store in Crawford Market. Owner Imran (l) with brother Kashif and son Amir (r) Salman Ansaridna
  Salman Ansari
  dna

She’s 104 years old, but her minder hopes she’ll stay put another four centuries. Visitors come from as far away as Rajasthan and Delhi to buy what she has to offer, even if that something is more to do with loyalty than a unique product. For five generations, she’s observed everything from the tyranny of the corset, the gaudiness of vintage Bollywood-style bullet bras and the unrestraint of the pastie or nipple patch. Competitors and changing times loom over her, but she continues playing a quiet role in the lives of awkward schoolgirls and stoic grandmothers alike.

Her name is Khamisa, and she’s Mumbai’s oldest lingerie store.

“When my great-grandfather opened the shop in 1910, there was no such thing as ‘lingerie’. He’d stock corsets, petticoats, children’s’ clothing, nightgowns,” remembers the aforesaid minder, Abu Baker Khamisa (who shares the same name as his pardada). “We became a lingerie-only outlet in 1950. There were iconic local brands like Just Look and later, Juliet. Now it’s all about imported products.”

The 39-year-old, better known as Imran, has managed the business with younger brothers Kamran and Kashif for 20 years running. Imran’s collegian son Amir, a fifth-generation Khamisa, will take over the reins in the future. The Mazgaon-based family has four outlets: three in Crawford Market and one in Bandra’s Sona Shopping Centre that’s 30 years old.

Khamisa’s is the kind of legacy that evokes mixed reactions from Gen X, Gen Y and other what-have-yous. For it set the template of the typical Indian lingerie store defined by kitschy displays, ‘local’, ‘phoren‘ and ‘Chinese’ products and all-male staff yelling out to each other to get a product of your choice, in turn announcing the size of your ta-tas to all present. For women who grew up when high-end outlets and their female attendants didn’t exist, bra buying at shops like Khamisa was a rite of passage, much like the first period or loss of virginity. The experience could either be dreadful, memorable, or a bit of both.

Imran knows. The bra’s gone from a utilitarian garment to a fashion statement, but he’s confident Khamisa won’t lose out to mall outlets or online shopping. Not only do they stock products on both ends of the spectrum – ‘grandma’ bras and their better-looking counterparts – but they offer service like no other, he says. “Our stock is always fresh.” Fresh? He elaborates: “We take great care in handling and rotating the stock. So if something is unsold for a while or becomes discoloured, we return it to the company as a slow-moving product.” Not everybody practices this, he claims, which is why over ’95 per cent’ of customers are satisfied.

One of those customers, Nessie Fernandes, comes here from CBD Belapur – almost 37km away – to buy bras. But she shrugs it off as routine. “My mum would come here when we lived in Byculla. For most women, undergarment shops and tailors remain unchanged for years. Even now, I go to one particular tailor in Bandra to get clothes stitched,” she smiles.

There was a time ‘local’ bras flew off shelves (or rather, big blue plastic bags or dabbas), but not anymore – not even in hole-in-the-wall undergarment shops, reckons Imran. “The elderly too ask for new colours, patterns and materials. It’s a misnomer that only the young are clued in to new arrivals,” he informs.

Khamisa doesn’t look her age. Her façade is like that of every other Indian bra dukaan. Her only distinguishing factor is a simple shop board announcing her age and with it, her legacy. But her ability to remain entrenched in the memories of women who had (and have) her as an instrumental part of their lives makes her an institution that’s here to stay.

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