Rani Mukherjee in a Sabyasachi creation at the show on Thursday. Picture by Pabitra Das

Mumbai, March 30: Rani Mukherjee was bowled over by the “pure poetry” in his clothes and the rest of the audience could not stop gushing about their “international appeal”.

In a throwback to his winning performance at India Fashion Week in Delhi in 2004, Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s designs at the Lakme Fashion Week ? showcased at the NCPA in Mumbai this afternoon ? impressed buyers from home and away.

Two years ago, his Frog Princess look had catapulted the young designer from Calcutta to the international stage. This time, The Snail ? with its clean simplicity marking a distinct departure from his signature style ? promises to be a giant leap forward.

“It’s a beautiful collection, very well thought out and very well executed. He just knows the women he dresses,” said Albert Morris of London’s fashion landmark Browns, where Sabyasachi already has a presence on the racks.

Rani adorned the first row at the designer’s show this afternoon. Dressed in an off-white and black creation from The Snail collection, the actress later told Sabyasachi: “Your clothes are pure poetry.”

Her Bollywood colleague Koena Mitra, too, kept the compliments flowing. “I just loved the show. I felt it was a very quiet collection that had a very peaceful effect,” said Koena, who is Sabyasachi’s “childhood friend”.

For the designer, The Snail is “a serious line, completely in sync with the international forecast of a clean and fresh mood in fashion”, a move to “get away from bohemia to a refined simplicity”.

The inspirations for the clothes were basic: school uniforms and maternity wear. “In an era of mass production, the collection is all about slowing down,” is how Sabyasachi described the collection.

In the run-up to fashion week, Sabyasachi had, for The Telegraph, rated The Snail 8.5 against 4 for his Frog Princess. But the audience reaction to the collection ? it was the most-applauded so far ? scored a near 10.

“The response is much more than I had expected,” smiled Sabyasachi.