Sabyasachi Mukherjee

Sabyasachi Mukherjee (born 1974) is an Indian fashion

designer from Kolkata. Since 1999, he has sold designer
merchandise using the label 'Sabyasachi'. Mukherjee is
one of the Associate Designer Members of Fashion Design Council of India and the youngest board member of
the National Museum of Indian Cinema.[1] He has designed costumes for Bollywood lms such as Guzaarish,
Babul, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Raavan, English
Vinglish etc.[2][3]

Personal life

Sabyasachi Mukherjee comes from a middle class Bengali family of Kolkata. His mother, Sandhya Mukherjee worked at Government Art College, and was deeply
into handicrafts. His father, Shukumar Mukherjee lost
his job when Sabyasachi was just 15 yrs.[4] Sabyasachis
sister Shingini Mukherjee (Payal), who is 7 years younger
to him, manages the business of the label.[5]
Mukherjee wanted to study at NIFT. But, his parents
wanted him to become an engineer,[5] as they couldn't understand how a course in designing clothes can help him
in future career,[6] and hence they refused to fund his admission into NIFT.[6] Sabyasachi sold his books to pay
for the admission form and passed the exam.[6] After his
graduation, he opened a workshop, and started his career Noyonika Chatterji walks in SabyaSachi Couture.
from there.[6]
Mukherjee, whose pet name is Pepsi,[7] initially intended
to take medicines as a profession, and remarked in an interview that he doesn't consider himself a designer and
that he just makes pretty clothes.[8]
ancient and medieval ages. He describes his own collections as 'an International styling with an Indian soul. In
the designs, he tries to maintain a non commercial balance
in an extremely aggressive, commercial and competitive
industry. His collection is for people who prefer to walk a
path less traveled and who denitely believe that slowing
down is not equivalent to dropping out.

Mukherjee also aspires to be a food writer and to conduct a food show. He likes places with a rich food culture such as Spain, Tuscany, Mexico, Greece, South of
France, southern Italy.[8]

Design Philosophy

His signature style is originality, as he moves between

stunningly crafted bridal wear and perfectly structured
western statements.[6] The designer draws his inspiration
from art such as the colourscapes of French impressionists like Monet and Henry Matisse in his clothes.[9]

Sabyasachis design philosophy is 'Personalized imperfection of the human hand'. Deserts, gypsies, prostitutes,
antique textiles and cultural traditions of his home town,
Kolkata, have been a lifelong inspiration for this designer
who believes that clothes should just be an extension of
ones intellect. He uses unusual fabrics, texturing and
detailing, 'fusion' of styles, 'patch-work' with embellishments in a vibrant colors. His creations evoke images of

He pioneered the use of Indian textiles in a modern context. His unique contribution was the use of indigenous
methods like bandhani, gotawork, block printing, hand
dyeing etc. in construction of modern silhouettes.
1

Life and career

LIFE AND CAREER

style awards and won the Society Achievers award for

the best new Indian designer.
In 2004, Sabyasachi took a step ahead with Kuala
Lumpur Fashion Week and The Miami Fashion Week[10]
with a bohemian take on Indian textiles and his collection
was called The Frog Princess. His signicant achievements included his coveted showing in Browns earning
him a retail place at the tiny London store voted by Vogue
as the best shopping destination in the world, thereby establishing himself as one of the most promising young
designers for years to come.
He earned the distinction of being the only Indian designer to be invited to showcase at the Milan Fashion
Week 2004 facilitated by Indo-Italian Chamber Of Commerce. Along with accolades, he was also voted by Asia
Inc. a Singapore based Business magazine as one of the
ten most inuential Indians in Asia, alongside Aishwariya
Rai, Priyanka Gandhi, Sabeer Bhatiaetc.
In 2005, his spring-summer collection, The Nair Sisters was inspired by hand block printing, embroideries,
bagru prints and the extensive use of cotton and other
hand woven fabrics. The collection was sold at Browns
& Selfridges in London. He was requested to showcase
his collections at the prestigious Oxford University annual
black tie charity dinner fashion show.

Models walk for SabyaSachi Couture.

Summer of 1999, Sabyasachi Mukerjee graduated from

the National Institute of Fashion Technology India with
three major awards. Four months later, Sabyasachi
started his homonymous label which began with a workforce of three persons. Over the years, he has built a
clothing brand which has a strong social perspective.

2006, Sabyasachis debut Spring Summer collection07

at New York Fashion Week earned him critical acclaim
and his label started selling world-wide. The essence of
this collection was based on folklore, glamour, simplicity,
modern architecture and intricate detailing. There was a
marked inuence of paintings from the seventeenth and
eighteenth century like Brueghel, Claude Monet and others. He used dark jeweled colors with muted shades accentuated with subtle texturing and indigenous embroidery. He is the only Indian designer to be a part of all
three leading fashion weeks: New York, Milan and London. Sabyasachi believes that the unique positioning of
Indian designers is due to the exclusivity of his homeland
with its rich history and culture. He believes that Indian
designers bring a avor to the west that is no longer perceived as only exotic but also a rich blend of individuality
and sensitivity.

In 2001, Sabyasachi won the Femina British Councils

most outstanding young Designer of India award, which
took him to London for an internship with Georgina von
Etzdorf, an eclectic designer based in Salisbury. Returning home with edgier ideas, Sabyasachi started retailing
2007, Sabyasachi participated at the New York and at the
at all major stores in India.
London Fashion Weeks plus Bridal Asia 2007, Lakme
2002, Sabyasachi participated at the India Fashion Week
India Fashion Week and the Vogue Launch event in India.
where his debut collection earned him positive reviews
His Sanctuary collection showcased at Lakme Fashion
from the national and international press. On a cover by
Week Fall Winter 08 received positive reviews from the
Womens Wear Daily, he was reckoned as the future of
fashion editor of the New York Times, Suzy Menkes.[11]
Indian fashion. Spring of 2003, Sabyasachi made his debut on the international runway, with the grand winner The designer made his debut to the Cannes Film Festival
award at the Mercedes Benz New Asia Fashion week in in the year 2011.[12]
Singapore, which paved his way to a workshop in Paris Sabyasachi closed the third edition of PCJ Delhi Couby Jean Paul Gaultier and Azzedine Alaia. His collection ture Week (August 812, 2012) with his New Moon
Kora at the Lakme Fashion Week 2003 won him lauda- collection inspired by the avours of ve cities of the
tory reviews where he used unbleached and hand woven world- straitjacket discipline of New York, the nostalgia
fabrics with Kantha and other hand embroideries. He was of the British Raj in Kolkata, the subversive decadence
declared the best Designer of India at the MTV Lycra

3
of Berlin, the romanticism of Paris and bohemian air of
Barcelona. Bollywood star Sridevi was the showstopper
& walked the ramp for the designer in a sari.[13][14] The
designer is showcasing this collection in UAE as well.[15]
Recently, the designer styled a calendar for which Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia dressed up as famous painter
Frida Kahlo.[16] whose has been the designers inspiration for the Grand Finale at WIFW Autumn-Winter 2011
where the models walked the ramp wearing Frida Kahloesque rose headbands and wire-rimmed glasses.[17]

prints from Bagru.

He is one of the designers who,by his skillful use of Indian fabric Khadi brought it in the International platform. Sothebys London hosted an exhibition of contemporary design named 'Inspired by India' where the
designer showcased his work of khadi.[21] Sabyasachis
collection of Winter-Festive Lakme Fashion Week 2011
revived the ner version of Khadi.[22]

5 Sabyasachi & Bollywood

4

Revival Initiatives

The designer forayed into lms by designing costumes for

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's landmark lm: Black which
earned him critical acclaim along with the National
Award in 2005 for the best costume designer for a feature
lm. Since then, he has designed for other Bollywood
movies such as Babul and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag,
Raavan, Guzaarish,Paa",No One Killed Jessica
and English Vinglish.
In 2012, Sabyasachi appeared on NDTV Goodtimes
show Band Baja Bride.[23]
The entire trousseau collection of around 18 hand-crafted
sarees for Bollywood diva Vidya Balan's wedding was designed by Sabyasachi for which he specially sourced the
silk from Chennai.[7] Vidya Balan also wore seven of his
outts for her public appearances whilst serving on the
competition jury panel at Cannes 2013.
Sabyasachis celebrity clientele also includes Rani Mukerji, Sridevi, Tabu, Shabana Azmi, Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan, Sushmita Sen and Kareena Kapoor to name
a few.[4]
Amongst international actresses, Rene Zelleweger, Reese
Witherspoon & others have sported his label.[4]

6 Creative expansion

SabyaSachi Mukherjis show at Lakme Fashion Week.

Sabyasachi, in 2008 launched a line of jewelry exclusively

designed by him in association with the GAJA brand.

He launched his exclusive menswear collection featuring

Mukherjee started a project called SAVE THE SAREE Sherwanis, Kurtas and headgear at the Lakme Fashion
where he retails hand-woven Indian sarees on a non- Week Spring Summer 09 Grand Finale show.
prot basis priced at 3500 & the entire proceed goes The Designer has also started the kids wear line under
to the weavers of Murshidabad.[18] This initiative is also the label CHOTA SABHYA.I felt the need to do somestrongly supported by Bollywood divas like Aishwarya thing for children, using Indian techniques and handRai Bachchan, Vidya Balan.[19]
looms, to make children sensitive towards our clothing,
He has been developing textiles from Dastkarin-Andhra said Sabyasachi
Pradesh, Berozghar Mahili Samitiin-Bihar, Tantubay
Samiti-Fulia and Kotpadin-Orissa. The designer uses
rich ethnic fabrics in his collection - extensive use of
Banarasi fabric can be seen in his range.[20] Over the past
two years he has also been involved in reviving cotton
Benarasi sarees in pure khadi and vegetable hand block

7 References
[1] Associate Designer Members. Retrieved 9 November
2012.

[2] Fashion show Prole - Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Hindustan Times. Retrieved 11 January 2013..
[3] Bohemian elegance. The Hindu. 23 April 2005. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
[4] Thakur, Shweta (11 May 2008). Fashion world is a shallow one: Sabyasachi Mukherjee. Thaindian News. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
[5] Sharma, Garima (18 May 2011). I wanted him to be an
engineer: Sabyasachi. The Times of India. Retrieved 16
November 2012.
[6] Saran, Sathya (27 January 2012). Firstpost Life His
path is his, nothing else matters: Payal on her designer
brother Sabyasachi. Firstpost.Live. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
[7] Banerjee, Soumyadipta (13 November 2012). 18 saris
and a temple wedding for Vidya Balan. The Times Of
India,Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
[8] Saxena, Manjari (2 February 2012). "'I don't consider
myself a designer'". Gulf news. Retrieved 16 November
2012.
[9] Wearing art: New metaphors for Indian fashion. The
Times Of India. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 16
November 2012.
[10] Milano sar pi internazionale MF fashion. mashion.com. 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
[11] Sabyasachi a melting pot for fashion in India - The New
York Times. The New York Times (New York: NYTC).
ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
[12] Sharma, Garima (10 May 2011). Sabya at Cannes. The
Times Of India. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
[13] Caroli, Aditi (13 August 2012). Sridevi turns showstopper for Sabyasachi. Hindustan Times. Retrieved 9
November 2012.
[14] Sridevi walks the ramp for Sabyasachi. Naxatra News.
[15] McLaughlin-Duane, Rebecca (29 January 2013).
Mukherjees latest collection is 'very global yet very
Indian'". The National. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
[16] Joshi, Tushar (18 January 2012). Neha Dhupias tribute to Frida Kahlo. The Times Of India. Retrieved 16
November 2012.
[17] Khanna, Priyanka. RUNWAY REVIEWS. Retrieved
16 November 2012.
[18] Narayan, Shobha. The Saree Warrior. Retrieved 9
November 2012.
[19] Tiwari, Nimisha (2 August 2012). Sabya in Mumbai.
The Times Of India. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
[20] Vohra, Meera (25 September 2011). Banarasi fabric
catching up in Bollywood. The Times Of India. Retrieved 9 November 2012.

EXTERNAL LINKS

[21] Walia, Nona (28 September 2012). Khadi spins an international trend. The Times Of India. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
[22] S Sen, Debarati (18 August 2011). Sabyasachi to showcase men, women and kids wear. The Times Of India.
Retrieved 9 November 2012.
[23] NDTVGoodtimes.ndtv.com: Band Baajaa Bride. goodtimes.ndtv.com. 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.

8 External links
Ocial website
prole at Fashion Design Council of India
video conversation between UK designer Paul Smith
and Sabyasachi; starts at 5:12

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Sabyasachi Mukherjee Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabyasachi_Mukherjee?oldid=663450215 Contributors: Bearcat, Huaiwei, Woohookitty, RHaworth, Tabletop, Bgwhite, Wavelength, Malcolma, Rwalker, SmackBot, Colonies Chris, Dia^, Randhirreddy,
ShelfSkewed, Cydebot, Ekabhishek, Io Katai, Magioladitis, Nyttend, WhatamIdoing, Dharmadhyaksha, CommonsDelinker, CultureDrone,
ImageRemovalBot, Gobeshock Gobochondro Gyanotirtho, SchreiberBike, GDibyendu, Yobot, AnomieBOT, Bluerasberry, Materialscientist, Marikagirl12, Xqbot, Wikifashionindia, FrescoBot, Keri, RjwilmsiBot, GoingBatty, Bollyje, Piyalimajumder, ClueBot NG, Gilderien, BattyBot, ChrisGualtieri, Boredingurgaon, Callousfreak, Sou Boyy, Ugog Nizdast, Jaredzimmerman (WMF), N afb, AkhilKumarPal,
Guhanb, Monu2006 and Anonymous: 22

9.2

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