Published 13:17 IST, July 7th 2019

Sabyasachi Controversy | After an apology, designer issues a clarification, says, "it is important to set the record straight"

Designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee apologised after earning flak on social media for his post that stated woman who is 'overdressed', 'caked with make-up' and 'armoured with jewellery' is most likely to be 'wounded'.

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Sabyasachi Controversy | After an apology, designer issues a clarification, says, "it is important to set the record straight"

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Designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee apologised after earning flak on social media for his post that stated woman who is 'overdressed', 'caked with make-up' and 'armoured with jewellery' is most likely to be 'wounded'. The fashion designer conveyed that the post, intended to be a message of love, empathy and to look beyond exterior appearances, wasn’t ‘articulated correctly’ and extended an unconditional apology for the same.

READ: ‘It Wasn’t Articulated Correctly’: Sabyasachi Mukherjee Apologises After Earning Flak For 'Overdressed And Caked With Make-up Women Are Wounded' Post

And now, taking to Instagram, the designer issued a two-page clarification saying, "I thought a lot whether to post this, but sometimes it is important to set the record straight and get the right message across".

Read his message below:

View this post on Instagram

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 12:53am PDT

Designer Sabyasachi was criticised after he shared a distasteful post on Instagram where that stated that a woman who is 'overdressed', 'caked with make-up' and 'armoured with jewellery' is most likely to be wounded.

READ: Netizens Slam Designer Sabyasachi For 'overdressed And Caked With Make-up Women Are Wounded' Post

"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. Take some time off to give her your precious company, heal her with your empathy, because sometimes nothing can replace human warmth. Not even the most precious of jewellery", read an excerpt from his post.

View this post on Instagram

#Sabyasachi #ParadiseLost #SabyasachiJewelry #TheWorldOfSabyasachi @sabyasachijewelry

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

The distasteful post did not go down well with many netizens and drew sharp reactions from social media users. One user said, "This is absolute rubbish, please don't associate your brand with such thoughts and judgements", while another user remarked saying, "Please don't make such blank statements".

Updated 13:47 IST, July 7th 2019