The Mentalist

The sartorial genius of Sabyasachi Mukherjee emanates as he visualises the complete look for a certain bride-to-be within a few seconds. All the while he sits on a chair cross-legged in his tweed suit. “A matha patti or tikka with a necklace, jhumkas and a big nath,” he tells his assistants.It is Day 1 of a wedding show by Vogue and here we sit in his makeshift studio at the Taj Palace Hotel. The motifs on red walls, floral mannequins dressed in bedazzling creations, crystal bottles of itr and chameli ke phool in silver bowls are all reminiscent of an old world charm. It’s only been a few days since Sabya showcased his Bater collection at the couture week so you sympathise the instant he tells you, “You know I’m very tired.”Taking cue and not wasting another minute of our allotted time, we move on with our questions and are surprised with the ease with which he settles into a mood for conversation. Excerpts from the interview:

Who is Sabya’s ideal brideIJ

For me an ideal bride is someone who is not embarrassed to be an Indian, wears her cultural sensitivity on her sleeve and supports the art and craft movement. Someone who is very much her own person and thinks bowing down to tradition is neither subjugating nor role-playing. She just does it because she thinks it is beautiful.

Tell us something about the Gothic influence in your Bater collectionIJ

I have a very strong bridal portfolio that is quite secure and I don’t really need to advertise it because it has become a very strong part of the DNA of the brand. But I realised that we were doing a lot of traditional clothing for girls who came to Sabyasachi only one time to get married. They were not being able to buy my clothing for other functions. I needed to do evening wear that still had the Indian handicraft, which is very important to the DNA of our brand but had contemporary silhouettes. The collection was speaking to a slightly more cosmopolitan younger girl. For me it was just market expansion.

People don’t realise that when you’re doing a fashion show, you’re doing it to advertise something. I think my bridal market is anyway saturated and I don’t think I need to do another bridal show for the next five years for people to know the brand. We have a TV show called Band Baaja Bride which is quite popular, so I didn’t really see the reason why we needed to do an ethnic show at couture week. We decided to do something more cosmopolitan and Western. 

We saw a shift in textile for Bater.

Normally, we do a lot of floral and ornamental designs. We did a lot of textures, sheeting, layering and as a designer I think it’s sometimes nice to be able to give into an instinct that you’re feeling. I’ve normally done romance with a very soft nostalgic touch but here I wanted to do vintage clothing that is a little corrosive. I wanted to see if I could push my own boundaries and I did it just for myself.

Creations under Bater meant for a particular body typeIJ

Yes it was made for a much more body-conscious person. My brand has silhouettes that everybody can carry but then I realised that health, fitness and body consciousness are being pursued heavily by a lot of people in this country. Sometimes it is foolish of an entrepreneur to go against the grain of what the youth of the country want. Wearing body conscious clothes is becoming more of a norm than an exception. In a country like India, with such a large population and shifting trends, if you don’t pay homage to that then you’re being stupid.

What about your latest bridal collectionIJ Does it have a nameIJ

I don’t name my bridal collections because I keep them classic year-after-year. Of course, there will be variations in terms of what people want. One of the biggest things that you need to know while designing bridal clothing is the kind of jewellery that a person can wear. Many would look down upon embroidery but I say that ours is a very ornamental country and loves decorations. We try to build different categories so people can wear different kinds of jewellery.

How are you planning to take your brand aheadIJ

We are going to get into accessories and space design. That is something I really like. I would’ve rather been an architect than a designer since I really enjoy designing spaces. Jewellery we’ve already started but for Sabyasachi Home, negotiations are happening and we are talking to some big international players. Hopefully something should come out of it.

Do we go a little overboard with regard to heritage in our designs and are, therefore, unable to  connect with Westerners apart from NRIsIJ

For any brand in the world to be iconic, you first have to be successful in your own country for a consistent period of time before you go out. The brand identity is made, you make money and with that money you can afford the diversification. You don’t die your own death. I’m fulfilling my circle because I started off in the West as I used to do many shows in New York, Milan and london after which I decided to concentrate on India. Now once India is getting saturated, I’m doing these international tie-ups with louboutin et al. And there is something that will happen with it in the space and home segment. Slowly and slowly we’ll take the brand outside.

But I don’t want to do anything outside for the sake of doing it and which doesn’t have an Indian identity because I think there are enough brands in the world. If we need to create something that will sustain, you need to create something that comes from within your roots. 

Where is the artiste in Sabya taking himIJ

Right now I’m doing things that I really like to do. We have a culture and art foundation which my sister and I created and I’m not saying that I need to do it because I need to play the CSR game. For instance, we are doing wallpapers for Asian Paints which have been done by Sabyasachi Arts Foundation. The culture foundation right now is committed to creating jobs for people in the creative and performing arts industry who normally don’t get employment around the city. For the recent couture show, we had a group of five musicians of the culture foundation who provided the music.

You’re dabbling in many projects at the moment...

It is a very cohesive brand expansion because the brand has not only stood for bridal wear, it has stood for Indian-ness and home-grown textiles. We are doing multiple diversifications as far as textiles are concerned. We are working with Banaras weavers to revive their industry which was a very strong mandate for us for the last ten years. If you look at everything we do, there is a very strong Sabyasachi synergy in it. I would not do something just for the sake of doing it. Maybe someday I’ll get into food because that’s my first love. I’ll probably do a chain of restaurants.

Designer Tom Ford made a beautiful movie called A Single Man. You, too, have a script readyIJ

Touchy question. I’d written a very beautiful script and a lot of my friends in Bollywood have been pushing me to make it but I’m just too scared. Because I’m technically not a filmmaker and also that it would be a little irresponsible of me. When you open a large company, you need to be sensitive to the needs of the people working under you. You need to make sure that you get them better jobs and  salaries every year. I’m committed towards consolidating my company a little more and once I’m able to do that, I’ll be selfish enough to make a film.