Q1:
VA
Passage
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At 50 and on the cusp of celebrating 25 years in the fashion industry with a grand show in Mumbai, the couturier Sabyasachi Mukherjee is refreshingly unromantic about his achievements. "A lot of people think I'm a big deal, but for me, it's like running any other business. I'm not an engineer nor a doctor. I don't save lives or build bridges. I make clothes and get undue attention for that."
His modesty is engaging. At heart, Mukherjee is still the boy who, back in the day as a 20-something designer, had famously said 'Want to make it big? Be in Bengal'. While many thought the idea was bonkers, he stayed put in Kolkata unlike many of his youth who continued to move out for better opportunities. City-proud and stubbornly resistant to all advice to shift base, Mukherjee turned the handicraft hub to head from his workshop in Topsia, a suburb on the eastern fringe of Kolkata dotted with tanneries. He built collections steeped in the city with a roaring flood Bengal tiger as his logo. "Everyone told me staying in Kolkata was suicidal, but I persevered. Now, I'm bringing the whole world to Kolkata," he says, adding that the show is a homage to the city that has been the core of who he is or what he creates.
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