© Satya Paul
Fashion
The visionary designer, most famously known for his namesake label of digital print saris, passed away at the age of 78
Satya Paul saris, with their colour, print and life, changed the landscape of Indian fashion in the 1980s. This week, the iconic designer passed away at the age of 78 in the Isha Yoga centre in Coimbatore. "Most people are not aware, more than as a designer or entrepreneur, he has been steadfastly a seeker,” wrote Puneet Nanda, his son and creative collaborator of many years in a Facebook post announcing his death.
Paul's digital prints and innovative patterns pioneered the concept of a new-age sari—taking inspiration from modern art, architecture, nature and even works of renowned artists—that constituted the meteoric success of his product. In his journey, Paul’s inquisitiveness first began in the late ’60s as a retailer, expanding to export of fine Indian handloom products to high-end retail stores in Europe and the US. Two decades later, he opened the country’s first sari boutique, L’Affaire, and in 1986, his namesake label of game-changing digital print saris. But on the inside, the artist, designer and visionary businessman was just following his own path.
“We started the brand together. We laid the foundation together. At some point, we did decide to change the structure of the company, when we had the vision that we didn't want to run a business for the rest of our lives,” he tells Vogue of the strategic move. He further elaborates, “The idea was not to let the brand be confined to two individuals at the time of expansion.” While his father stepped back from the organisation in 2001 and Nanda took over, their rendezvous with Sadhguru (around 2007) changed the course forever. “In my heart I knew that now there is a living master in our midst, the last thing I'd like to be doing is running a business,” he reminisces signing off from the company in 2010.
After a decade of many creative forces helping the label, Satya Paul has set on a journey, with Rajesh Pratap Singh’s creative direction breathing a new life in its visual-heavy aesthetic. “Most of any conversation with him would be about spiritualism and very little about work,” says Pratap Singh on his optimistic attitude about life and creativity. Their relationship dates back to nearly 30 years ago when Paul sponsored Pratap Singh’s final collection with a specially-made jacquard fabric that the designer commissioned to his weavers in Benaras. “It was a very special moment—he was always encouraging and supportive.”
Paul wasn’t a follower of set norms, be it his design language from the early ’60s to the creation of a household name in the ’80s, or his take on life. “He truly lived in the presence and could find beauty in anything,” the designer fondly adds. Take his saris for example, the drape was just a canvas for him. “It wasn’t his focus on the sari that stood out, but the life he put into it with his art.” As for the future of the label, Pratap Singh’s approach is to take the DNA and make it more contemporary and accessible, keeping his bold spirit alive with everything they do.