Saudi tailor Habib Mohammed's shop once made ornate, hand-woven cloaks for royals, a time-honoured craft he is determined to preserve even as mass-produced garments flood the market, threatening his traditional business.

He makes "bisht", a long gown which for centuries has been a status symbol, worn by kings and princes -- and ordinary men -- and could take a week of meticulous work to create.

Now, with cheap Chinese-made robes taking a bite out of his business, the 60-year-old tailor is struggling to make a profit, and his only son wouldn't take over the beleaguered shop.

But Mohammed refuses to let the ancient craft die, searching for ways to hand down his knowledge.

"We've started training here at the shop and at home," he told AFP in his windowless atelier in the oasis city of Hofuf, with bishts hanging all around.

"I am teaching my grandchildren, be they girls or boys."

In Mohammed's native Al-Ahsa governorate, it was "considered........

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