Fashion star Sabyasachi fails to shine on 25th anniversary

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Whenever I think of Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the only vision that comes to mind is that of a hand-drawn rickshaw, the boy from Chandannagar travelling in it to meet me at Taj Kolkata. It was the year 1999. We sat on beach chairs by the pool, did a photoshoot, spoke for hours, and he left. It would be predictable of me to say, I knew he would be a star, as the clarity of thought was remarkable, so I will refrain.

When I met him, he told me his mother Sandhya was his inspiration. She was an artist; father Shukumar wasn’t the breadwinner. So from a young age, Mukherjee supported his sister Shingini (Payal).

I remember his collection in 2004. ‘Frog Princess’ as it was called, was inspired by a young Payal, who stopped eating to “look beautiful”. We crowned her Ms HT City when I worked in the newspaper back then. Mukherjee wasn’t happy with her modelling, he wanted a more “Bengali intellectual pursuit”!

Photos by Lodovico Colli di Felizzano

In 2004, he had told me, “Fashion is becoming so clinical and plastic that it lacks character, so my collection is beautiful, but it’s not glamorous.” His line then had a second-hand feel; he wanted to dress those who wear flats, not stilettos. Today, he has done a 180 degree turn! “Pepsi”, as he is called by intimate friends, is a tour de force in fashion — some such as Kalyani Chawla of the silverware brand Rezon told me, “He is a bania, a smart businessman, why shouldn’t he be? He runs a million-dollar empire. He is a creative genius; I’ve known him since we were 20. He started advertising in newspapers and magazines, when no fashion label wanted to spend this amount.”

In 2014, he did a line titled ‘Ferozabad’, complete with a train compartment ornate set, live models chatting not being a clothes horse. What I loved in that line was how he used canvas, a rough material – not silk and taffeta – for bridal lehengas. So in some ways he broke the mould.

Until 10 years ago, he was available for interviews. Now his PR agency controls him and his time. He speaks only to those who fawn over him; don’t know if that’s good for a businessman, who must have his ears to the ground. The reviews for his grand show (of both clothes and his power) were mixed as the boy from a non-descript town told the rest of the fashion world how his guest list was brimming with those who matter! Almost 700 guests, the entire Padukone family, Anand Mahindra and his wife Anuradha, Gautam Adani’s son Jeet, Salman Khan’s sister Alvira khan, Rani Mukherjee to Alia Bhatt and Bipasha Basu, as well as Shabana Azmi and Zoya Akhtar, among others. “I love everything about him. I wore his matka silks and raw Khadi when he started. He has this coarse look, which I love. Sabya understands personalities, he dresses them accordingly,” said Shabana dressed in a black and red silk sari.

Photos by Dolly Devi

Aditi Rao Hydari to Kokilaben Ambani, 90, with her daughters showed up, as did Kumaramangalam Birla and his feisty daughter Ananya, in a heavily embellished Sabyasachi top, worn with leather pants. The star of the evening was fashion writer Suzy Menkes. With her career spanning 40 years, which has been memorable, I still cannot forget her story, ‘Circus of Fashion’ for NYT. I read it multiple times, written ten years ago, but it still remains relevant. “Sabya doesn’t believe in boasting. Many people laughed at how much colour India wears, when I first met him. But he is a master in America. People love his clothes – even non-Indians. I have known him for so many years, and have followed his thought processes closely. Today, he dressed me, and I came specially to support him. One thing I admire is how he understands fabrics, makes each piece unique, and every piece has India in it,” she smiled.

I decided to be a reporter for the evening without worrying about the pressure of how many pictures need to go on Instagram, as I’m not on it. Neither did I make any reels to make sure everyone knew, I was invited to his 25th anniversary. I felt it must stay in the recess of my mind, not on anyone’s feed!

Prakash Padukone told me, the designer was an integral part of his daughter’s wedding. “Sabya made us feel special. He understood quickly what we as a family wanted for the intimate wedding.”

Photo by Dolly Devi

Linda Fargo of the iconic Bergdorf Goodman who flew in from the US, said the diminutive designer, and she have worked on many projects since the last five years. I noticed her bangles and she told me, “They aren’t Sabyasachi but from H & M.” But she also explained that the man who managed to build this empire has a key interest in what the global market demands and how to make a line that serenades universal buyers. He is worth Rs.120 crores but wants to take it to Rs.500 crores soon.

Though one thing I could not understand is how Bengali culture has a certain sense of humility — Tangail saris, the stunning jamdanis, Mukherjee never paid homage to them — he instead gave us vegetable dyed leather in green!

The show at the Jio World Convention centre, the magnificent set reminiscent of old Calcutta, clothes hung dry hurriedly like probably he used to when not part of this shiny world. An imposing imperial fountain in between, a leftover of the British legacy. Bangla songs playing, reserved seats for the rich and famous, as well as stylish prima donnas. But Mukherjee, didn’t we make you who you are? If we didn’t encourage, write paens on you, would you have made it thus far? Doubt it, but I guess money makes the world go around, so you need to give those investors with huge bank balances, prime importance.

Many were waiting in queues for more than half an hour to get the passes; some protested and threatened to leave. Seats for the “cattle class” were unnumbered, the Richie Rich had reserved badges. The hypocrisy of it all was that the set was of “community living” while in reality the wealthiest were his audience. A foreigner sang Raat Haseen Chand haseen.. and let me tell you this is another vibe, along with ‘Jokhon porbe na mor payer chihno,’ by Rabindranath Tagore intermingled with Buddhist chants.

Photo by Bikramjit Bose

In 2004, Mukherjee told me, “We travel the world in search of beauty but you often find it in the dewdrops, a few steps away from home,” another truism from Tagore, showing one thing he is consistent with and that’s his love for the poet. “In this medley of extraordinary people and voices, only one epitomises Calcutta’s quintessential spirit and soul: Rabindranath Tagore,” said Mukherjee’s press release.

Yet he had servers from Turkey and Uzbekistan offering champagne in flutes (along with cakes, pastries, fruits, and charcuterie) that dangled on lithe arms and heavily diamond-studded digits of Nina Garcia to Sonam Kapoor, Ananya Panday, Bipasha Basu and Banita Sandhu. A million phones went up from the audience when Deepika Padukone opened in white slouchy pants and oversized trench, huge, unwieldy hairband, wine red lips, and stacked up bangles — last one right on trend. Then the parade began with appliqué, heavily beaded jackets, to sporty trackies, hints of street wear, on tees as well with the Bengal tiger roaming freely everywhere.

Once a simple man who got models in books, reading glasses, smeared lipsticks in 2001, put men in shimmering vests, faded jeans, pearl encrusted bags, embellished minis swinging. Some of the faux fur lined skirts reminded me of Sacai’s latest line. He got top models — Bhoomika Sharma, (like him, a small-town girl from Karnal) to Avanti Nagrath and yesteryear’s model-turned-photographer Sheetal Malhar. Men with quilted pants, ab showing cropped tops, Mukherjee no doubt loves glitter and asymmetry. The leafy green pants with pink overcoats felt like you were entering a trance party but the one where they play the Simon & Garfunkel classic ‘Hello darkness my old friend’. Big bags came tucked under lithe arms, everything was large, even the fabric flowers, or the ones in the hair. Florals translated onto velour pants that men wore with teeny weeny sweaters in Barbie pink. Brocade skirts, Russian faux fur caps, flaming red, the set was Calcutta, and that shadow didn’t fall on the clothes. I miss how he had unplucked eyebrows, beads strung together with chiffon, saris with stains, to tell us how stains are cool, 21 years ago! Not anymore, now its sparkle on clothes as well as his guests, even though the dress code was strictly black. How the Japanese revived the veracity of this hue in the 80s making it anti-establishment against the French’s love for reds. His fancy guests were excited about his sloganeering, which I didn’t think was in any way altering the world — “Dog Dad”, “Cat Lady”, “Anybody Home”, “Where has love gone”, “Please stay”. Tiger print full skirts, men with exaggerated bows, faux fur trimmed dresses added to the strange mix. No one says no to a ‘Sabya’ invite, even me (though I refused to go for his 20th anniversary celebration), then why will a rich hotelier’s wife Indrani Dasgupta, not turn up to be a model for him?

Photos by Asmita Aggarwal

In an interview for FDCI in 2015, he told me, “I have always been fascinated by Indian surrealism. I think the heightened sense of imagination is my favourite element. Meaningful design is also about who you are and where you come from. For me hence it is totally symbiotic.”

What I enjoyed most was stunning Christy Turlington, like fine wine, aged over time, it has this bitter sweet aftertaste. She looked fabulous in salt and pepper hair, who along with Deepika Padukone gave us two sides of the spectrum – youth vs wisdom as the show ended on “We shall overcome some day…” after 155 looks showcased. Seems apt, don’t you think?

Internet sensation Shalini Passi had the best parting shot. Dressed in Dolce & Gabbana, she said, “Sabyasachi doesn’t know how to keep up relationships. If I want to be exclusive, I would wear my grandma’s sari, rather than his, right?” I agree completely! – Asmita is the Lifestyle Editor of NRI Focus. She is an award winning journalist who has been writing on fashion for the last 32 years

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