For many years I did not know that the fabric I bought as chheent in small, unfashionable markets like Bhogal, was the same as chintz, a fabric I constantly encountered and wondered about in Georgette Heyer novels. Sabyasachi Mukherjee reminded me of this recently as I read his many PR produced statements responding to the critiques of his new line for H&M.

Crafts activists and organisations have pointed out that the collection cannibalises Sanganeri prints which have a Geographical Indicator. They also remove the Indian artisan from the story while weaving vague narratives about Indian aesthetic heritage. Sabyasachi responded with: “This is not Sanganeri, but a hybrid “inspired by the aesthetic of the sanganeri block print, the French toile, chintz prints and so on.” Oh, Sabya, such a global aesthete, yaar.