Bengal has always been part and parcel of designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee's creative enterprise. As India's ace designer says, “A reflection of Bengal in my collection is not a necessity; it's a natural instinct."
So, who's the quintessentially Bengali woman who has been a style icon for him all these years? Pat comes the reply, "Legendary Rabindra Sangeet exponent Suchitra Mitra." Music aficionados will know well, Suchitra has left behind an unmatched musical and academic legacy - she was also a professor and the head of the Rabindra Sangeet Department at the Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata. She was associated with IPTA and acted in films. She did a cameo in Rituparno Ghosh's award-winning film, 'Dahan'.
Says Sabyasachi, "From her undyed (Suchitra Mitra's) boy cut hair to large framed spectacles to her cotton saris - she was a picture of power dressing. For her less was really more."
He feels that for a Bengali woman, a cotton sari is a quintessential part of her existence. "While many parts of India look at a cotton sari as shabby chic, Bengalis tend to wear it as a prestige statement," he says. "The good thing about Bengali women is that they are not married to fashion. Trends might come and go but they tend to tweak everything around their identity."
Needless to say, you will find cotton saris in all his stores 365 days a year. "They may or may not be Bengal but ethos is Bengali... I spent a lot of time in Bengal. I didn’t have the money to travel in my earlier days, so what I saw around me translated into my collection," says the designer.
And we cannot help but appreciate his design ethos and sensibility.