Financial Times

Caring for the feet of anxious Sri Lankan brides
By Quintus Perera
Part of the culture in Sri Lanka when celebrating weddings on a grand scale is the time, effort and tradition that goes into dressing the bride. It becomes a matter of delicate handling from top to bottom and today the ‘end (feet)” is among this all important list.

This is why there are master craftsmen in the making of shoes for such occasions like weddings. Rite Shu Private Ltd (RSL) which was first established in 1962 by M M Thowfeek. Now run by his son Ameeen Aslam Thowfeek, the company has mastered the delicate art of custom make bridal shoes.

The shop in Pettah has been completely refurbished and re-launched recently and its Chairman/Managing Director said even the First Lady (Mrs Mahinda Rajapakse) has earlier patronized Rite Shu. He said that well-known personalities like Arjuna Ranatunga also got the shoes made by RSL for his bride. So has reputed actress Malanie Fonseka who got her wedding shoes from here.

What is special in these shoes is that they are hand made and according to the customer requirements. Last year at the Dream Bride Competition held at the BMICH all the models wore RSL shoes. Various contestants in such competitions like the Miss Sri Lanka Pageant etc also use RSL shoes.
Beauticians who get the job of dressing the brides used to bring their clients to RSL and get the shoes done according to the precise specifications as to the colour, size and the height.

About 10 such reputed beauticians who handle the dressing of brides and others used to bring would-be brides regularly and others to get the shoes made to top-quality standards. During auspicious periods where many weddings take place Rite Shu sometimes finds it hard to cope with the demand. However the company has a reputation of meeting all orders on time, as staff is mindful that the weddings cannot be postponed just because the shoes are not available!

Thowfeek said, “My father, though an accountant by profession, had a great liking towards something of art and he chose the designing and manufacturing of shoes. He was attached to The Finance Co in around 1955 and he has also worked in the Paddy Marketing Board. My father started manufacturing shoes in a very small way. I joined the business in 1977 when I was 25 years of age.”

He said, “though, my father and I were making shoes we never wanted to mechanize or expand our shoe business into a large scale one. We value it to maintain the personal touch as far as possible. My father died in 1998.”
Thowfeek is maintaining a small factory in Slave Island where six people are working from where the shoes are supplied. “The shop in Pettah is small and it is now arranged as a display unit. If anyone orders from the display rack, we have the store that could supply them. As our specialty is bridal shoes the orders are normally special ones and we have to manufacture them according to their individual taste. We design ladies and gents shoes too, but gents shoes are on a very small scale.” He said that foreigners too patronage his shop and there are repeat customers among them too.

He said with his products gaining in prominence and acceptance, he is now planning to expand and is in search of sites in places like Negombo and other big towns. The annual turnover now averages around Rs 8 million. The recent refurbishment has cost him more than a million rupees.

The company has also established a website www.rite-shu.com and is now geared to supply his products on-line even to foreign buyers.

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