Ace fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee issued an apology on Sunday following the backlash he received for a post he shared on social media terming "overdressed" women as "wounded" with "dark blinding pain".
The designer, who has worked for B-town celebs like Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt and Priyanka Chopra, posted a quote on Saturday from a book 'Great Expectations'. It disappointed fans who found it in bad taste and termed the comments on women's dressing as unwarranted. Many felt that Mukherjee should not exploit the emotional situations of women to sell his products.
"If you see a woman 'overdressed', caked with makeup, armored with jewelry, 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," read his post on Instagram.
To which one out of many followers called out by saying, "Please don't quote 19-century lines written by a writer famous for failing to understand women and treating them callously in relationships, in the 21st century. There are other ways to sell your products without passing judgments on women and their dressing sense and their emotional situations."
After receiving criticism, Mukherjee has now posted an explanatory statement, which he feels was a must to share.
"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 mfestation of their internal anguish," read the statement.
The designer, who has crafted costumes for flicks like Guzaarish, Baabul, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, and Raavan, apologised to fans and followers.
"When I was creating this jewelry 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," read the statement.
"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," he concluded.
( With inputs from ANI )