Fashion designer Sharbari Datta found dead in Kolkata residence

According to reports, her family claimed that the 73-year-old fashion designer couldn't be connected over phone since morning and her body was recovered from the bathroom of her Broad Street residence at around 12:15 am. She is survived by her son Amalin. 

Daughter of celebrated Bengali poet Ajit Datta, Sharbari Datta became well-known name in Indian fashion industry for changing the men's wardrobe after she started getting famous from early 1990s.  From present Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan to Sachin Tendulkar, Shoaib Akhtar, Sourav Ganguly, Leander Paes and the Bollywood royalty, her clothes were picked up by many famous men.  

She designed mostly for men and changed the way Indian men dress, gate-crashing into the bleak world of stripes and checks with her vibrant designs. She is credited with the revival of men's ethnic wear and bringing it to the forefront in India.

Image by Avishek Mitra/IBNS

According to her, in was in 1991 that she held an exhibition at The Conclave in Kolkata and founded her brand rather informally.

After her graduation from Presidency College she did her Masters  in Philosophy from Calcutta University, but then she found fame as a fashion designer.  

“I pitied men their dull wardrobes. The west has enslaved us to notions of masculine dress codes which, we forget, have only a short history, dating after the Industrial Revolution,” she said once.

She thought that the West had tutored Indian men to turn away from their own rich dress heritage.

So her Sherwani, Angrakha, Piran, Bandhgala, Kurtas became famous. Later in 2001, Sharbari Datta forayed into male accessory design segment showcasing her range of exquisite gold jewellery for men.

She in recent years mentored Shunyaa, the premiere flagship store in south Kolkata, where she gave birth to new creations.
 

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)