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In 2004 Sabyasachi Mukherjee presented his collection at Lakme India Fashion
Week. This collection featured garish make-up, outlandish hair styles, gaudy colours,
badly draped clothes, and mismatched footwear and accessories. Mukherjee claimed
that he highlighted the poor and exploited condition of sex workers. However, his
decision to project this issue from the catwalk allowed the audience to receive it as
entertainment. The media covered the show and its fashionable positioning.
Mukherjee provided neither explanatory nor discursive context for what he was
doing. The designer arguably exploited the powerless situation of sex workers, and
the audience was entertained by it. He appeared to have little concern for the social
and political issues behind the theme.
The goal of this project has not been to produce a commercial, wearable fashion
collection for the catwalk. I am designing work that ‘talks’ about the implications of
the exploitative aspects of the lal batti. 15 I am interested in exploring fashion as a
voice to raise social, political and cultural issues.
The knowledge and insights I have gained about the flesh trade compel me to
support and help others understand the situation of these women. There is a need to
see them as human beings with human dimensions.
As a fashion designer, as a communicator of ideas, and as a believer in the need for
each of us to affect change and to alleviate the suffering of others, my work engages
both professionally and academically with the things I see in this world that I feel are
within my power to influence.
15 It should be noted that not all paid sex work occurs in this arena. In India there are also several
classes of sex worker that include those who work in high-class elite groups. Such high class sex
workers are usually well educated and generally are more aware of the industry and their rights. These
women often work for well-managed agencies or through personal contacts. They are protected while
at the same time being more free to operate because of the discreet and self-defined nature of their
trade.
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