Sabyasachi: The Making of an Icon

I HAVE NEVER BEEN an admirer of fashion, in the sense I’ve never claimed to understand fashion or couture or street fashion. I’ve never had the privilege of understanding how design­ers work, what they do, how they make money or if they make money at all.

Or for that matter, how design contributes to the well-being of sartorial elegance that we see around us. But January 25, 2025 was different. Sabyasachi completed 25 years and to mark that momentous timeline, he hosted a show in Mumbai at the Jio World Centre.

I was mesmerised. I was root­ed right through the show. I was enthused by the vigour, the vitality and the attention to detail. And what’s more, it was a spectacle like I have never seen before. Having been born and raised in Calcutta, this show had a special resonance for me because it celebrated the spirit of Calcutta (now Kolkata). It celebrated rootedness and most importantly, it celebrated gigan­ticism even when referring to a city that many people call a ‘city in decline’ or a ‘city in decay’.

But that’s not why I’m writing this piece. The reason I’m writing this piece is because people like Sabyasachi need to be celebrated every day of our lives. Because they bring a confluence of culture and cou­ture in a manner that is both inspir­ing as well as something that can be a legacy builder for all those who work in this industry. Whether it’s the artisans, the fabric makers, designers and the entire machinery that then goes out to promote a brand such as Sabyasachi’s.

I have no hesitation in saying that today Sabyasachi is India’s finest designer by far. He leaves everyone else in the shade because of his abil­ity to think and think big. He leaves them in the shade because he has not moved away from his core. And sometimes sticking to the core and being honest to your purposefulness and being truthful about your craft is more important than pandering to commercial compulsions.

In that sense, the show was special. It celebrated humanity, the music was riv­eting, and the music again was reminis­cent of what Bengal is and what Bengal was. It showed a kind of solidarity that is very rare when the entire world is trying to imitate each other. In many ways, Sabyasachi brought home to each one of us that evening, the spectacle of India’s civilisational legacy.

He brought home to each one of us a certain sense of belonging, a massive sense of pride and the fact that we could wear what he was displaying. That these clothes were part of our cultural heritage. They weren’t something that mannequins could wear and walk around if mannequins could walk. It wasn’t about a fashion show.

Many people at the show asked me what I thought, and I said to call this a ‘fashion show’ would be diminishing, and demeaning the craft of Sabyasachi. It would bring to naught the years of work that this man has put in. The hard work, the toil, the honesty and most importantly, the unwavering commit­ment to making sure that India stands up to be counted.

WHEN SABYASACHI OPENED his store in New York some years ago, there were many sceptics including me. I never believed that a store in New York helmed by a fashion designer from India would ever work. But today that store is the epitome of excellence where people go to worship Indian couture and craft.

To that end, I believe that Sabyasachi has created India’s first global fashion brand. In some ways he has outdone everything that India could have done to promote its crafts, its fabric and its ability to carve a niche in the enormous­ly competitive world of fashion.

I don’t know when we will ever produce another Sabyasachi, but then 25 years for a brand is a very short time. And I believe that when the show end­ed it was actually the beginning.

It was the beginning of Sabyasachi’s reign as a global icon. It was the beginning of Sabyasachi’s contribution to the world and most importantly it was the beginning of India’s arrival on the global stage. I also think that designers like Sabyasachi need the recognition of governments, whether at the state level or at the central level. If I were the chief minister of a state, I would be rushing to Sabyasachi asking him to promote the craft of that state. So, whether it is a saree, whether it is any other article of clothing, I as a chief minister would want my state to be encased and shown for what it stands for only through the eyes of Sabyasachi.

The vision is indomitable and what is even more interesting is that Sabyasachi has lost none of his gentle­manliness, and all of this shows up in his work. His work in some form or the other is a celebration of the human spir­it. His work is also a celebration of not just toil but purposefulness to a craft that he understands so brilliantly and is willing to share with such aplomb.

May India produce a thousand Sabyasachis but till then we need to just celebrate and thank the Lord for what we have in the form of Sabyasachi.

Alia BhattChristy TurlingtoncouturecultureDeepika PadukonefashionSabyasachi MukherjeeSonam Kapoor