Seated in the front row were bigwigs like Vidya Balan, Rahul Bose and Nawaz Singhania but the sensitive designer pulled his workforce from behind the stage and persuaded them to walk the ramp.

"The credit for all my success goes to them. All of them do all the things together, they are the heroes and believe me I am a tough boss," Mukherjee said.

Commenting on why celebrities didn't walk the ramp for him, he said: "It is a fashion show, clothes are its stars. If Bollywood actors walk the ramp the focus shifts from outfits to them. Stars should be sitting in the front row and not walking the ramp."

With dull old clothes - shirts, skirt, kurtas, dupattas, churidars - hanging on criss-cross ropes above the ramp and ladders left here and there, a depressing ambience was created.

"Because recession is going on in the West, a depressing ambience was created," Mukherjee said.

Aptly titled Sanctuary, Mukherjee's collection saw a variety of outfits with designs being borrowed from countries like Russia, France, The Czech Republic, Chile, Uzbekistan and India.

"There was no motivation this time. I just jumbled up things and rolled out the collection. I think every designer goes through an evolutionary phase when he goes beyond the inspiration factor. I like playing with Indian silhouettes to interpret the West," he said.

Mukherjee's palette had a riot of colours - red, green, black, white, ivory, beige, blue, orange, blue, magenta, to name a few.

Fabrics like brocade, satin, silk, cotton, velvet, organza net, jersey, appliqué, chiffon, georgette, tweed among others were used to create the lines.

There were beautiful saris sans motifs with quarter and full-sleeved blouses with lots of detailing and embroidery to create ethnic motifs. The high necklines of blouses and sari borders marked box pleats and their sleeves had puffs on the shoulders or below the elbow.

Also, the line had dresses with leggings, short skirts, baby doll pleated tops, pants, tooth short jacket with big sunflower motifs, pencil skirts, appliqué quilted jackets, long dresses with parrot motifs, long jackets with embroidered geometric designs, stoles and overall disco ball shimmer saris.

Outfits were embellished using subtle thread embroidery ranging from Kashmiri embroidery, kurta thread work, tie and die, sequin work, block printing and kantha work.

The line was accessorised using bouffant hairdo decorated with small woollen balls. Except a small bindi and eyeliner, models wore no make-up.

"I wanted my audience to identify with the models. My clothes are for every woman. And in their real lives they don't overdo the make-up. They just put eyeliner and a bindi when they go out. That's what I did with my models," he said.

Speaking about his line, Vidya said: "I don't have much fashion sense but I am here just to support Sabya (Sabyasachi). He is am amazing designer and I loved his garments...the show was just wonderful."