The Mumbai atelier that's the secret workshop of top French fashion | Pics

Creations By Shanagar, housed in a non-descript beige building near Mumbai's international airport, has played an unsung role in the fashion industries of Europe, Japan and the United States. (Photo: AFP)

Creations By Shanagar was set up in the 1960s as a workshop for handloomed and embroidered saris. In picture: Chetan Desai, director of Shanagar, a luxury Mumbai-based hand-embroidery atelier, shows their work during an interview with AFP. (Photo: AFP)

Beads and sequence are seen stored at a workshop of Shanagar, a luxury Mumbai-based hand-embroidery atelier, in Mumbai. (Photo: AFP)

In the 1990s, Desai looked further afield to France, partnering with Franco-Tunisian designer Azzedine Alaia on dresses that ultimately graced the likes of Naomi Campbell. (Photo: AFP)

Sitting in a lotus position, men weave gold thread through pearls on an organza silk panel, carefully constructing a wedding dress for French couturier Julien Fournie, which will be dazzling fashionistas on a Paris catwalk at fashion week, though Fournie is one of the few to admit where his ultra-expensive dresses are made. (Photo: AFP)

There is silence but for the clicking of needles and beads, the whirl of ceiling fans, and the occasional plane overhead. (Photo: AFP)

Embroiderers of Shanagar work on a design for French couturier Julien Fournie at a production facility in Mumbai. (Photo: AFP)

The atelier attracts workers from across India, such as Biswajit Patra, 31, who has been working here since he was 16. (Photo: AFP)