Sabyasachi is in particular that one fashion designer who has always uplifted and celebrated Indian traditions, heritage and culture. The ace designer is majorly known for reviving old handlooms, weaves, drapes, silhouettes and cuts.
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Sabyasachi recently addressed Indian students at the Harvard India Conference and his remark on women and saris has pulled him a lot of backlash.
Sabyasachi is in particular that one fashion designer who has always uplifted and celebrated Indian traditions, heritage and culture. The ace designer is majorly known for reviving old handlooms, weaves, drapes, silhouettes and cuts.
Recently he got into some serious soup for openly criticizing the younger generation of the country, for embracing and wearing western outfits and not wearing saris, as he was addressing Indian students at the Harvard India Conference.
“I think, if you tell me that you do not know how to wear a sari, I would say shame on you. It’s a part of your culture, you need to stand up for it,” he had said.
This led to a lot of backlash for the designer, who was accused of using terms such as “shame on you” and was thus called ‘patriarchal and anti-feminist’. Responding to the backlash, Mr Mukherjee told a leading media agency, “What was intended to be a comment on celebration of our clothing history and heritage became a debate on feminism. This is not a gender issue.”
Clarifying his stance further, the couturier later took to Instagram and shared an open letter in which he also apologized for what he had said.
“To begin, allow me to sincerely apologise for the words that I used while answering impromptu questions at a conference at Harvard,” he stated. “I am sorry that I used the word ‘shame’ with reference to some women’s inability to wear a sari. I truly regret that the way in which I tried to make a point about sari enabled it to be interpreted as misogynistic, patriarchal, and non-inclusive – this was certainly not my intention.”
Lending context to what had happened while he uttered those words, the designer continued, “A woman had asked me to comment on the cultural taboo of young women wearing saris because, as she said, society tells them that it ‘makes them look older’. ‘What is your suggestion’, she asked, ‘for those young generations, to break that taboo and embrace the sari.’ Unbeknownst to many, this is a question I field often with friends and customers. The ubiquity of such sentiments in our culture, evidenced by the fact that this question was posed to me at Harvard, of all places, was hard-hitting and triggered an unfortunate series of reactions on my part. Sometimes, when you are that invested in your craft, you become hypersensitive to the negativity surrounding that which you love. I am passionate about textiles and our heritage, and I am sorry that in the heat of that moment, I allowed this passion to be misplaced. I take full responsibility for this.”
“Mine is a women-oriented brand and I owe my complete success to them. I have always and will continue to love and respect women irrespective of the labels recently assigned to me. It was in this spirit that I started my brand, and that is how it shall remain until the day we decide to shut its doors. I once again apologise for the distress caused by the words I used, but not for the intent, which often takes a back seat when slammed by controversy. My intent was to call out those women who proudly proclaim that they don’t wear saris and simultaneously shame others who wear saris by saying it makes them look older, backward, or culturally repressed,” he concluded.
– Courtesy: Pinkvilla
