Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the 43 year old acclaimed fashion designer who is known for designing outfits for notable movies such as English Vinglish, Babul and Guzarish attended the “India- Disruptive Innovations” – a conference held by the Harvard University on the 10th and 11th of February.
The event was aimed at bringing together India’s thought leaders for discussions and brainstorming sessions to unravel the exciting opportunities that lay ahead for their motherland.
Sabyasachi during his seminar had told the Harvard University students that ‘Saree’ was an integral part of the Indian culture and those women who did not know how to drape one should be ashamed of themselves.
He received a lot of backlash on social media platforms from the public.
Owing to all the chaos his comment at Harvard had created, the designer finally took to Instagram on 13th February and penned down an open letter in three parts.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfKnPy6HO-4/?taken-by=sabyasachiofficial
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfKnZDUnUyt/?taken-by=sabyasachiofficial
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfKnlttHXhx/?taken-by=sabyasachiofficial
In the first part of his letter he apologised for using the word ‘shame’ in reference to some women’s inability to wear a sari.
In the second part of letter clarifying his remarks, he wrote, “The ubiquity of negative sentiments associated with embracing sari in our culture 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.”
In the third part of the letter he touched the topic of gender equality and said that his brand ‘Sabyasachi Couture’ was “women oriented” and majority of the staff he employed were women.
In total his move to come out and talk about the chaos and apologize to those who were hurt, develops a new kind of respect for the designer in many hearts.
All we can say is, way to go Mukherjee Babu!