Sabyasachi apologises for Shaming Indian Women Who Don’t Know How to Drape a Saree
Indian Designer Sabyasachi apologizes for sari remark and the word 'shame'
The passionate about textiles and Indian heritage, Fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee today apologized for his comments and posted an open letter on Instagram, saying he regrets using the word "shame" while talking about the inability of some women to wear a sari at the Harvard India Conference last week.
"... Allow me to sincerely apologize for the words that I used while answering impromptu questions at a conference at Harvard. I am sorry that I used the word 'shame' in reference to some women's inability to wear a sari. I truly regret that the way in which I tried to make a point about the sari enabled it to be interpreted as misogynistic, patriarchal, and non-inclusive - this was certainly not my intention," he wrote.
The remarks made by the designer were called patriarchal and anti-feminist, particularly on social media.
"I think, if you tell me that you do not know how to wear a sari, I would say shame on you. It's a part of your culture, (you) need to stand up for it," Sabyasachi had told Indian students in Harvard on Saturday.
"The ubiquity of such sentiments in our culture, evidenced by the fact that this question was posed to me at Harvard, of all places, was hard-hitting and triggered an unfortunate series of reactions on my part," he said in a three-page letter on his Instagram page.
Sabyasachi, who said he has "worked with the sari for 16 years", also spoke of how some women are body shamed for choosing to wear the traditional drape and added that it was this "constant barrage of negativity" which mushroomed into the comments he eventually made.
"It is this frustration that I unfortunately generalized to Indian women in response to the question when I now see that I should have framed it as a call to stop shaming the sari and whoever chooses to wear it," he said.
"... I am sorry that in the heat of that moment, I allowed this passion to be misplaced. I take full responsibility for this. Body shaming, attaching connotations of 'Auntie Ji', calling them sloppy; these are all ways that some men and women alike belittle the sari (and, more accurately, the wearer of the sari)."
Many women, young and old, are scared to have an outing in a sari because it is shrouded in so many layers of taboo and controversy, often citing the inability to correctly drape a sari as an exit point, he wrote.
"I have always, and will continue to love and respect women irrespective of the labels recently assigned to me. It was in this spirit that I started my brand, and that is how it shall remain until the day we decide to shut its doors."
-PTC News
