Sabyasachi is one
of the week’s main attractions at Lakme Fashion Week, and this season he
certainly didn’t disappoint his fans. While many designers are busy reigning in
their creative impulses, Sabyasachi was deliberately taking risks. He sent out
what was, perhaps, his most convincing iteration of his belief in the enduring
beauty of a historic, rural Indian aesthetic, seen through an unflinchingly
modern lens. Sabyasachi resolved the visual contradictions between these two
categories , pairing trousers stitched from transparent netting with more
traditional tunics, or slightly abbreviated folksy skirts that fell just below mid-calf, ending in a
spray of tulle, reminiscent of Madonna circa 1984.
The idea of the
80’s has dominated catwalks around the world this season, but no one has
approached the era in a way that approximates Sabyasachi’s unique take. His
proposition of a sympathy between two eras for which different cultures feel
nostalgia was surprising, but perhaps not so strange. After all, this is the
man whose regal ideal presents a village beauty imbued with more grace than the
richest maharani. Her power derives from a respect for her roots, from
humility, from the kind of self-assurance that money can never buy, no matter
the seductive promises of modernity. Perhaps few women could carry off such an
authentic look, but, Sabyasachi made it easier for them this season, melding
his affinity for the past with a grounding in the current moment. Regardless of
how the more fashion-forward pieces sell, or whether people find some of the pairings frumpy (a criticism that
has dogged Marc Jacobs throughout his career, even as he has risen to become
one of the world’s most influential designers) the values he represented on his
runway are well-worth paying attention
to.
