It came as a great surprise and a huge honor to see our very own Indian designer ‘Sabyasachi’ to collaborate with a global brand like ‘HnM’. The feeling was wonderful when this collection was launched, after all it was such a huge thing for our fashion industry. For the very first time our home designer got an opportunity to collab with such a huge global brand. 

I would say, happiness was short lived. Where on one side some people (especially bloggers and influencers) were going gaga over this newly launched collection, there was a majority of people who disliked it. It was okay to feel this way as every coin has two sides. 

One one hand we could see influencers and bloggers going mad over the collection, the store going out of stock. On the other hand a majority of people were sharing their opinions of disliking the newly launched collection. It seemed this was the only topic of debate on social media for a period of time. 

I was reading both sides of story and agreed with both. I felt it was huge that our very own designer got this humungous opportunity to collaborate with this big brand. But personally, I didn't really like the designs and patterns. The patterns came out to me as something copied and pasted from our grandmother's sarees, without giving any due credit to anyone. 

I came across an article, a very apt one at that. It said, the people are deeply pained by the missed opportunity that ‘Wanderlust’ (name of the collection) has been for artisan livelihoods. The publicity material implies that the range is connected with Indian craft. However, the range is not made by Indian artisans and with no visible benefit to them. This was an incredible opportunity to position India's design and craftsmanship on the global map, to have become the torch bearers of what regenerative economies can look like. Even if half the collection had been made by artisans, it would have made such an impact at a time of economic crisis like this pandemic. 

Even though the collection has been called ‘affordable’ by some and the stores read ‘Sold out’, I believe an amazing opportunity has been missed to uplift and generate employment for our artisans. The artisans whose works has come down from generations. Do share your opinions about this collection, is it worth the hype?!