Byrek, Turkish coffee and 4,000 pins: a Tuesday in the atelier

The atelier opens at eight, but the coffee starts at half past seven. Whoever arrives first puts the xhezve on the little stove by the window and someone brings byrek from the bakery on the corner: spinach on Tuesdays, cheese on Fridays. By eight the cutting table is cleared and the day's work orders are pinned to the board.

A Tuesday is mostly cutting. Mirela lays out the linen and silk for the week's made-to-measure orders, each pattern drafted from one customer's measurements. Teuta works on the bridal gowns at the back, where the light is best for lace. We go through roughly four thousand pins a week, and yes, we have counted.

Every dress is made from start to finish by one woman, and her initials go inside the hem. When a dress leaves us, we know exactly whose hands it passed through.