Hosting Cherie Blair

"When my husband (Shahrukh) informed me one afternoon that Cherie Blair (senior solicitor in the UK and wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair) wanted to visit me and see my collection, I thought that as usual he was pulling my leg,” mentions Zenobia Davar in an email sent to Parsiana. The proprietor of ZS Embroidery, Davar has been a member of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women which fosters entrepreneurship, helping women from all over the world connect through this forum. She had earlier sent Blair an email about her venture, but was "pleasantly surprised” when Shahrukh showed her the email about Blair’s visit.

Cherie Blair (2nd from left) with Shahrukh, Zenobia, Zenrook and Shazen Davar

"Since showing my collection takes about two hours I wrote back confirming that I would be happy to have her” visit. Davar also extended an invitation to Blair to have a typically Parsi meal with her and was "even more surprised when my invitation was accepted.” Accordingly, on July 15, 2014, she hosted Blair, along with her personal assistant, chief executive officer and other staff members of her Foundation. Blair "loved my creations” such as frames, garments and other items and queried Davar on how she markets them. Davar responded that hers is a niche market with clients mainly from India and a few from abroad. She is looking forward to online marketing and plans to participate in Enterprise Dubai in December 2014 where she will display her wares to people in Dubai. Blair asked Davar to remain in touch and inform her about the Dubai event, notes the email.
While going through Davar’s work, Blair observed that the back of the embroidery looked as good as the front, which is the real test of good workmanship. Blair described the work as being "incredible,” the email adds. Blair presented Davar with a personally signed biography and a memento in the form of a china plate of London. Davar in turn "gave her an embroidered frame which I had quickly prepared for her.” In fact, they even took another frame to present to the British Deputy High Commissioner in New Delhi, Davar adds.
The group then sat down to a lunch of mutton dhansak with kababs, patra ni machhi, chicken farchas, vegetable stew and lagan nu custard. Davar mentions that Blair subsequently wrote from London that she and her team had thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality and the meal "was the best they had while on their trip to India.” She thanked Davar for her "beautiful embroidery which now has pride of place in my office back in London.”
A commerce graduate with a secretarial background, Davar joined a three-year diploma course in fashion and garment manufacturing at Sophia Polytechnic, reveals her website. She was awarded the Best Seamstress award for all the three years and stood first in the final examination conducted by the Technical Board of Bombay. She later launched her own label ZS and has specialized in embroidery. She takes orders for embroidery and stitching, catering to people "right from just borns to adults.” She may be contacted on the telephone at +91-9324106568 and +91-9869028943, telefax: +91-22-24106568, email: zsdavar@hotmail.com, website: www.zsembroidery.com as well as on Facebook and Pintrest.