What Sabyasachi proved with his 25th anniversary show
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. While creative directors of fashion houses in the West are playing musical chairs, a different game is playing out in India: what will be the first luxury fashion brand to go global? Right now, Sabyasachi seems to be holding all the cards—a partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion Retail Ltd (the corporate bought 51% four years ago), a 5,800 sq.
ft store in New York City's affluent West Village, a line of recognisable bags and jewellery that retail in stores like Bergdorf Goodman in New York, showcases at fashion weeks in Milan and New York, and collaborations with brands like H&M and Estée Lauder. The Kolkata-born designer is currently in the process of launching a perfume and beauty range.
And of course, the fashionable founder's ambition. In a 2022 interview with Lounge, he had said: "I don’t think any other brand in this country has lasted as long as we have and we continue to grow higher.
I want to be India's first superbrand." That ambition was on display on 25 January, when Sabyasachi marked 25 years of his brand with an extravagant show at Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. The 600-odd guests, who included corporate and couture house leaders, UHNIs and clients, fashion buyers, fashion journalists and actors, were greeted by a long grazing table that drew on the decadence of the Victorian era, while 1970s Hindi, Bengali and English songs—a mix of Rabindranath Tagore, Usha Uthup and Leonard Cohen—played in the background, a feature of Sabyasachi shows.
Guests exchanged air kisses while balancing glasses of champagne, four-tiered strawberry and chocolate cake, caviar, oysters, artisanal cheese. The perfect backdrop for selfies was created with 10ft tall porcelain vases, plush
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