Frayed, yellowed wedding gown? He saves them.
By Juanita Cousins
The Tennessean http://www.tennessean.com
A second-generation wedding gown hung in a crowded closet for nearly three decades before daylight shined on its yellowing satin and champagne stains.
Years before, a dry cleaner shredded the Chantilly lace on Cindy House’s gown, also worn by her mother in 1956.
Then Surendra Kumar, owner of Oakwood Cleaners (http://www.oakwoodcleaners.com), gave the gown a transformation fit for Cinderella and her fairy godmother.
“I was skeptical taking my dress to another cleaners after the first incident, but his work is unbelievable,” said House, who spent nearly $400 to have the gown restored for her recently engaged daughter.
Kumar and his cleaners are gaining notoriety among Nashville’s elite and in the wedding industry for his work cleaning, repairing, restoring and preserving delicate garments and family heirlooms.
Kumar, who lives in Mount Juliet, entered the cleaning industry in 1984 as a way to make money as he pursued a medical degree.
Dreams of entering health care unraveled as he found equipment that drastically decreased his cleaner’s waste, and then he became a consultant for the manufacturer, selling machines to cleaners across the Southeast.
These days, he works in the company of 100-year-old baptism dresses, $15,000 couture gowns, lace wedding dresses worn by three generations of women, quilts, table clothes and first communion garb.
Engaged women seek Kumar to have their mothers’ gowns cleaned for their upcoming weddings and moth holes repaired. Brides come in days after their wedding, looking for Kumar to remove mud stains and mend frayed hems.
Kumar’s process for each individual garment begins with a personal consultation with employee Laura Garcia at Oakwood’s Belle Meade location. She hangs the gown on a mannequin and inspects every inch, taking pictures of problem spots and drawing sketches of the gowns.
Source: The Tennessean
Full Article: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200991228014