New Delhi: The very first Couture Week in the capital was opened on Tuesday by designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee who presented a collection inspired by the “essence of India”.

Bollywood actresses Rani Mukherjee and Vidya Balan, who have time and again dressed in Sabyasachi’s creations, were present in the audience to cheer on the designer.

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“Sabyasachi is the only designer I stalk,” said Vidya, who was clad in a red sari by the designer, while Rani went for a western look in a black dress.

The collection named ‘Aparajito’, was unveiled in a grand show which began with the singing of the national anthem.

“Tradition cannot be beaten, Indian textiles cannot be beaten, simplicity and humbleness cannot be beaten. These are the strengths of the collection, that is why it is called ‘Aparajito´,” the designer told PTI.

“80% of the fabric was Khadi. The whole collection had a museum like quality, vintage and nostalgic. There was Block printing from Rajasthan, Kalamkari from Andhra Pradesh, Khadi from Murshidabad,” said Sabyasachi.

Scenes from films like 1947 Earth played in the background as the models walked down the ramp.

“There was a montage of different clips to create a mood for the show, upbeat and nostalgic, romantic with a certain amount of decadence,” said the designer.

The collection comprised of 40 womenswear and 16 menswear mostly in earthy tones of muted greens, browns.