Chikankari is hand work, spread across the city
Lucknow Chikan Craft is a registered Geographical Indication, recorded in the GI registry in 2008. The work is done by hand, and a single kurta can pass through many hands: the printer who marks the design, the embroiderer, and then washing and finishing. Many embroiderers work from home, in Lucknow and the villages around it.
For a boutique, that is the hard part. You can have fifty pieces out with fifteen different karigars, and a notebook will not tell you which ones are late.
Track every piece that leaves your shop
VogueDesk’s job-work tracker is built for this pattern:
- Contractors: each embroiderer, group or finishing unit gets a record. They can have their own app login if they want to see their jobs.
- Jobs with agreed prices: record each piece and its rate when you hand it over.
- Send-out and receive: mark the date the piece left and the date it came back. VogueDesk raises job-work out and job-work in challans.
- Dues and payments: see what you owe each karigar and record what you paid.
Because contractors count in capacity, VogueDesk’s delivery date estimate knows how much embroidery work is already out. Our guide on managing karigars covers fair piece rates and handovers.
Buying in Chowk, Aminabad and Yahiyaganj
Lucknow’s old trade areas still matter. Chowk in the old city is a centre of the chikankari trade, Aminabad is a big wholesale and retail market, and Yahiyaganj is known for wholesale cloth. If you buy plain fabric, thread and finished chikan pieces there, record them in VogueDesk:
- Materials such as fabric, thread and lining, with units and stock movements.
- Vendors and purchase orders for regular suppliers.
- Expenses by category, feeding the profit and loss report.
Wedding season and Eid
Lucknow’s wedding season, along with Eid, brings heavy orders for anarkalis, shararas, kurtas and chikan sets. Before confirming a date:
- Check the capacity calendar for in-house karigars and outside embroiderers.
- Use the delivery date estimate from current workload.
- Track every order on the Gantt chart.
- Review deliveries due in the next 30 days on the dashboard.
See production capacity planning.
Measurements for kurtas and shararas
Keep named measurement sets per client with fields like length, bust, waist, hips, shoulder, armhole, sleeve length, bottom length, waist-to-knee, thighs and ankle. Our salwar kameez measurement chart explains each field.
WhatsApp in Hindi or Urdu
Connect your own WhatsApp Business number through Meta. Write templates in Hindi, Urdu or English, and VogueDesk sends the order link when an order is created, a message when it is ready, a delivered message and a payment receipt with balance. Out-of-town clients can pin their location on a map, and you can book a Shiprocket courier from the order.
GST for Uttar Pradesh
Add your GSTIN. Invoices for UP clients carry CGST and SGST, and other states get IGST, with HSN codes from the master. GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B reports come out as PDF.
VogueDesk is online and works anywhere in Lucknow. Start free or try Studio on the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
My chikan work is done by many women embroiderers outside my shop. Can I track each piece?
Yes. Add each embroiderer or group as a contractor, record each piece as a job with the agreed price, and mark it sent and received. VogueDesk tracks dues and payments.
Can I see which karigar has how many pieces right now?
Yes. Open each contractor to see the jobs sent out and not yet received, along with what you owe them.
Do WhatsApp messages work in Hindi or Urdu?
Yes. Choose the language for each Meta-approved template, so you can keep Hindi, Urdu or English versions.
Does VogueDesk check whether chikan work is genuine?
No. VogueDesk manages orders, karigars and bills. It does not certify embroidery.
Does VogueDesk have a Lucknow office?
No. VogueDesk is online only, with no office or partner in Lucknow.
Last updated 31 October 2026.