Owning a designer wear ignites the fashion mechanics of desire and aspiration. Designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, a crusader of Indian craft, recently collaborated with H&M – a fast fashion label – to come up with a collection that promised to fit most budgets. However, as the collection launched, many were taken aback at the pricing, particularly in light of the simplicity that the collection showed. Many wondered if the promise of ‘designer wear’ was lost in trying to make it attainable.
“I avoid buying fast fashion labels because of their unethical labour practices, but was excited for this. When I saw the collection, it seemed to be Jaipur block chintz print, which is the hallmark of Indian craft and print. But then I realised it is screen printed. Artisans who create block design, the colour master and the printers, they work hard to create it. Their work has been devalued by recreating it in the factory. Secondly, the design is directly from ‘chintz’ — book by Mary Crill. There are artistes like Shambhavi, who have been recreating these motifs for years and reviving block prints,” says fashion blogger Pallavi Singh of Moda Ninja.
Many also believe the price tag and clothes didn’t do justice to each other. Content creator Sanjana Rishi wrote on Instagram, “I’m disappointed in Sabyasachi for collaborating with H&M while his karigars (who I thought he valued greatly) watch their designs get cheaply mass produced. I hope they’re getting a cut…”
The meme makers were not far behind. The looks were trolled on social media. Insta handle DietSabya posted some reactions that said, “Bloho = Blah + Boho” or “Looks like a collection made by someone who visited India once and says ‘Chai Tea’.”
Other, however, felt that the designer is making a mark on the global fashion map. “It will put Indianwear into the limelight as H&M is a global brand. This transition will get sarees into a different league,” says blogger Shambhavi Mishra. Sabyasachi was not available for comment. The collection, however, sold out on their website within a few minutes of it going live, as claimed by many on social media.
