We love ace fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee as he has an eye for churning out exquisite bridalwear however, some times he does court controversies and it gets disappointing for many as well. This time, it was his Instagram post that slapped him left right and center as the little piece that he wrote did not go down well with his followers.
He wrote a black and white piece on Insta that read: "If you see a woman 'overdressed', caked with makeup, armoured with jewellery, it is most likely that she is wounded. Bleeding inside, silently."
In fact, to support his thoughts, he even quoted Miss Havisham, a character from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations: “The agony is exquisite, is it not? A broken heart. You think you will die. But you just keep living. Day after day, after terrible day.”
However, it did not go down well with his followers and many other individuals as they posted some hateful lines to express their disappointment with the artiste who has designed for international and Indian stars staring from Sonam Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai to Ali Bhatt and more.
One user named artwhoring wrote: "Imagine having made ALL your money out of selling to women this idea of beauty that requires exorbitant spending on maintaining an aestheticism and then shaming them exactly for that. You’re a broken man, sir."
Another Instagrammer pointed out that going by this theory of his, "every one of your brides is a ‘broken woman’ at least think once before posting".
Voicing the same opinion, a follower wrote: "WHAAAAT? So all people (women and men) overdressed with or without makeup are wounded? What kinda shit is this".
Some asked him to stop associating his "brand with such thoughts and judgments".
"What a load of spinach!! Stop selling this melancholic idea of “overdressed women who are wounded” to sell your overpriced and garish jewellery. Patronising and absolutely demeaning", another posted.
One woman just said that "Please don't make stupid blanket statements like that in a bid to 'romanticize' bullshit. Sometimes a girl just likes her lipstick and jewelry for no absolute reason except that she does!".
After the roaring hatred filled feedback, Sabyasachi issued an apology letter.
He also shared in another post: “I thought a lot about whether to post this, but sometimes it is important to set the record straight and get the right message across. Having been in the fashion industry for over 20 years, I have encountered it firsthand and commented about it in many of my interviews – how, while many women use fashion and beauty for joy and self-expression, others use it as ‘retail therapy’ to fill in the gaps and voids in their lives.
"We, as a society, often get extremely judgemental about peoples’ clothing choices, calling them ‘overdressed’ or ‘tacky’ or ‘inappropriate’. We fail to understand that maybe some are using these as coping mechanisms to put on a brave front to make up for the lack of a support system.
"The true essence of the post was to ask people to be aware, empathetic, and not judgemental of peoples’ personal clothing choices, which could be a manifestation of their internal anguish. One of the bigger issues in society today, that very few people address, is mental health, and a little bit of awareness, empathy and kindness go a long way in acknowledging it,' he continued.
He added: "I have coped with crippling depression as a teenager for 7 years. I found my coping mechanism through radical clothing choices. I was sneered at and bullied, but it helped me find my way again.
"When I was creating this jewellery collection, I referred to Tagore’s ‘Monihara’ because it talks about these issues, which are sadly more relevant today. And I, for one, have never shied away from speaking about uncomfortable truths, no matter how disruptive it might be for my personal gain. Because when power is given, social responsibility should not be shunned. The mistake, however, was to use the reference as a blanket statement, as sometimes when we are passionate about an issue, we end up becoming overzealous and hence, tone deaf.
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"My sincere apologies for that. The original post (however flawed) was put up to invite introspection and debate about how love, sensitivity and compassion, alongside expressions of art, beauty and fashion can create a net positive in the world.
"I invite everyone to democratically join this debate," he said.
Before as well, Sabyasachi got in trouble when he criticised the younger generation, for not knowing how to wear a sari and giving preference to Western outfits. This happened at a Harvard India Conference, wherein he addressed Indian students “I think, if you tell me that you do not know how to wear a sari, I would say shame on you. It’s a part of your culture, (you) need (to) stand up for it.”
He was of course brutally trolled for the same wherein he again had to apologise. He, in fact, shed light on his perspective in a long open letter on Instagram.
He wrote: “I once again apologise for the distress caused,” he wrote and added, “My intent was to call out those women who proudly proclaim that they don’t wear saris and simultaneously shame others who wear saris by saying it makes them look older, backward, or culturally repressed.”
Now everyone has an opinion, some take it positively and some negative, we ask you as readers what is your opinion.
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