Sabyaaah! Sabya!

There is something sinister about closed double doors Private cars and taxis snake around the heritage orbit that is Horniman Circle the stately neoGothic St Thomas Cathedral standing witness The late morning sun is numbing The potted plants along the sidewalk look like they could do with a sipIt is just another busy day in the life of South Mumbairsquos commercial district until the heavy double door of the grand neoclassical edifice dating back to 1913 opens ajar The Sabyasachi brass logo is still veiled in tape on the Tuesday that we visitWe are now inside the yettoopen flagship store the largest by couturier Sabyasachi Mukherjee four floors of retail and office space occupying 25862 sq ft None of the April sunlight gets in Time takes a turn slowing down as the gentle scent of rose and frankincense fills the air The rooms conjure the past with tools of the found and archival material original Tanjore paintings ageold Pichhwais curiosity cabinets vintage photography Mughal miniatures rare bronzes and lithographs modernist interpretations of Persian Qajar princesses and 19th century Company paintings It is all super maximalist rich and ripe almost as fertile and overabundant as a Henri Rousseau jungle ldquoAs we move further away from the partition of India the children of new India will not have a bridge that connects them with old India except for history books and museums I wanted to create my own version of a cultural museumrdquo Mukherjee says welcoming midday for an exclusive walkthrough This launch comes close on the heels of his store opening at Christopher Street New York last OctoberThe words playing in Sabyasachirsquos mind while designing the Bater couture collection in 2015 were dark dangerous and predatory The historical references came from the royal hunts and these were then channelised into baroque textures that were shredded burnt and layered All reminiscent of game birds and birds of prey PicGetty ImagesHe has managed to do it again create that characteristic Sabyasachi blur the mind just wonrsquot focus Overlaying the experience is a living archive currently showcasing couture from the inaugural Sabyasachi x Christian Louboutin collaboration Bater 2015 and its sequel Firdaus 2016 ldquoIt is a little overwhelming in the beginningrdquo he admits about the verdant deacutecor that he has personally designed ldquoIn my 25year career I have multitasked in roles of visual merchandiser CFO CEO HR even jamadarrdquo This matteroffact admission makes the paradox more severe Mukherjee thinks of himself as a minimalist and talks about quiet living not luxury as the future ldquoMy brand is maximalist I am a minimalist Right now I am trying to merge both aestheticsrdquo he adds leading us to the main landing area encasing bridal wear divided into madetomeasure and readytobuy sections Sitting near the elevator is a pair of mannequins wearing finery from Aparajito his first couture collection from 2010 It takes a closer inspection to figure out the identities of the models in Sabyasachi terms gender paradigms remain quietly subverted The first floor is dedicated to highend jewellerymdashthe pieces he creates for Bergdorf Goodman The space also holds a discreet corner for ldquohighvalue jewellery made from 100carat emeralds ruby and Golconda diamondsrdquo The conversation takes a pause for a spot of tea Personally Mukherjee likes Darjeeling but the tea room situated in the hidden den behind silk velvet drapes will offer customers a curated list of tea and coffee blends served alongside ginger biscuits and cakes on gilded trelliswork trays ldquoWe need a door handle hererdquoldquoThe silk shirts need to be better ironed haanrdquoldquoThe music volume is too highrdquo Mukherjee offers suggestions to his team now and again but rarely raises his voice He doesnrsquot need to Everyone seems to drop into silence when he enters a room his Adidas trainers showing a bit of a cheek with mismatched neon green and millennial pink laces He adjusts the darkbeige Pashmina shawl wrapped around his neck to stem a stuffy nose and sore throat from turning worse as he darts to the third floor that stocks accessories readytowear and menrsquos collections It is as much an attempt to keep up with shifting tracks playing on the speakersmdashJagjit Singhrsquos Hoshwalon ko khabar kya Asha Bhoslersquos Aaiye meherbaan to Billy Joelrsquos Just the way you aremdashas it is to match steps with a restless man who drives the conversation from Big Love a lsquo70s Bollywoodinspired line showcased in Mumbai in March 2015 to the taps in the restrooms in a second We like those by the waymdash the retro goldplated brass parakeet taps are by PE Guerin Greenwich Villagebased New York firm famous for its 18th century French and English hardware designs In January 2021 the Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail group ABFRL acquired 51 per cent of the Sabyasachi Couture company Today the brandrsquos net worth stands close to R400 crore according to Mukherjee and has become a kind of corporate apeirogonmdasha shape with infinite sidesmdashextending into accessories jewellery and tablewear The endless stream of ldquoSabyasachi x helliprdquo collaborations include Starbucks Asian Paints and Thomas Goode amp Co ldquoThere is another global but upmarket collaboration coming up in August Some day we will get into hotels and hospitality too There is beauty perfumes and home coming up soon My current readytowear includes my accessible jewellery belts and bags and we plan to bring in shoes too Right now the world is my oysterrdquo Mukherjee says he is paying close to a crore to rent out the entire building the grand doors open on April 18 for the publicThe designer turns 50 next year Is he ready to admit that Sabyasachi is a superbrand ldquoIn India yes Outside no Internationally we have justbegun It will take me little less than a decade to get there but I will I am relentless When I put ambition into place and back it with hard work I know I will get thererdquoSabyasachi MukherjeelsquoBombay is the OG of all metropolitan citiesrsquoIt is still lsquoBombayrsquo for me a city of dreamers Calcutta is a city of thinkers I like to create in Calcutta and sell in Bombay because Bombay like New York is magical anything can happen I have returned to Bombay at different stages in my career trying to sell a new dreamlsquoA saree defines IndiarsquoMy core customer buys my sarees It is a living garment bridal wear is more indulgent People buy a saree knowing that they can wear and rewear it through life I am very proud of the saree business that we have builtlsquoThere is so much more to Sabya than a lehengarsquoAnybody who walks into my store for the first time buys Sabya bridal wear it is the face of my brand I had never planned to build a narrative around bridal wear it happened unwittingly when we designed for a couple of Bollywood celebrity weddings backtoback I think bridal wear has been given so much of undue importance in this country it is a category as big and loud as Bollywood They both sell It is a time when everybody wants to feel important be a star the most important person on social media is the bride But what goes up must come down this is not going to sustain itself With the HampM collaboration people said lsquohey there is more to Sabya than lehengasrsquo This was because the noise around brand HampM was bigger than Bollywood That is also when I first realised why run after top five celebrities when you can dress the worldlsquoYou can be a bride in a khadi saree or cotton kurtarsquoOur bridal lehengas start at about Rs 495000 and go up to Rs 30 lakh Having said that it all depends on what kind of bride you want to be you can wear a R75000 printed organza saree with a brocade border and a silk blouse and still be a bride Today there are so many ways of redefining the sartorial idea of the bride If there is one thing bigger than our bridal wear it is the Tiger logo I go out to small shops for a market perspective and I find fake belts selling for Rs 500 with Gucci Louis Vuitton and Sabya logoslsquoSuch a glamorous lifersquoI treat fashion like a business not an indulgence I donrsquot have time to waste airkissing at parties There is so much to do While this store was coming up I would be here from 7 am to 12 midnight with no airconditioning This is my life Some days I donrsquot even have time to clip my nails or trim my beard my moustache eats more food than I doThe suede spikeembellished Dandelion with a Paradise flycatcher bird embroidered with Parsi gara was part of the inaugural collaboration between Sabyasachi and Christian Louboutin unveiled during Bater couture show in 2015lsquoMy customers like me They like the product morersquoI am the internet trollrsquos favourite I am not even on Instagram so I donrsquot know how they can possibly rattle me I have developed the skin of rhino after spending close to two decades in the industry I know it is disruptive but after being on top of the game for so long my approach is to not take criticism personally Only my parents can rattle me and it happens every dayWhat Instagram did for me however was give me a chance to reach out to my customer directly and my brand became a complete D2C business But now the direct line of communication is not even via Instagram It is via the stores When a customer is compelled to come to the doorstep of my store and buy something from me the conversation is between them and me alone So people can say what they like criticise but my customer and I are developing an unshakeable bond100Chandeliers 275 carpets 3000 leatherbound books and 150 artworks created by the Sabyasachi Foundation celebrate the slow authentic luxury