Gentleman of the fash fraternity

For almost all the young Indian girls who surround themselves with fashion, it is a dream to have at least one outfit or one saree in their trousseau to be a Sabyasachi creation.

Few even agree to a wedlock to be able to wear one! For the man, however, the thought is boggling and forces him to keep a low profile (but remain high in demand)!

“When people start putting you on a pedestal, it makes your personal life miserable. I have stopped socialising because I don’t like to be told by people how good I am and how I have transformed their lives, everytime. I don’t want to live with constant pressure and block all that out when I go back home every night!”

The scary feeling returns whenever a to-be-bride hands Sabya (as he’s called by friends) the responsibility of her wedding outfit. “Firstly, it is very humbling and secondly its very scary because we make wedding lehengas every day of our life but for a girl, it is the most important day of her life. Be it rich or poor, whenever a girl is born in an India, the parents start saving for her wedding. Its a ritual, to which all their hopes and aspirations are attached. And for that one day, you are playing a God in someone’s life. So, the thought is scary and unnerving!”

His work is made easier, because “when it comes to weddings even modern women have a traditional intent,” shares Sabya adding that people embrace tradition and he has seen, “the wildest girl in the shortest leather skirt wanting to cover her head with a pallu!”

What do you design for your family? “My mother doesn’t really wear my clothes. She is a middle-class, head strong Bengali woman who has lived all her life in 800
rupees cotton sarees. My sister is very bohemian and follows my mother. So, dad and I are the only ones who wear Sabyasachi at home. My father wears it because he loves himself too much. But my mother steals borders from my factory and makes her own version of Sabyasachi sarees. Since she is also an artist, for her, her son can never be creative enough,” he shares laughing.

He has taken a break from designing for the big screen but television is keeping him busy. His association Band Baajaa Bride on NDTV Good Times is his crusade to change people’s mindsets. “Indians think that Indian designers don’t make clothes for different sections of society. My mission is to inspire young men and women to look at Indian clothes as a solution for their more important days. I am a traditionalist and feel that we can always bind the integrity of people by clothing them in Indian designs, which give a sense of identity. That is what Gandhiji did with khadi!"

How would he like to design for his own bride? He re-confirms the question, “For the woman that I will get married to?” and then replies, “I would not like to see her in a Sabyasachi! I would ask her to wear a handloom saree,” he chuckles explaining, his admiration for people who are not into fashion, “I get charmed by people who wear simple clothes in a beautiful way. I would like to see the woman I will get married to, in something which is so not in fashion.” Well said!