Sabyasachi Mukherjee faced severe backlash for his comment that overdressed women are wounded from inside on his social media platform. The noted celebrity fashion designer, soon after, issued an apology on his Instagram account. Later, on Sunday he released yet another statement and clarified what he actually meant. 

Sabyasachi, in the apology note, began off by writing that he, in his career of 20 years, has observed that many women use fashion and beauty for joy and self-expression while the rest use it as retail therapy to fill the gaps and void in their lives. He further said that how society is judgemental in terms of clothing and tags them as 'overdressed', 'tacky' or even 'inappropriate' but lacks to understand that most of them are using it as a coping mechanism. He said the true essence of the post was to ask people to be aware, empathetic, and not judgemental of peoples’ personal clothing choices. The fashion designer added that his statement was a reference as a blanket statement as sometimes one can be passionate about an issue and end up becoming overzealous and hence, tone deaf. He further clarified that original post was meant to invite people to introspect and debate about 'how love, sensitivity...beauty and fashion can create a net positive in the world.' Read his post here:

 

 

 

 

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I thought a lot about whether to post this, but sometimes it is important to set the record straight and get the right message across. Having been in the fashion industry for over 20 years, I have encountered it firsthand and commented about it in many of my interviews - how, while many women use fashion and beauty for joy and self-expression, others use it as ‘retail therapy’ to fill in the gaps and voids in their lives. We, as a society, often get extremely judgemental about peoples’ clothing choices, calling them ‘overdressed’ or ‘tacky’ or ‘inappropriate’. We fail to understand that maybe some are using these as coping mechanisms to put on a brave front to make up for the lack of a support system. The true essence of the post was to ask people to be aware, empathetic, and not judgemental of peoples’ personal clothing choices, which could be a manifestation of their internal anguish. One of the bigger issues in society today, that very few people address, is mental health, and a little bit of awareness, empathy and kindness go a long way in acknowledging it. I have coped with crippling depression as a teenager for 7 years. I found my coping mechanism through radical clothing choices.I was sneered at and bullied, but it helped me find my way again. When I was creating this jewellery collection, I referred to Tagore’s ‘Monihara’ because it talks about these issues, which are sadly more relevant today. And I, for one, have never shied away from speaking about uncomfortable truths, no matter how disruptive it might be for my personal gain. Because when power is given, social responsibility should not be shunned. The mistake, however, was to use the reference as a blanket statement, as sometimes when we are passionate about an issue, we end up becoming overzealous and hence, tone deaf. My sincere apologies for that. The original post (however flawed) was put up to invite introspection and debate about how love, sensitivity and compassion, alongside expressions of art, beauty and fashion can create a net positive in the world. I invite everyone to democratically join this debate. Regards, Sabyasachi

A post shared by Sabyasachi Mukherjee (@sabyasachiofficial) on Jul 7, 2019 at 12:52am PDT

Recommended Read: Sabyasachi Mukherjee 'accepts blame' after netizens brutally troll him for calling 'overdressed' women 'wounded'

Sabyasachi, a reputed designer, received flak for an Instagram post of his that read, "If you see a woman 'overdressed', caked with makeup, armoured with jewellery, it is most likely that she is wounded. Bleeding inside, silently. Holding on to her pride and dignity, shining for the world, though within her innermost being there is a dark blinding pain." He goes on to add that one must take some time off to give her company and empathise with her so as to help her heal since "nothing can replace human warmth. Not even the most precious of jewellery." From calling the post 'ridiculous' to telling the designer to 'stop being so judgemental', social media users slammed him to the fullest. 

 

 

 

 

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#Sabyasachi #ParadiseLost #SabyasachiJewelry #TheWorldOfSabyasachi @sabyasachijewelry

A post shared by Sabyasachi Mukherjee (@sabyasachiofficial) on Jul 5, 2019 at 8:10am PDT

(Source: Instagram)