Nisbet Road Tailor Shop, was a beautiful installation created for Bradford 2025 by Zain Ali – designer, artist and founder of the ZN ALI fashion label. 

Nisbet Road Tailor Shop was an immersive recreation of South Asian tailors from a time when thousands of people moved to Bradford from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Out of these tailor’s shops and textiles stores emerged a new type of style rooted in British Asian culture – sourced from famous outlets such as Bombay Stores, archival pieces from Bradford’s Museums and Galleries, as well as original textile installations by the designer. The show was a tribute to Bradford’s diverse story as we know it today, told through the story of textiles and a curation of family photographs taken at Manningham’s Belle Vue Studio. 

Created by one of the most exciting new voices in British fashion, Nisbet Road Tailor Shop pays homage to these treasured icons – with archival images, memorabilia, textiles, garments and much more. 

Zain Ali presents an expansive world of design, clothing and textiles, anchored by research that absorbs a multitude of perspectives, informed by Zain’s upbringing in Lahore, Pakistan to Forest Gate, East London and subsequently Northwest England.   

The designer launched his label in 2021, years after his career within the NGO and developmental sector, after completing his BA in Religion, Philosophy & Ethics. 

ZN ALI now makes bespoke clothing and hand-woven textiles between his studios in London and Lahore, having previously designed costumes for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and more recently being selected as curator for ‘Moving the Needle,’ the inaugural Sustainable Fashion and Textile Symposium, led by the British Council in Lahore, Pakistan. Zain has also worked for the British Fashion Council, managing the Circular Fashion Innovation Network, which aims to convene industry, academia and innovators to accelerate work and expertise needed to create a circular fashion ecosystem in the UK.

Loading Bay is a brand new pop-up arts venue in Bradford City Centre for Bradford 2025.

Join us on Duke Street as we bring a true Bradford 2025 buzz to the heart of the city.