Vintage, old-worldly, lutyens Calcutta; adjectives describing Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s aesthetic wind the clocks backwards. How then has he managed to craft a brand so coveted, unmistakable and enticing at once? What started out as a passion selling jewellery door to door is now global brand. A NIFT graduate who had epiphanies watching Madonna perform live, who made front page news with his debut collection is after all a man with many layers. If you look through the plenitude of applause and press is a man terribly dedicated to the cause of the crafts. The couturier has worked with founder and chairperson Nita Ambani on several looks. “Nita and me go a long way, and I think Nita has been a great patron of Indian handicrafts, Indian textiles, and everytime I do something for her, its probably collaborative will, but we make sure that we create beautiful Indian products.”

Mukherjee’s commission for the showing started with a call from the curator Hamish Bowles. “So Hamish reached out to me during the pandemic about this exhibition he was going to mount here in India. And I was very excited and curious at the same time because I have always been a big fan of Hamish. So at the ‘India in Fashion’ exhibit I wanted to do something…I built something from my archives, which was actually my first attempt at creating something that was of an international design language but very rooted in Indian craftsmanship, and I did a version of that for the exhibit.”As you walk towards the end of ‘India in Fashion’, Sabyasachi’s installation in the zone ‘Traditions and Innovations - The power of Indian Fashion Now’, catches you unaware in its haunting beauty. Three mannequins are dressed in recreations of pieces from the designer’s couture collections Opium (2013) and Bater (2015). “The language of Sabyasachi has really been born from what I have seen of Calcutta,” he tells us. We spoke to the designer on his commission for the exhibit and more.

You chose to revisit pieces from Bater for the exhibition—of all the iconic shows you have presented thus far, why this collection?
Bater, followed by Firdaus, was a turning point for the brand and my evolution as a designer. Not just because of the collaboration with Christian (Louboutin), but because it was a collection that made me deep dive into codes of slow luxury and classic couture. The entire collection was made by hand, celebrating legacy Indian craftsmanship, quality and heritage. Values that are still core to my brand. It was an assertion of Indian couture from a lens of modernity. 
 
What was the significance behind naming the collection after one of the most hunted birds?
Hunted but a survivor. Survival in arts and culture is often confused for relevance. I’ve always been vehemently anti-trend, anti-gimmick—they’re too short-lived. True survival is in the long-haul. Survival is about preservation and conservation. It’s about knowing who you are and exploiting that to the fullest. Bater is the victory of resilience over the superficiality of conspicuous consumerism.  
 
As someone who tells the India story quite frequently on a global platform, how has the international audience responded to Indian craftsmanship—in all its glory and not made palatable for the West—in last few years?
‘India in Fashion’ is an exhibit that celebrates exactly this. The international audience has always responded well to fine Indian craftsmanship. The world of luxury has always been about bringing together the best craftsmanship from across the globe. But we do a disservice to Indian craftsmanship when we present it without finesse and the true mastery of the craft. We still see a lot of that in the fashion and jewellery eco system, a dilution of our endangered legacy crafts. It’s why as a brand we are committed to presenting only the finest of Indian craftsmanship, both at home and to the world. And so far, the response has always been overwhelmingly good. 
 
What’s next for Sabyasachi Calcutta?
We have a few global collaborations coming up, but right now we’re busy with the launch of our latest international collection. It’s a collection where I’m going back to my pret roots—Indian craftsmanship for the modern wardrobe where lifestyle and travel meet luxury and wonderment.

‘India in Fashion: The Impact of Indian Dress and Textiles on the Fashionable Imagination’

is curated by British author, journalist and costume expert Hamish Bowles, and designed by Patrick Kinmonth with Rooshad Shroff. The exhibit is on view at Pavilion 1, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Mumbai, up to June 4, 2023.